La Junta tribune., 1915-05-22
HOME OF DIR. EDWARDS BURNED

beautiful Home Gutted by Fire
Through Inability Of Fire De-
partment to Cope With II.
La Junta had its first disastrous
residence fire last Tuesday evening.
the beautiful home of DR.. E. G. Ed
wards on Belleview avenue being 30
badly wrecked by fire and water that
II is not habitable. Ten minutes af-
ter 3 o'clock last Tuesday evening
the fire alarm sounded and there was
very prompt response by the fire
department. There was not soul
In the house at the time OF the fire.
and 1t was necessary to force an en-
trance in order to flight the fire. .
After an entrance had been effected
the fire fighting did not proceed with
any great alacrity. as the firemen did
not seem to be able to locate the
heart Of the fire" The contents OF
the chemical tank were wasted upon
the desert air. and Il was then nec-
essary to resort to the regular hose.
When an attempt was made to
connect our new $4,000 fire engine
with the fire hydrant II was found
that the hydrant was one OF the old
timers. and not equipped with a
standard connection. II was neces.
sary to use \ ''reducer." that is 4
connection that Is small enough on
one end to 1T the off size hydrant,
and large enough on the other to
make standard connection. The
"reducer," however. had disappear
ed. and no one WAS able to locate Il.
Some well-intentioned citizen. In his
eaEerness to help the firemen. had
pulled the hose out OF the wagon and
the "reducer" had dropped on the
ground, where Il was subsequently
found. After the 'reducer" had
been located there was plenty Of wa.
ter and all kinds of force. but II was
tso late. as about all the damage that
could be done had been done. The
loss Of the "reducer" resulted In a
delay Of twenty minutes. when alb
soiutely nothing was done TO entin-
suish the fire. as the chemical tanks
~ besn exhausted.
! According to reports from all hdcs
there were boneheads innumerabic
pulled off. but no one seems to be
able to cite the particular person
that Is to blame. The first bone
head was the one on the part of the
city In not having all fire hydrants
sQuippcd with standard connections.
the use Of u "reduccr" un-
necessary. Out Of the sixty-fivc
fire hydrants In the city Of La Junta
there are thirteen that are not stand.
ard equipped. Our $4,000 fire en-
Iine won't do US much good until
This condition is remedied. II In ai.
together incScusAbic. when fircmen
sngagc In tug OF war with line Of
hose. with one bunch wanting 10 90
Up on the roof aud the other down In
lhe cellar. Il IL quite apparent that
something is radically wrong with the
lire department organization. Il
needs fixing.
The Interior of the Edwards home
presented n sorry spectacle on the
after the fire. and the most
sorry part Of the spectacle Was the
TACT that Il MAS an entirely nneees.
sary fire. and one that never ought Ia
have happened. Mrs. Edwards was
Visiting friends IN Pueblo. aud knew
nothing Of the fire until Il WAS all
pver. Miss Helen Edwards had had
! fire In the range In preparing the
svcninR meal. aud begged the indui.
gence Of her father aud brothers ON
account Of having made 20 much
smoke. II II quite probable that the
Hire was smouiderins underneath the
range while the family Was eating
supper. ~ II was quite apparent the
lsxt mornins that there II where the
Ptrs originated. After supper wss
pver every member of the family LEFT
~ house. and u vas not until two
Aouss afterwards that the fire wss
discovered. Il had probably been
busaiag oil that time-two hours aad
Doee.
TIE hovse wss Insured for $500.
md the lasusaace adJusler estimates
~ damage at $1,000. The furni.
luse vas iassred for 5000. and u
= sseimaied that the damage WAS q
Deass es.see.