Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1915-02-18
$4,000 FIRE IN
THE LUTz BLOCK
Stubborn Blaze Cuts thinner.
man Co. Grocery Store.

The most costly fire that has oc-
Cured in jamestown for many years
completely gutted the Zimmerman
company grocery store in the Lutz
block on Monday and the stubborn
blaze, fought for two hours by the
fire department, finally burst through
into the second floor and out through
the roof before it was finally extin-
guished. The cause of the fire is
unknown, but it seems to have start
ed in the middle of the grocery store
basement and had gained consider
able headway before discovered.
There was an immense amount of
smoke that filed the entire block,
damaging the stock of the thinner
man company dry goods department
and the Offices and apartments of the
second floor, several of which were
also damaged by water.
The heaviest losers are the Zim-
norman company, George Lutz, own
er of the building, DR.. Francis Peake,
DR.. c. ]. Readon and Misses Maud
and Alice O'Donnell. The Offices and
residence of DR.. Bolton, the Offices
of DR.. Guest and DR.. Golseth were
also damaged by smoke. Much of
the apparatus and furniture Of the
Office of DR.. Golseth were moved out
during the fire. Losses are we'll COW
cred by insurance.
The blaze was discovered about 10
o'clock, when it puffed up through
the basement floor into the grocery
store. When the clerks attempted to
locate the blaze in the basement, they
were driven back by the flames and
smoke. Almost Immediately the
store was completely filled with
smoke, so suffocating that the clerks
were forced to leave at once and
saved only part of the books. The
fire alarm was turned in at once and
in a few moments two streams of
water were turned into the basement
but on account of the partitions
and lodges and the volume of smoke
it was impossible to reach the flames
with water, and the fire gained head
way until it had burned through the
first floor, which fell in. The safe,
fixtures and groceries went through
into the basement, making an in
deseribable mass.
A fire wall separating the front OF
the basement from the rear prevented
the fire fighters from reaching the
flames from the back until a hole
had been cut through the two-foot
brick wall, and by that time the op-
portunity to check the fire quickly
had passed, although the third stream
of water from the rear assisted ma
terially in finally extinguishing the
blaze.
When the fire had been gotten un-
der control in the basement and first
floor and was being rapidly checked,
another blaze was discovered in the
corridor of the second story. The
flames seemed to have burned
through the ceiling and spread up
the walls of the toilet rooms, through
the skylight and roof. They burned
out the storeroom in the O'Donnell
apartments and the Offices of DR..
Peake and DR.. Reardon were
drenched with water, as were the
halls, in putting out the second-story
fire. There was considerable dam
age to the floors, the plaster and the
woodwork in addition to the damage
by fire.
The Zimmerman company loss is
estimated at $4,000 to $4,000.
The grocery department loss will be
between $4,000 and $4,000 for
stock and fixtures. The actual dam
age from smoke and water to the dry
goods department is more difficult to
estimate, but may reach so per cent.
The damage to the building and
other tenants will bring the total loss
from fire, water and smoke up to
approximately $4,000. which is we'll
covered by insurance.
The Zimmerman company states
that within week or less they will
have a complete and new supply OF
groceries in jamestown, the tempor-
ary location to be announced later.
Mr.. Zimmerman was in the East on
purchasing trip and could not be
located.
y, Work of repairing the building will
be commenced as soon as the insur-
ance can be adjusted.
The books and accounts of the gro
Gerry department. which were believed
to have been burned, were found
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