El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-05-17
FIRE MAY ADD
To CITY AREA
Suburban Section, Without
Fire Protection, Aroused
When Residence Burns.

Fire which destroyed the bungalow
Of Mr.. and Mrs. Z. R. Lee, on Grand
avenue. near Copia street, Sunday af-
t@ernOon, viii probably result in a petit
ton at an early date from the citizens
Of that section to be admitted to the
city limits. followed by appeals for
large water mains and fire protection.
At present they have no large water
mains, though they AVE service for
domestic use.
The house stood on the south side
Of Grand avenue, east of the corner Of
Copia, and was isolated from other
buildings. This was all that confined
the fire TO the one building. for when
the fire department arrived. the fire
men could do absolutely nothing The
only water available was the inch pipe
which served the Lee home for dOmes-
tic purposes The pressure vas so poor
that fire marshal Will HOrd could not
throw water from a garden hose onto
the top Of a chicken house and frame
garage in the rear Of the burning build
ing
The fire broke out about 4:S0. Mr..
and Mrs. Lee had driven down town in
their automobile and while they we're
away the flames broke out. Three Of
the children Of the family were in the
ueighborhOod. but all denied being at
home when the fire broke out
Jack Brace, who was visiting in the
ne~ishborhood. telephOned the alarm to
the Highland Park station and in A
short time an combination
chemical and hose truck was on the
scene Chief Armstrong arrived q little
later. The firemen could not do a thing,
however, as the roof was about TO fall
in when they arrived and there was no
water pressure. They remained on the
scene for a time ready to use the
chemical in the event of flying sparks
g~aw#Fm- "a h1ava in any mnarhr hnmGn
Mr.. and Mrs. Lee returned from the
city Just about the time the roof a
fallen in. Mrs. Lee almost tainted when
she saw her home burning and cried
frantically until all her children were
brought to the car She feared some
Of them had persisted in the house
Neighbors. after the fire started,
broke in the doors and saved some
furniture, but very little-a bed, a
dresser or two. some chairs, a phono-
graph and a few pieces OF silver and
glassware
Some cartridges in the house went off
while tine fire was burning and sent
the spectators scattering.
This is warning enough for US" said
Chas. NJ. Gibson, who lives on Fort
Boulevard. a block from the fire we
should Immediately take steps TO get
into the city limits and secure fire
protection for this vicinity M house
in the neighborhood would go up IN the
same manner if it caught fire and #
there are several in a bunch. all would
be burned, for the fire department
could do nothing without water pres
sure"
The pressure is fairly good early IN
the morning" said justice J.. NJ Deaver.
but in the afternoon about the time
Of this fire IT is really very difficult 10
get any water at all. We have no fire
plugs or large water mains and are al
the mercy Of fires. I agree that II IS
time We were taking steps to get into
the city limits to secure fir protec-
ton"
Several other residents expressed
themselves similarly and predicted that
the fire would result in another larss
suburban section shortly p~etitiOning to
taken into the city
Mr.. Lee had $500 insurance on his
furniture: none on the house