Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-09-05
GREAT c. & 0. ELEVATOR
IS DESTROYED BY FIRE
Midnight Blaze at Newport News
Reduces to Ashes Property
Valued at S2,OOO,OOO.
HEAVY LOSS OF LIFE FEARED
Early Report That Twelve Employees
Lose Lives Is Not Verificd-Ofices
OF Railway Company and L. S.
Shipping Company Burned.

NEWPORT NEWS. VA. September 4
Property damage estimated at up
ward OF 100000 resulted from a IRE
which originated in the Chesapeake and
Ohio grain elevator "A" here at mid
night tonight and spread to nearby
buildings and to a big grain pier. First
reports that twelve elevator employees
had been burned to death were not
man, who was trapped in the top floor,
lost his life
The elevator. with nearly half n mill
lion bushels of wheat was DESTROYED;
grain pier No was badly damaged.
and the local Offices Of the Chesapeake
and Ohio Railway Company and Of the
United States Shipping Company and
the Holland American line were con-
sImed. Two other piers and three
steamships. two foreign and one .lme. :
lean. were threatened.
The origin OF the fire had not been
asccrtaincd tonight. Railway officials
asserted that IL apparently started
about the center OF the building. Be
fore breaking through and being dis
covered. IT had spread from top TO bot
tom, and from end to end OF the I'm
mense eleven-story structure. The heat
was SO intense that for an hour fremen
could not approach within several
blocks and no effort could be made TO
fight the flames.
BUILDINGS SAVED BY
SHIFT OF THE WIND
Travelling down the grain chutcs
from the elevator. the fire spread to
Pier 5. The sheet metal covering of
the dock was warped by the heat, and
the wooden interior became ignitcd.
| The railway Offices and the two ship
ping offices were next TO go. but soon
afterwards n shift of the wind enabled
the hremen TO save other piers and
buildings.
Two British steamers which were
loading grain at Pier ; for the allied
countries in Europe were towca into
the harhor before being damaged. An
Old Dominion passenger liner at an
adjoining pier got away under her own
steam and was uninjured.
Elevator "a" was one of the largest
structures of its kind in the United
States. having capacity of 1900. 600
}
nearly 81 100000. and was of wood
with sheet metal covering.
The full extent of the damage to
Pier 5 could not be estimated.
The loss is partially covered by in
surancc.
NAY HE DAYS BEFORE
FIRE is EXTINGUIs:!ED
Three hours after the fire was dis
cn in han ht,r
railway officials and fremen estimated
that the fire in the elevator would not
be extinEushed under two or three
days, as the great quantity Of grain
in the building would burn for a long
| time. While the two 600-foot metal
elevator chutes over the roof Of Pier
> were wrecked, il was believed that
fire tugs had saved the dock from very
serious damage.
Once the firem, ,n got within fighting
distance. spectacular fcats were per-
formed, and several OF the men were
overcome by smoke and injured by
burning timhers. hurled hundreds of
feet by the high wind.
The engineer and three stokers In
stones throw from the elevator. stuck
Gamely to their posts. while buildings
burned down beside the brick structure
| in which they were working The
pump house was saved
, The flames bursting from the ton of
the elevator could be seen for many
miles, and hundreds of persons from
| Hampton. Phoebus md Old Point Conn
| fort came by automobiles and special
| trolley cars TO see the fire. while a
passenger steamer brought several
hundred sightseers from Norfoll- and
Portsmouth.