The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-05-14
IMPERlLS HIS LIFE
 TO AVERT BOILER
 EXPLOSION IN FIRE
Loss of W. A. Smith Build ing Go. Blaze is Under
 $lO,OOO.

With intrinsic losses now estimated, l at less than $1O,00O, though models of valuable reIiefs and scrolls used in Yale college and other big buildings during the past 27 years are destroy l ed beyond repair, the origin of the disastrous fire which gutted the plant of the w A. Smith & Sons building concern on Cannon street last night is still mystery. Though care has been advocated consistently in using and dispoSing of oily waste, it was MT. I Smiths belief spontaneous combus- I ton was responsible.
 i That a greater amount of damage was not recorded is today credited to 1 the heroism of l.. T. Warren, of the tEdmund Warren company, occupants of the adjoining building, who at the risk of his own life penetrated the boiler room and released additional fssblow-offsss and drew the fires of the I big boilers which had become super l heated by the fire adjoining them, He is said to have had a marrow escape when the confined steam filled. the room to suffocation as he made his ! escape.
 Much of the machinery of the I Smith company has been found to have suffered, little damage except by water and burned belting, and owing i to the fact that much outside contract l work was being done at the time, the l loss to the firm will be less than ex- pected. Smith, who owns tha build ling and contents. estimated his dam age at between s5.0Oo and $7,oOo. R. IB. Ha1sey & company, next door esti-
 mate that loss by smoky cloth and broken glass will be within $30O.s 1 Property owners in the vicinity esti-. mate their aggregate damages at less than $1,000.
 The fire, one of the most threaten Ting which has broke out in years. and in section which was highly in 1 fammable. broke out--at 7:5O. Lo-
 cated in the very rear of the build I ing. occupied by the w. A. Smith q | Sons, building contractors, it WIS l hidden from view until consid derab1e I headway in a lumber and shaving filled room had been gained. j Discovery was made quite by acci- I dent as young man passing through E Cannon street became inquisitive to
 smoke that cIouded the street. He I decided upon turning, in an alarm and i in the smoke filled street did not see
 a. box n.the immediate vicinity but
 ran to Fairfield avenue and Cannon i street.
 When the first alarm brought the I apparatus to the scene, Chief Mooney l and his men likewise had difficulty 1 in locating the blaze. They were l compelled to grope their way about
 and break down large swinging gate 1 between the Smith building and that I occupied by the Edmund SWarren Plating company. As the fire got headway beneath the f1renen wh 0 had taken their positions on the roof, 1 1t was seen that it jeopardized the l Warren buildings and the structures
 to the east occupied by the Park City Auto company. Louis Brock, the sign 1 painter, and other firms between the ] A +I7 70 1o1O0 l which was the scene of former l disastrous fire. A second alarm was I rung in.
 Chief Mooney with his lieutenants fought the fire from all angles, ex- periemcing great difficulty in keeping their men in positions of vantage ow- I ing to dense volumes of choking | smoke that poured from all sides l and seemed to seek-a lower level. It became necessary to rope off Cannon l street from Broad to Court1and and l nearly a platoon of police was en- Fl O'ConneH in keeping the spectators in check.
 For the first time in months No.
 6 extension ladder was brought into \ play from the Cannon street side carrying two hose lines to the roof Other lines had previously been run Finto the building where Chief Moo
 
 vantage point. Other linesSwere talk. en up three stories on extension lad. ders from the west side, and in the
 rear and easter1y sides.
 The building, which was one stor,
 brick with a modern snell-like struc ture built two stories above, became l a roaring furnace in the back whiI,
 noxious gases threatened an explosion in the front. Before being placeC
 under control at 9:15 the fire hac
 gutted the -entire<rear of the Smitl building, a, shed adjoining and wate I damage to- adjoining cellars, extend ing as far as Fairfield avenue, ha, been done.
 It was estimated by w. A. Smith who arrived on the scene shortly af
 ter the second alarm that his loss, ful " | 1y covered by insurance, would fal
 within the $1O,OOO mark. Chic Mooney was of the belief that tn U fire underwriters would find the los 6 to the building, contents and adjoin
 ing properties between $1o,o an H s15,oo0.
 A It was believed that short circuite \ electric wires which furnish .powe M to- many motor driven <machine
 might have been responsible, thoug # the owner could not give any defnit ' cause. There had been no fire i 4 the building for several days. During the fire. breaking stear pipe carrying steam from the War # ren building to that occupied b z .l the Smith company, caused seriou Al | predicament to four fremen of true II |, who were perched in1mediatel A above. They were lucky in their es 4 cape.
 Another incident that might hay ~ been disastrous was the f1ct that tn E heat of the fire through a, brick par # tition wall in the Warren buildin 5 raised the steam in the Warren boil
 CT room to a heat that naomentaril
 threatened explosion. The timeI
 arrival of L. T. Warren, one of tn N members of the firm, who grope # through the steam-fil1ed boiler roor N to the emergency wales and barrel . 1 es1.araed from tlaa del11eca of