Evening star., 1915-02-26
|MAGRUDER GROCERY
DAMAGED BY FIRE
Blaze in Roof Causes Dense
Smoke That Drives En-
pIoyes Out.
SECOND ALARM CALLS
Thirteen COMPANIES
Considerable Loss Caused by Water
Pouring Into the Stock on
Two Floors.

Two Floors.
| John H. Magruders grocery sore at
| the north est corner of X street ard
! CO. -~ecticut- avenu. was damaged by
| fire shortly after II o'clock this morn
1 ing. So threatening was the blaze that
second alarm VIZ sounded. sending
thirteen companies to fight the fire.
| More than thirty persons were en-
ployed in the building. Most of them
! were compelled to leave in hurry to
avoid being overcome by the smoke
No. 1 engine company. with quarters
only a short distance from the store.
made a quick response to a call for
assistance.
| A few minutes after the alarm was
| sounded ladders were raised to- almost
every window on the second floor and to
| the roof. and as many as half a dozen
| f1remen assembled some of the ladders at
| a time. Some were able to enter the
building, but because of the density Of
Water Does Much Damage.
The fire was confined to the roof.
which was practically destroyed. Fire
men were able to keep. the fire from
the second floor, and also from the
main floor. but water did great
amount of damage to the stock on
both floors. r.
workmen were engaged in the work
of repairing the roof of the store this
morning. According to Fire Marshal
Nicholson they told the latter, how
ever. that they had had no occasion to
nf hn
nothing connected with their work
could have started the blaze.
These repairers were the first to be
apprised of the fire.
coming out Of the chimney about III
o'clock, the brisk wind blowing the
smoke down SO low about them that It
interfered with their work and made
them realize something wah wrong. At
tempting to reach the ground floor
through the building. they found it i'm
possible, they said, and were COM
PEELED to slide down the rope leading
to the alley in the rear of the store
where they had been heating their tar
Persons employed in the store suf-
fered from fumes from the burning
roof for an hour or more before it be-
came known that the roof was burning.
They thought the odor was from the
burning tar that was used in the re-
pair work, they stated, and when they
finally learned to the contrary the
building filled with smoke SO quickly
that,sorne of the clerks were unable to
get their coats and hats &c..
= Smoke Delays Firemen.
Many streams of water were used to
drown the stubborn blaze that was pro-
crossing beneath the roof. Finally the
fremen found it necessary to cut sew
eral holes in the roof to reach the fire.
The water that was poured through
| the several openings reached the cell
lar or ran from the lower fioorrto. the
sidewalk. :,z. .-,..
Chief Wagner and his assistants eau
toned the f1remen about risking their
lives too far from the windows, and it
was nearly an hour before the smok e
cleared away enough to enter the build
ing without danger of being suffocated.
Chief Wagner, Deputy Chief Sulli-
van and Battalion Chief Henry directed
the work Of the firemen. '-
Captain Martin. Hurt.
Capt. Peter D. Martin of No. 2 truck
company was thrown to the pavement
by the bursting of a hose. Later water
from another break in the hose
drenched NJ ]. Webb and J. B. Brooks,
employees of the Washington Gas Light
Company. and James Hunter. a COL
ored employe of the grocer.
Capt. Martin sustained minor cuts
and bruises to his face, hands and ell
bow and was taken to Emergency Hos
pital One member of No. 5 engine
company was partly overcome by
smoke and had to leave the building
for few minutes.
Cut Out the Gas
When the two employees of the gas
&In hv,~r It,s
| with instructions to cut off the flow Of
gas they found 1t an utter impossible
ity to enter the cellar without en-
dangering their lives.
For some time the dense smoke kept
them out Of the building. and when the
smoke had cleared away they discovered
that the water was rather deep in the
cellar. They were very mush disturbed
| by the thought that a break might oc-
| cur in the supply pipe and cause addi-
tional damage.
There came time when the smoke
| cleared from the cellar and when the
water was only waist deep, and then
the young men braved the cold water
and walked to where they had been
| told the meter was located. Emerg-
ing from their chilly bath the men
told the firemen there was no gas in
| the building.
Moorehead's Home Escapes.
| The house Of John q. Moorehead. 1913
I X street northwes-, directly adjoins
| the Magruder store, but the fire was
| controlled in time to prevent any dam
age to it.
A slight delay in getting the full quo
| ia of second-aiarm companies to the
| fire was caused by the companies being
| at fire In the house of Henry Slaugh-
| ter. 2236 13th street northwest. where
| an overheated stove had caused the
| trouble. About SITS damage resulted
| TRANSPORT AND 1900 MEN