The weekly tribune and the Cape County herald. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1914-1918, 1916-08-11
FORNFELT FIRE
BURNS 5 HOMES:
Loss Is $4,000
ElaZe Starts In Defective
'lue of Hughes Home and
Spreads Fast.
SCORES OF MEN FORM
WATER BUCKET LINES
Water Supply Fails and Tank
Wagons Come to Rescue
None Injured.

Fire wiped out almost an entir,
block of dwelling houses in Fornfel
yesterday afternoon and resulted il
damage estimated at between $4,000
and $4,000.
Five homes were burned to the
ground and their occupants last night
were taken into the homes of their
neighbors. The flames swept from
one house to another for nearly two
hours in spite of the valiant efforts of
approximately 500 men to stop the fire
with bucket brigades and bucket lines
In the midst of the hand-to-hand en-
counter with the flames, the water sup
ply weakened upon the men and they
were forced to virtually stand aside
and watch the fire burn itself out
against the walls of the sixth home
that it reached.
The blaze was started about 4:30
o'clock, it is believed in a defective
flue in the home of R. L. Hughes, who
occupies what is known as the Form
felt Euilding. The Hughes home is a
six-room frame, a block south of the
Cotton Belt railroad tracks.
The flames got a good headway be-
fore the fight against them was start
ed. for the fire was not seen until it
was noticed by group of railroad
men who were working nearby. They
sounded fire alarm by means of the
engine whistle and ran to all parts
of the town arousing men to fight the
flames.
Men dropped their work in virtually
every section of the town to fight the
flames. Fornfelt is without any or
ganized fire fighting department and
the men realized that the city was
endangered through any flames that
got from their control.
Bucket brigadeS were formed at
once, but they were too late to keep
the fire from eating its way into the
home of William Miller, bartender for
James Gill, who lives in the house
owned by Mrs. Mable Ringo, just next
door to the Hughes place.
Men aided the members of the fam
lilies in carrying out and salvaging
household furnishings and as it be-
came apparent that the flames were
not going to stop at the Miller home,
they entered other homes in the line
and carried out the furnishings.
There are six members of the Hugh
es family, all of whom escaped with
out injury. Mr.. Miller has a wife, a
son and daughter, who also escaped
uniniured.
The next home in the line was a 1c-
room house owned by Arthur Keller
and occupied by Frank and family. Mr..
Farmer is an engineer on the Cotton
Belt. Another 10-room home next to
the Farmer place, that of w. McMut-
lin, was destroyed and the house own
ed by J. H. Bryant and occupied by
Oscar Bays and family, a Groom
structure, also was wiped out.
The flames were scorching the side
of the home of P. ]. Devine when they
finally were controlled by the scores
of volunteer fremen. After the city
water supply had failed in the emer-
gency, tank wagons were driven to the
scene of the fire, loaded and bucket.
were filled from them.
The McMullin home was the only
one that is known to have been in
sured. In all the places that were
burned, there was time to save vir-
tually al 1.-The household furnishings.
Simultaneous with the fire, switch
ing crew on the Cotton Belt, nearby,
had wreck when the car jumped the
track and rolled over on its side. Mono
was injured in the wreck.