New Britain herald., 1916-02-16
BUSINESS DISTRICT OF
 FALL RIVER, MASS, SWEPT
 BY FIRE--LOSS $2,O0O,O0
Hotel and Several of Largest Retail Stor| Destroyed-- Many Other Buildings
 Badly Damaged by Flames
NO LIVES LOST-NO ONE INJURED;
 MANY PEOPLE HAVE NARROW ESCAPE

Confagration Most Disastrous
 History Of City-Police and F
 men Unable to Give Any Theorsh
 to Probable Origin of BIaze-H1 1
 Guests and Residents of TeM
 ment Houses Driven Into StreH
 Fall River, Mass. Feb. 16.-E mates made by owners of propeN and proprietors of stores in the
 tion of the business district swN by fire early today indicated that total loss would be approxims lv two million dollars. A score& buildings, including an apartmM hotel, and several of the largest tail stores in the city, were destTE ed and many others were Da& damaged. There was no loss Of and although there were many n TOW escapes, no one was tn5ureda
 A determined stand made by firemen in the rear of a long linek burning buildings kept the fiarH from spreading to a congested
 trict of wooden tenement hou8 backing up on the burning ad3 Residents of those houses, frighte at the prospect that their hoHH would be lost in the rush of T fled to the snow covered streets VI little clothing. Many of them haS ly threw a part of their furnita out of doors and windows.
 Origin a Mystery.
 Police and firemen early in the < were unable to put forward x theory as to the probable origin the fire. It started in the basemA of the four story brick building the corner of South Main and Sprs streets, occupied by the departm store of the Steiger Go. The niH watchman in this store, Michs O'Rourke said that when he md his last round shortly before nH night he saw no sign of fire. A
 minutes later when he was on upper floor, he heard a sound lik slight explosion. He hurried doz stairs and found the basement ma with smoke. He attempted to td8 phone fire headquarters but unaA to get a connection he rushed to K street. By the time he reached fire box some one else had seen fian8 coming from the building and l turned in an alarm. \
 When the first piece of appara arrived, the Steiger building was ablaze. Within a few minutes fire had spread to adjoining buiH ings on the west side of South M' 'M St. and had jumped across the strA and obtained great headway in buiE ings on the east side. Help was tl B called from New Bedford, Taunt8 and Newport, R. I. Proves Effective Check
 Before the out of town engines n arrived the flames had made sucIA start that it was impossible to st# their progress southward along Soua Main street until they had reachh the corner of Columbia street Hd1 the Edward Building, with a dou fire wall, served as an effect x check, and by flooding the buildia and adjoining properly with wat H the firemen got the upper hand the conf1agration.
 At the north end of the burnt district, a water curtain on the d@ partment store of R. A. McWhirr Co., prevented a further spread. granite walls of St. Mary's Cathe k ral protected residential disfr N nearby. @
 Ienox Hotel Burned. M
 The Lenox Hotel, diagonaliy aero inc street from the Steiger stoiN was one of the first buildings
 suffer. The guests were hastl roused and made their way out
 fire escapes and doors in the req The front of the hotel was then K James.
 Numerous explosions in the pal shop of P. P. Morris, on Sprls street. helped to spread the fame This building adjoined the cathedra
 Heaviest Individual Loss.
 The heaviest individual loss VI uttered by the Steiger Co. Membe f the firm estimated it at $500.0t m building and stock. The cloak arg uit store of Cherry x Webb, in tlN Tlint building, was another hea % oser Other buildings destroyed q he west side of South Main stre were the Cobb, Bates and YersN Grocery store, the Campbell building five and ten cent stoT ,ffices and lodge rooms: the tobactN tore, and the Sullivan building, coiN aiming an undertaking establishmelH md a large stock of caskets.
 On the east side of South MaI treet the fire wiped out the Hollar% Iachinery shop, the Lavino fru tore, the Egan building, containing he J. c. Brady drug store and teneH 1ents; the New York Clothing HoussH he Hotel Lenox, Reeds barber shol# Robert Murphy's restaurant anN ,avid Wolks variety store. TIE