Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1916-08-02
ELEVATOR FIRE
WAS A HOT ONE
P. {. lundquist's Independent
Elevator Burned, Causing
A Loss Of $4,000.

The first bad fire of recent years
visited the village of Kandiyohi Mon
day evening Of this week, when the
Independent elevator, owned and oper-
ated by P. E. Lundquist was destroyed
by the flames. The origin Of the fire
is unknown and will always remain
mystery, tho from the location of the
blaze when discovered, it no doubt
caught from a hot box. It was dis
covered few minutes after six o.
clock, and as the elevator had not
been running at all during the after
noon, it is likely there was a smolder-
ing blaze for some time, as lot of
work had been done IN the forenoon.
The fire started in the pit, and the
flames worked their way up thru the
chute, making the structure doomed
in a short time. Some trouble was
experienced in getting at the fire en-
CINE, to get it into working order, but
when the hose was connected up, and
stream of water secured, the sur
rounding property was safe.
In less than thirty minutes after the
blaze was discovered, the building
was reduced to ashes, the dry wealth
er of the past few weeks making the
wood burn like finder. Mr.. Lundquist
had been away from the elevator dur
ing the afternoon. Together with his
brother Ed, who was visiting there,
he had gone out on a trip to inspect
the crops. He had been back but
few minutes when the fire was discov-
cred. The boy who closed up took all
the grain records home, as was the
habit of Mr.. Lundqu;st. These rec
ords together with few valuable pa
pers were the sum total saved from
the conflagration. In the building at
the time of the fire were about three
thousand bushels Of barley and wheat,
a good share Of which were destroyed.
The elevator had a capacity of about
fourteen thousand bushels. 1t had
been owned and operated by Mr.. Lund-
quist for the past eighteen years.
When he purchased the elevator
about that number Of years ago, 1t
was but small building, and had
been built up, and additions had been
added to it from time to time by the
owner, until it reached the capacity
previous to the fire.
The loss is placed at about $4,000,
and is covered by insurance to the
amount of $4,000 in three companies,
The Phoenix, st. Paul Fire and Ma
rine and! Home Insurance companies.
Nothing but the good work Of the
Kandiyohi firemen and the fine stream
thrown by the engine saved the sur
rounding property from going. The
heat from the burning structure was
SO great that a number Of rails on the
side track near the elevator were bent
all out of shape. It was necessary for
the section crew to lay four new
lengths the following day. The paint
on the depot, quite distance from
the burning building was blistered in
many places, and the heat on the
street nearly block from the fire was
intense.
The gasoline tank which was sta
toned just north Of the elevator was
removed in time to prevent an explo5-
ion.
When the village fathers of Kandi-
yohi two years ago purchased the new
Waterous gasoline fire engine and one
CAOu0oAu AVOk VI AO" AOoO tAOy "ouO
mighty good investment. AS soon
as the connections had been made
with the village cisterns at the fire
Monday night the engine threw fine
stream of water which first was used
to put out the fire which had caught
in the Farmers Elevator coal sheds
and later saved large pile of cord
wood which was all ablaze. It is the
unanimous opinion Of the people Of
the village that but for the fire engine
the Farmers Elevator would have
burned before assistance could have
arrived from Willmar.
Gilbert Johnson, chief of Kandl-
yohi's fire department, was out Of
town at the crucial moment when the
fire apparatus was to be put to its
first serious test. No one was at hand
at the moment who knew how to start
the engine, but Richard Freedholm
managed to do this when he shortly
arrived on the scene.