New Britain herald., 1917-05-22
Detonations Heard By
 People In Adjacent 7 Houses and By Police
 On Main Street
MOST SPECTACULAR
 BLAZE IN YEARS
Flames Sweep Through Ten Buildings
 and 11,rea4en Entire Section Of City sss sss--Near-by Dwellings Catch Firc
 Froun sparks-Privste Fire Alarm IT.
 Box Falls to Werk- City Guard <. C.,led Out to Maintain Fire Lines.

& Called Out to Maintain Fire ldnes'
 one of the most spectacuiar and de- ytructable fires in this city in many years broke out at 11:40 o'clock last evening in the P. & F. Corbin Annex on Stanley street and before the hre- men. after stubborn battle. had finally conquered the blaze, ton wood en structures had beAn yrased. and ell .sthat remains today arc the cha<red ruins How the ire started has not been determined, but persons residing in that section of the city reported today hearing noise similar to an exp plosion.. and moment later the building on the east side of the plant was q seething mass of flames. Frank English, who lives on East Main stxeet, sent in an alarm from the box ct the corner Of East Main and Stanley streets, and a soon n Chief Dame arrived on the scene he saw that the required full strength of the city de- partment would be necessary to con- quer the ravaSing flames. A general alarm was sent in . few moments later, and the North q Judd company fire whistle warned the members of the factory department of threaten-I ing danger and the mon wore on the scene few moments later. The en- tire ire lighting force of the CorbinsA conapahy wae also pressed into eexv-s Ice ana saiAeA in sAxin& sonne of tho buildings ou tape land. nOtalN tho stables and ths wosdkEvSl' s 5 whore thousands of dollars of expen- .sivs wood 1e stored.
 rho loa1 wil probably reach at least 317s.0oe. according to figures given by the factory ofhcials this aft- ernoon. Heroic work on the part of the department saved ono of the most important buildings, which was In the midst Of the flames. tho pattern store room, where all the designs for the numerous products of the concern are kept. This, 1t is believed, will mean the saving of many thousands of dol- lars. .i
 Starts Near Boiler House.
 According to the best information- 1btainable the fire started in the east end Of the main building near the boiler house and spread rapidly. When the 6remen arrived on the scene, the layout of the hydrants caused some delay. The members of No.s company laid seven lines of hose from a hydrant on East Main street and patiently waited for the water to come, but the top broke off the hydrant and 1t was necessary to pick up the hose and hustle for aIl- other spot. IA part of the work which brought considerable criticism was the manner in which tho men started in to combat the blaze. None of tho buildings which were later ra8ed. was on fire when the department started to work, but instead of concentrating their efforts to keep the flames away from the west end of the structuro, the flremen jumped into the thickest of 1t all, and the buildings not burning were soon at the mercy of the hre. One after one these became ignited, and when it was seen that the saving of the main foundry building was im- possible, efforts were directed toward
 other structures, but the blaze was 50 >terrific and the construction of the
 building of such g character that soon
 the whole yard seemed to be fur
 mace.
 @T Adjacent Houses Afre.
 Famed by sharp breeze the dan-
 ger grew every minute and nearby
 properties were soon menaced. House.
 in the vicinity became ignited. ma.k-
 ing 1t necessary for relief. One of the
 largest crowds that ever viewed fire a~rwas, on hand after the word had
 passed around of the seriousness oi z the situation. the recent hrebug scare
 still remaining fresh In residents
 minds. Many remained until nearl.
 o'clock when the confagratior
 seemed to bs under control. It wa! 7 after o'clock. however. before thu flremen started the work of picking up their hose.
 Ases City Guard Does Police Duty. scenting the danger, Mayor Georg' - A,z Quigley issued orders for callini
 Out the City Guard and the members
 aided by the police force. handled tn < big crowd commendably. Chairman IF. O.. Babcock was on hand as wer' < D onH nfhnr naun liar