The twice-a-week Twin Falls times. (Twin Falls, Idaho) 1916-1918, 1917-12-11
Vicious Blaze
Well Handled
Twin Falls Has Narrow Escape From
HOlOcaust-Fire in First National
Taken In Time, But Much Damage
Results.

1t was Just before eight o'clock last
night that Messrs. M. J. Sweeley, S.
r. HOdgin and c. A. Bailey, being to-
gether in Walters & Hodgin's law Of
flee, one of the rooms south of the
corridor on the upper floor of the
First National bank building, per-
ceived a vapor in the air that they at
first thought to be steam. It was not
until after the second examination that
Mr.. Bailey came back into the room
and announced that the building was
on fire Mr.. Sweeley at once phoned
an alarm, and the safes were examin-
ed and a few loose papers collected
in each office. This did not occupy
over three minutes, but the progress
of the fire had been so rapid that
the stairway and landing at the top,
including the contiguous wood work
in the corridors, were a mass o.
flame and all egress in that way cut
off By this time the fire department
was on hand, and it's first duty was
the rescue Of the three men-SenatoT
Sweeley taking the ladder from a win
street side, and Messrs Hodgin and
Ddlltg uOluS lltlI dJultilC SUM- vi
the alley next the Idaho theatre.
In the meantime the hose had been
connected and laid and the nozzle
was carried in the entrance at the
foot of the stairway, where a verit-
able sea of flame was faced-the en-
tire stairway, railing and panneled
side walls of vanished soft wood be.
ing ablaze and giving off intense heal
as well as clouds of acrid smoke. II
was, however, surface fire and yield
ed to the water comparatively quickly
Fireman Kelcey, who carried the noz
zle up the stairs, was obliged to weal
respirator but he got there, JUS
the same. Indeed, the entire job wa:
first-class piece of work on the par
of the fire department, for they ex
tinguished the fire quickly and will
the smallest possible amount of water
in the hall and none at all in any o
the offices upon either side. This
was exceedingly fortunate, as the fOul
or five law libraries up there ART
worth more than twenty thousand dol
/ lars, to say nothing of books in othe
offices and many other things readil,
damaged by water.
No reliable estimate of the damag
has been possible at this writing, bu
| it is not inconsiderable. Every glas
| in the large windows along and a
both ends of the corridor was shatter
ed by the heat; and the walls. many o
them newly papered. are all ruiDe
either by heat or smoke. Many of tn
Werneke book units are blistered. an
| almost all the book bindings are NOR
or less discolored. Nevertheless, TAX
on all in all. the owners of the build
| ing, its tenants and the city at large
can well afford to congratulate them
selves on the outcome.
The firemen place the resDonsibilit
for the origin of the fire directly nm
on the connection between the boile
furnace and the chimney, which ha
been recently renewed and left with
out asbestos covering. The chime
seems to have burned out. creating
draft that heated the connecting pip
intensely. This kindled the ioists un
der which 1t ran and the fire wen
right up the stairway. first to th
lower and then to the upper floor.