New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1918-11-11
ALDERIDGE BLOCK
Quilted BY FLAMES
Cause Of Fire Is UDkn0Wn--LOSS
May Reach $4,000
TOWN CELEBRATES PEACE


German Empire Had CrumbIcd
and Peace Is At Hand.
One of the most disastrous fires in
the history Of the town of Plainville
was discovered raging in the Alder
idge block on Whiting street at
o'clock this morning. The cause of
the blaze is unknown and the fact
that the entire northeast end of the
building seemed to burst into flames
at once adds mystery to the affair
The Alderidge building is one of the
oldest buildings in the town and has
served as a place. for stores and ten
enlents for years. It is a wooden
building containing a large blind at
tic and the fact that this attic was a
part Of the building made the fire a,
good deal brighter and the work of
the firemen a good deal more difficult
The loss is about $3.50
At 12:45 o'clock this morning the
proprietor of the Palace of Sweets
closed his store which adjoins the
Alderidge building and in going home
passed by the building. At that time
everything was alright and not a
trace of a fire could be seen. A few
minutes later however the entire end
Of the building was blazing and an
alarm was sent in simultaneously by
three parties. Within a few seconds
after the alarm was sent in the fire
whistle was sounding a, general alarm
Many of the toWnspeople hearing the
whistle thought that the news of the
cic of
had reached town and for that reason
for some time it was not realized that
there was a fire. In the tenements
here were several occupants but
quick work on the part of Henry
Myers and Frank Thompson aided by
Constable Marino succeeded in notify
ing the occupants in time to fee from
the then merrily- burning building.
In about fifteen minutes after the
fire alarm sounded the fire depart
ment arrived on the scene.
Adjoining the Alderidge building
are the buildings of the F. B. New
ton estate, the Central garage, and
the Hotel Clarendon. The hotel man
ager aroused the sleeping guests and
they left the building which was
threatened many times. All the cars
were removed from the garage and
were left in nearby side streets until
all danger was past. The hay and
grain mills Of the Newton estate were
we'll protected for a general con-
fagration would have resulted if they
had caught fire.
The fire itself was most hard to
fight in that it seemed to be burning
fercely in all places at the same
time. When the firemen first arrived
the building was a raging mass of
flames and it seemed impossible to
save the nearby buildings. Two lines
of hose showed no favorable results
but instead the flames spread. Fire
Chief Edward P. Prior was in charge
of the fire and decided that the only
way to fight the fire was from all
sides. TO do this seven lines of hose
had to be used and volunteers from
the ranks of the civilians had to be
obtained to aid the firemen. The re-
suit of the decision to play the fire
from all sides son was visible to ell
for despite the fact that the fire still
burned furiously the probability of
it's communication to nearby build
ings was checked by the fighters.
Never can enough praise be given to
the firemen for the work that they
was assisting Chief Prior and at one
time he stood on the top Of the roof
with hose in hand fighting the flames
right beneath him. The spectators eX-
pected at any moment to see MIN
fall into the burning building, EX-
chief Norton was also ON hand and
aided materially with his advice. !
When the fire was at it's height sew
era1 lines of hose were handled by
former firemen who volunteered their |
services. A few weeks ago the fire.
voters of the town and the fact that |
they are deserving of the raise was
clearly illustrated by the way in !
which every one of them worked re- |
CARELESS of his own personal comfort /
or safety. The Gremen were served |
hot coffee and sandwiches by Henry |
Myers of the Collins lunchroom who |
went around to all the men as they |
stood at their posts. That little kind |
ness was appreciated greatly by all
the men.
The real loss is not known and Of
course will not be for a few days. |
was water soaked and the rear of the
store was badly burned. The Plain |
willie Hardware company suffered also
from water and fire. Some insurance
was carried. The Plainville Baking
was hit the hardest of all.
It was estimated that the stock of |
-four, etc. was valued at over $40, 900. |
a rough estimate places the entire