Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1918-05-30
FIRE DESTROYS 3
PLACES OF BUSINESS
of the City Wipes out Business
Houses at an Early Hour

of the City Wipes out Business
Houses at an Early Hour
Audubon was visited last Satur-
day morning about seven O'Clock by
the worst fire that the city has ex-
perienced since the days when all
places of business were built Of
wood. The advent of brick reduced
the fire hazard. but the few remain
ing frame buildings still prove a
menace to the business district, as
was attested to last week.
The fire. which is supposed to
have come from spontaneous COM
bustion, started in the planning mill
of Hermansen & Stone. A pile of
slack coal in the coal room caught
fire during the night and by morn
ing had famed itself into a pile of
live Goals. The building was filled
with gas. but no smoke was apparent
for the writer passed the building no
less than ten minutes before the en-
tire building was enveloped in
flames. II seems as though the in
terror of the building was in flames
in less than five minutes 1t spread
so rapidly that no opportunity was
given to save anything.
The old livery barn adjoining on
the north. and owned by F. o. Mix
Jason. was doomed from the start,
as il was also frame building. Ev-
erything was taken out and saved.
II was a roaring furnace in less than
half an hour.
A. f Beason'S garage was next in
the wake of the fire. 1t was feared
that he could not hope to escape the
fate that had come to his neighbors.
Willing hands soon had all the auto
mobiles taken from the building.
Practically all of the automobile ac-
cessories were saved. A lot of ma
chinery in the machine room and the
batteries and other material in the
vulcanizing room were destroyed,
amounting to no less than $500
alone.
The roof of the building was prac-
tically burned, and the upper floor
Quilted The walls. while they re-
main standing. are considerably dam
aged It was thought the floor in
the garage could be saved, but on
close inspection it was found that
in many places large holes were
burned through. In fact, the base
ment and the cement floor in the
basement was all that remained I'M
injured.
Mr.. Beason carried $4,000 insur-
the contents. The insurance will
heavy loss he sustained.
Neither Hermansen & Stone nor
F. o. Niklason carried any insurance
1nsr >,,tI tv,rx &c II
mansen & Stone suffer no less than
a $4,000 loss on building, machin-
cry and woodwork, some of which
was for stock and a lot of finished
mill work was for homes in course
of erection. Having no insurance
the loss is heavy one. F. o. Mix
Jason sustains a $1,000 loss on the
large barn.
The residence of I NJ. Darland.
south Of the planning mill, was also
badly damaged by fire. In fact 1t
was difficult to save the building. It
was on fire several times but the
stream of water playing on the flame
saved him. He carried insurance
which will fully reimburse him IA
the loss sustained.
The fire department responded to
the call quickly. Had it not been
that some of the hose and other fire
fighting apparatus had been taken
from the fire truck, which had to be
found before they could make the
run. they would have arrived on the
scene much sooner The fire demon
strated that the department is sadly
in need of more hose. Fortunately
there was plenty of water. and had
the hydrant been turned on in full
force as soon as the line of hose was
laid. perhaps more of the Beason
garage could have been saved The
fire laddies worked heroically and
the only one injured was George
Oelke. who had his face badly,
scorched
The heat was so intense that the
residences of VIM. McLeran and Val
Leonard were badly scorched. VIM
dows were also cracked by the in
tense heat. The plate glass windows
in the C. II. Wilde poultry house
across the street were also cracked
by the heat.
AS soon as the fire had made good
Roadway it was feared that the en-
tire south side of Broadway was in
danger of destruction. The fire de-
partments at Elk Horn. Manning
and Carroll were notified The two
former made record run and reach
ed here in time to help but word
was sent to Carroll that they were
not needed just few moments be-
fore they We're ready to start. If the
wind had been blowing as viciously
as it did the day before. the entire
business district would have been
doomed. Fortunately when the fire
was at its worst there was practically
no wind. Had the fire been two
hours later the wind would have
Carried the fire across the alley and
there is no telling where it would
have stopped. AS it was, evidences
of the fire were found as far away
as the Northwestern depot.
Audubon has learned another les
son. 1t is hoped that the town will
purchase more hose and other ne
cessities so that in case they are
needed they will be on hand. Ev-
eryone felt relieved when the fire
was over. The thing that now agi-
tates the minds of the people is the
old frame buildings that remain in
the fire district There was talk
that some steps would be taken to
condemn them. but thus far nothing
has been done.
Your turn may be next; insure
with Hawks
-O-