The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1919-09-06
Centerville Apparatus Leaps
Out of Station and Crashes
Into Building OPP
posite.
BACKS INTO ANOTHER
Thirty Mile an Hour Speed at Start
When Motor Sets Out on
Most important Fire ~
Alarm

CENTERVILLE, Iowa. Sept g.
The new $4,000 fire truck Of the city
is now a wreck, the result OF too
much speed. The wreck occurred
shortly after 10000 o'clock just as the
truck was being taken from the fire
department to make run to nre
at the power plant which had been
reported to the department
Driver Swafford upon getting the
report, jumped on the truck and
started the motor The door was
thrown open and the car shot from
the garage at a rate of speed est1.
mated all the way from twenty to
thirty-fiye miles an hour-- Going al
such rate of speed as to make II
impossible for the car TO make the
turn into the street, the powerful
truck lunged onto the sidewalk In
front of the Steele garage and grazed
the building as it lunged around on
its wild journey. Three f1remen, who
had rushed to the fire department to
catch the truck, were directly In the
road running toward the truck. When
it was seen that the truck had gone
wild they began to dodge and in so
doing made it impossible for the
driver to keep a straight course.
The truck was jerked toward the
right and plunged through the side
of the Kearwille building. With such
great speed did the car runge into
this building that the brick wall for
considerable space was torn down and
the hood of the car entirely pene-
trated the side of the building. Swat
ford then reversed the car and with
ho hA MT
the White brick building across the
street, although the car was stopped
before this building was in any way
demolished.
Estimates, as to how much of an
expenditure it will take to put the
truck back into shape, can not well
be determined yet. The radiator Is
ruined, one wheel broken into fine
particles, the front axel sprung,
springs broken, back platform smash
ed, oil case broken and possibly the
engine ruined.
Driver Swafford escaped without
injury although Chief Of Police John
Quigley sustained a badly sprained
knee when he jumped from the truck
just before it crashed into the Kear-
willie building. Lacey Morrison, who
was riding on. the rear of the car,
was dislocated and sprained, although
brick building as the car lunged
forward after hitting the sidewalk in
front of the Steele garage. His wrist
was dislocated and sprined, although
it was thought that he had sustained
no internal injuries. Fireman Shin
ogle escaped without injury, although
he had the most narrow escape of
any. He was running down the pave
ment toward the car just as it made
its wild turn before hitting the Kear-
willie building. In attempting to
dodge the car, he slipped and fell
and the big truck jumped past him
and missed killing him only by a
fraction of foot
Edgar Swafford, driver of the truck,
explained the accident by the fact
that the gasoline foot feed stuck just
as the car started from the garage
The gas feed on the steering wheel
is set at seven miles an hour and
when extra speed is needed, the foot
feed is always used. Mr.. Swafford,
according to his own statements,
threw in his clutch and stepped on
the foot feed to race the engine to
get it we'll heated up, He then let
his clutch in and took his foot from
off of the foot feed. The car lunged
forward at full speed and it was then
that Mr.. Swafford realized that his
foot feed has stuck.
Every effort will be made to get
the truck into running condition as
soon as possible.