Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1919-02-19
FLAMES AND EXPLOSION WRECK
ENTIRE BUSINESS BLOCK.
LOSS TO REACH $75,
CRUSHED BY FALLING WALL
Many Victims Are Volunteers Who
Helped to Fight Blaze-City
of 5000 Had No Standing
Fire Department.

L
three hours threatened the city OF
Plattevine, Saturday, Feb. 8, resulted
in the death of eight persons, injury
to eleven, and the destruction of $751;
900 worth of property.
Originating by spontaneous combus-
ton in the basement of the brick Fore
hand building, which covered an entire
block, it spread rapidly throughout the
three floors of the building, causing
three explosions, which wrecked the
structure and blew the south wall and
corner out into the street.
By fierce fighting the fire was con-
fined to one block. Most of those killed
were volunteer firemen, some of whom
were members of the city's volunteer
fire brigade. Others had offered their
help when the fire broke out, and still
others were school boys who were car
rying jewelry and other valuables out
of the burning building when the wall
fell upon them.
The eleven persons injured were
also caught under the falling wall and
some of them were severely crushed.
Nine were rushed to DR.. Wilson Cum
ningham's hospital at Platteville,
where it was reported they would re-
cover with possibly one exception, that
of Ray Edwards, a student, whose
body was badly crushed. They are
all of Platteville.
A gas stove and several cans of gas
oline, which are known to have been
in the building at the time of the fire,
are believed to have caused the eXplo-
sion. According to James Dolan, for
mer assemblyman and a prominent
lawyer of Platteville, the cause Of the
fire is believed to have been sponta-
neous combustion.
Volunteer firemen and school boys
began hustling the jewelry out of the
Vanderbilt jewelry store on the grounG
floor of the building shortly after the
fire started. When the explosions oc-
Cured they were caught beneath the
falling brick walls. Most of the killed
were found several feet from the
building, suggesting that they had
seen and tried to escape the falling
walls.
John Kopp, a high school student,
was blown through window of the
first floor of the building, but was only
slightly injured.
Ernest Dickson, who was killed, had
learned Friday night of the death of
his mother in Kansas City. His
brother left Saturday morning for
Kansas City to return with the body.
Fred Steinhoff and S. Austen Hale,
two of the killed were farmers living
near the edge of the city. They vol
unteered their services when they
learned of the fire.
The fire started shortly before 1
o'clock Saturday afternoon. 1t imme-
diately threatened nearby structures.
The heat was so intense that attend
ants in the telephone exchange across
the street were driven from their
posts, and no communication with the
city by telephone from outside was
possible for nearly two hours.
The Forehand building, to which the
fire was confined, is complete wreck.
1t was valued at $4,000 and the de-
stroyed property with the building
was valued at approximately $4,000.
The building was recently renamed
she Realty building by c. A. Rafter,
who owned the block, one of the prin-
cipal buildings in Platteville. Rafter
owned the tobacco factory on the third
floor of the building. He was the only
one of the occupants of the apart
ments on the second floor to be killed.
None of the other residents were in
the building at the time of the explo-
sions.
Searchers hunted through the smol-
dering ruins of the building with
flashlights almost all night Saturday
and continued their search on Sunday,
but no more bodies were recovered.
The block was in flames for nearly
four hours. Crowds of people from
Dubuque and other nearby cities mo-
tored to Platteville to watch the fire.
1t was necessary to call out Company
M of the state guard to keep the
crowd away from the blazing build
ing and TO assist the volunteer fire
fighters in combining the destruction to
the one black.
The Palace of Sweets and the tele-
phone building, across the street,
were saved by having a continuous
stream of water played over them.
Platteville, which is city of 5000
has no standing fire department. A
state normal school and a school Of
mines are located here.