The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1921-11-07
Loss Estimated Between
Two and Three Thou
sand Dollars


Fire started in the rear of the
Standrod Bank building Sunday
morning and did damage amounting
to from $4,000 to $4,000 before being
extinguished. The fire department
tried to control it with chemicals,
but few moments of effort showed
] that water was necessary and they
turned on the big hose under heavy
pressure and stopped the fire at once,
but of course did some damage with
the water.
/ The basement had large supply
of coal and there had been no fire In
the furnace since Saturday noon.
The basement has no ventilator and
no ventilation excepting thru the cell
larway and doors, and study OF the
causes of the fire lead to the belief
that it was spontaneous combustion
arising from the dust and gases from
the coal and other contents Of the
| basement. Coal in itself yields no
heat when lying in the open, but
when stored in close place there Is
more or less of gas and dust that
sometimes combines and strikes a
flame. When coal is being placed in
basement it makes great deal of
dust and dirt, and sometimes people
hose it as it is being put, in, and
while this keeps down the dust 1t Is
said that 1t increases the fire danger
in the period following when the
basement is closed.
t. &ho ooco ~ tho honk Aro tho
seat of flames was the stairway and
lat point about the level of the
ground floor. The electric wiring
was we'll done and in good condition,
all wires being in conduits. Dense
smoke and fumes accompanied the
starting of the fire, and as soon as
door was opened to give 1t fresh
air the flames mounted rapidly. The
whole place seemed ready to ignite,
and did SO as soon as there was fresh
aid to feed 1t.
T. J.. Johnson was working in the
bank between 8 and 10 in the morn
ing and noticing the odor Of smoke
in the front he walked back thru the
rear rooms and as he opened the
door, to the rear hall the dense smoke
burst upon him and he closed the
door and telephoned the fire DEPART
ment., Smoke was already issuing
from crevices all thru the supper
story and, about the windows, and
this increased rapidly in volume.
When the firemen arrived and
opened the side door at the stairway.
the flames leaped the full height Of
the building and needed only an out
let to turn the whole thing into a
furnace. ~ at4
An examination OF the upper story
after it was emptied of smoke
showed that the place was filled with
heat and fumes and much of the
woodwork was charred and ready to
blaze the instant 1t got air, the same
as flame will spread like a flash over
materials saturated with gasoline.
All the glass in the doors and inside
windows along the hall and offices
cracked with the heat; doors and
woodwork fried in their own paint
and varnish, and pictures on the
walls smoked. The tinted walls
turned dark and everything has to
be renewed or cleaned and polished
and done over as when 1t was made.
One Of the partitions above the seat
Of the greatest heat blew out by the
expansion Of air heated in 1t, and
men working by 1t at the time said
that the floor buckled under the
strain. ~
DR.. Patrie has his office in the
second story and was out of town,
and Mrs. Patrie arrived at the scene
early and made q dash for the stair
way intending to try saving his books
and instruments but she was told
that she could not live minute II
she went in. A. T. Springer and F.
G. Christ ventured into the Curtis
building to make an examination,
and the smoke was SO dense they
came out suffering intensely.
The vaults are so we'll built Of fire
proof materials that even II the
building has burned down, none Of
the money or papers in the safety
deposit boxes would have been lost
or even harmed. The money vault is
built of reinforced concrete foot
and half thick, with heavy brick
walls outside of that, the bricks be-
ing of the fire proof kind with air
spaces in them. Then there is the
fire proof safe inside of the vault,
and all money and liberty bonds be-
longing to the bank are kept in
there. II the whole bank had been
burned down, everybody would have
been protected excepting the insur-
ance company and owners of the
building and they would have shared
the loss on the building, furniture
and fixtures, and there would have
been some delay getting the books
out and opening up business in some
other place.
The office of John Early had
policies Of fire insurance
A.