Evening star., 1921-08-23
LOSSES BY BLAZE
EXCEED $29Q,0l(|
Fire in Coast Guard Building
Destroys Treasury Depart
ment Stationery.

Fire in the United States Coast Guard
building. northeast corner Of 14th and
E streets, opposite the District building,
was discovered shortly before s o'clock
this morning. 1t started in a room on
the first floor of the E street side Of
the structure, where stationery belong
ing to the Treasury Department was
stored, but its origin could not be def
nitely determined. Assistant Secretary
of the Treasury Wadsworth estimated
the damage to the stationery at ap-
proximately 32s0.Ooo. while damage to
the building was estimated a& $4,000.
This was the second IRE to occur In
the building since March "a. 1920. when
the building and contents were dam
agod to the amount Of $500, and the
NTH since the building was erected,
according to Chief Clerk Platt OF the
Treasury.
Charles NJ. Lehman, civilian watch
man. was on duty on the first hoor OF
when he detected smoke. Frederick
Diebold. q chief commissary steward in
the military service. was on duty on an
upper floor.
Lehman, locating the fire. used a fire
extinguisher in an effort to prevent the
II
moned the fire department
second Alarm Sounded.
Soon after Battalion Chief Nicholson
appeared on the scene q second alarm
was sounded, it being feared the COM
panies responding to the first alarm
would be unable to cope with the f1re
and prevent it from spreading to
other structures.
when members of the fire depart
ment reached the interior of the
building, where metal doors are pro-
vided as means of fire protection. 1t
Is stated, 30 much material was piled
against them that it was impossible
other parts of the structure. Had the
supplies not been piled against the
doors. the fire marshal stated, much
less damage would have been done.
Fire Marshal seib is conducting an
Investigation with view to deter
mining the origin of the fire. 1t was
reported by the watchmen that 1t
started on one of the shelves where
stationery was stored, and defective
wiring was suggested as the cause.
that electric wires did not cause the
fire, the wires having been incased in
pipes after the fire last year.
Assistant secretary's Statement.
A statement issued by Assistant
Secretary Wadsworth of the Treasury
said:
"The ground floor is occupied by the
supply department of the division of
printing and stationery. The sup
forms and all ordinary office equip
ment except furniture.
"The flre completely ruined all the
material in the shipping room, and
the fire and water combined did seri-
Gus damage to the other stock on the
ground floor. A rough estimate Of the
damage would be. at the most: $2so,ooo
to material and $4,000 to $4,000 to
buildings and equipment.
"on the second floor the ofiice OF
the commandant Of the coast guard
and his executive offices were badly
smoked and slightly damaged by water.
, One room containing certain records
was badly burned. but most of the
records, while charred on the out
side, were SO tightly packed in filing
cases that they can still be utilized
1T is very fortunate that the fire
was SO promptly gotten under con
troll. as many Of the buildings in the
block are occupied by government
offices, are old. and not fireproof."