The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1922-02-03
BIG BLAZE
MENACES
0R0vILLE
Hotel Guest Injured
In Jump From
Second Story.
LUSS NEAk 9l0,UUU
Single Line of Hose All That
Is Available With Which
to Fight Flames.
LOSS NEAR $4,000

Fire early Tuesday morning COM
pletely destroyed the Peerless building
at the corner of Main street and Cen
tral avenue and the Palace Hotel ad-
joining, both three story frame build
ings. ..
Pat McClusky, guest of the hotel,
escaped by jumping from second
story window after being burned about
the arms, back and neck The small
bones OF the left foot were crushed as
result of jumping to the ground, and
Me will probably be permanently lam
d by the injury, according to DR.. E.
Bevis, who reduced the fractures.
All other occupants of the Peerless
|6nd the hotel escaped without injury,
(reneh several a eaxsR q; : gsshisls assst tha
0bthes they hastily covered them
Iselves with when the alarm was given.
The loss was estimated at about
f$1S,0 900 with insurance on the buildings
and part of the personal effects of
$4,000 $1,000 on the Peerless. $S O0O
on the Palace and $4,000 on Wicker
shams funiture and effects.
The first person to discover the fire
! was Mrs. Ed Burden who awakened
about 5 o'clock and saw sparks fall
ing from the ceiling of her bedroom
1 in the Peerless. She awakened her
husband, and he Immediately shouted
/ the alarm to Joe. Kinney, who was
sleeping on the first floor of the Pal
ace hotel, where he acts as night clerk
and manager of the adjoining restaal-
rant, Kinney thought that the call
came from above, and he ran up stairs
shouting the alarm When he reached
the second floor he saw the fire re-
Elected through the door at the end of
the hall leading to the stairway be-
tween the two buildings. Burden call
ed up RObt. Killian, night Telephone
operator at the central station who
spread the alarm.
In the meantime occupants of the
buildings and guests of the hotel. be-
gan getting out hurredly amid much
confusion. Jack Flanagan ran across
h the street to the Covert building to call
4 Fred Hart, chief of the volunteer fire
department. He first awakened MIR. and
Mrs. Covert in trying to find Hart's
room, and when directed where to find
Hart. in his excitement, he broke the
glass in the door instead of turning
the knob.
By this time the flames had broken
h through the roof of the Peerless The
light was seen by the railroad men at
Il the round house and they began blow
ing the engine whistles. First attempts
to sound the siren at the fire station
Il proved futile until Guy Rayburn man
aged to make it work. Several shots
were fired and people began running
from all parts of town.
NJ. l.. Reed. Jr. was the first to
reach the fire truck, Casey Jones Join
ing him there soon afterwards. They
found that the magnetic on the engine
had been disconnected and the car
burator almost closed. 1t took nearly
half an hour to start the engine, by
which time the two big frame build
ings were roaring mass of flames
whipping in high north wind and
showering large section of the town
to the south and east with sparks and
burning debris.
The hydrant across the street from
the burning buildings was frozen and
the only one that could be used was
Mt the corner by the Oroville CONNER.
cial company's store From this, q
single line of hose was run and a
stream finally thrown on to the fire
A second line of hose. when run out
was found to be clogged with ice. sc
that the only defense was the one line
from the hvdrant and a small bit oI
hose run from the De Grubb hotel.
BY the time the water was turned or
the roofs Of the two. buildings hai
fallen in and the structures wer.
doomed. The only chance was to con
fine the fire and at that time the pos
sihilitv of so doing seemed all bu
homeless. Wind driven sparks wer,
sweening over the scores of frame
buildings, sheds warehouses and lnm
ber ward from Central avenue to he
yond the railroad tracks. Incipien