The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-01-06
Firemen of Three Cities
Combat Most Disastrous
|. Blaze of Many Months.
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received at the station at IL o'clock
SHARP Smith and Davis having
spent about 20 minutes in locating
the fire.
smith was sure the fire was in
the Kresge store. Firemen lent
their efforts to push the door in,
but IL did not bulge. 1t was fitted
SO closely that not even the smell
Of smoke could be noticed. Smith
stepped back and kicked the door
in. A wave of heat and q heavy
ball Of smoke rolled forth.
s. The flames, which at first had
been confined to the basement,
which was a seething inferno, soon
ate their way to the first, second,
and then the third stories of the
building. The store front is 40 feet
in width, but only 80 feet of this
Is the main store, 10 foot space
from front to rear being partition
ed of into stock room, and up
through this space Che flames roar
ed.
II Send Call for Help.
Il Chief Schmidt, with force of 80
fnen. was unable to cope with the
fire demon and sent in calls to Dav-
export and Moline.
From Davenport came the No. 1
and No. Z companies and from Mo-
line Chief Hawk headed the No.
company.
The Rock Island No. 1 pump was
Stationed at Second avenue and
Eighteenth street. The Rock Is
land No. pump was working at
Seventeenth street and Second ave-
nue.. Davenport's pump went TO
work on Second avenue between
Eighteenth and Nineteenth streets.
The Davenport hose truck took up
nosition in front of the kreSge
building and it's crew directed two
lines of water into the burning
building.
The Moline pump went to work
on First avenue and Eighteenth
street, and the five Rock Island
hose trucks took up the intermedi-
ate positions open in the district
from First to Second avenues and
from Seventeenth and Nineteenth
streets. Ten lines of hose were in
use. Some were playing streams
of>water on the fire from the front
and rear of the building and some
lines were being played from the
tops of adjoining buildings.
Cold is Severe.
The low temperature soon caused
the water to freeze, even inside OF
the burning building. Where there
was no fame there was ice. The
/. front of the building was covered
with a thick coating of ice from
top to bottom and Second avenue
had a deep coating for over halt
block on either side of the build
ing. 1t was not until S:15 o'clock
this morning that the Tri-City Rail-
way company was able to cut a
track through for the passage OF
cars.
Firemen Given Aid.
The fremen were coated inches
deep with ice and the III. & K. store
was thrown open to them. The
Mosenfelder & Son store was also
opened to the needs of the firemen
Dozens of pairs of wool socks
were given out, along with caps
nittens, shirts and even under
wear. Some of the men were
forced to change some of their
clothing, the ice holding them
staunch in its grasp.
Coffee was served throughout the
night, men of the Fire Fans asso-
citation carrying the coffee from res
taurantS. This association is made
up of eight men and nearly all
were on the job last night, for
which the regular firemen were
more than thankful.
What State Marshal Says.
deputy State Fire Marshal
Charles Mattson says that the
Kresge building was investigated
nearly three weeks ago by Deputy
z. P. Goeble. Mr.. Goebles report
on the'building was that there were
no serious fire hazards at the time,
but that a recommendation had
been made that approved fire ex-
tinguishers be provided for each
1000 feet of floor space. The mar
shals would not conjecture as to
whether the fire started from the
furnace or from crossed electric
wires, as is the opinion of Mr.. Nc
Cermick, the manager.
Much Water Pumped.
John A. Murrin, in charge OF the
wafer hoIhS, eslluateu JnlS morn
ing that more than 1000, 900 gal
Ions of water had been used at the
fire. However. he claimed that
there was an ample reserve supply
and that the pressure was kept up
to the standard of go pounds.
The sidewalk in front of the
store was roped off early this
morning under orders of Commits
sioner Fitzsimmons and other city
oficials were endeavoring to make
the street safe for passage. Much
water was running through the
NJ & K. department. store base
ment, but was flowing some Is
inches below the stock shelves and
was passing out of the building
through sewer that was being
kept open. Any damages from
either ice or water further than al
ready had been done was not ex-
pected, but several store Easements
are flooded.
kresge Stock Lost.
Stock of the S. S. Kresge COM
pany is a complete loss. There is
nothing left to salvage. The huge
skylight in the center of the store
furnished vent and f1ue for the
names, and the fire gained its