The Washington times., 1923-01-16
Of FIRE
BATTLES
PROBE
Norfolk Apartment House
Blaze Gives Firemen Diff
ficuIt Battle.
Continued ffom Page 1s1

street southwest, No. 8 truck com
pany, overcome by gas. In Cas-
ualty and reported improved this
morning.
H. D. Kelley is in Casualty sui,
fering with pneumonia. His con.
dition is improved. He was car!
ried to safety by Fire Lieutenant
Helmuth and Detective Keuhling
from the third floor Of one OF the
apartment buildings. Physicians
feared at first that the exposure
would be fatal, but today they de.
clared he was on the road to re-
covery.
Mrs. Emily F. Nelson, confined
to bed for six weeks, was carried
out last night. She is with friends
Her condition is not serious.
Mrs. e. C.. Latmir, sixty-nlne
years old, overcome by smoke. Her
condition is improved today. she
Is staying with friends nearby. She
was rescued by Policeman j. v.
Wetherall and fireman.
Discovered In Basement.
Mrs. D. j. Hopkins, overcome by
smoke, was treated last night at
Casualty Hospital and then went to
the home Of friends. Not serious.
Miss Gladys Yeager, overcome by
smoke. She was given first-aid
treatment and is with friends to-
day.
The fire, had 1t come later in the
evening when most of the apart
ment occupants were asleep. would
no doubt have cost many lives, ire
officials declared today.
d. s. Shea, manager OF the
apartments, discovered the fire in
the basement of No. 2O3. Using
fire extinguishers, Shea and the
janitor, Benjamin H. Hampton, at
tempted to put out the blaze.
More than a dozen containers were
emptied. Unable to extinguish the
blaze. She then ran to the street
and turned in an alarm.
When the fire apparatus arrived
the blaze had spread to the second
floor OF the building Policemen.
rushed from the Ninth precinct,
then entered the building and pro-
ceeded to notify occupants to va.
cate at once.
Smoke Fills Halls.
A second alarm was turned in az
soon as the first OF the apparatus
arrived Fire Chief George 8. Wat
son reached the fire few minutes
later an dtoox active charge OF the
fire fighting. He sounded the third
alarm.
Policemen and firemen then
searched every apartment in No,
203. Hardly had this work been
completed when they were notified
the. blaze had spread to the other
two apartments. These apartments
were entered.
Smoke quickly filled the halls
and rooms of the apartments. Many
tenants were blinded by the smoke
and were aided to the street by
policemen and firemen. Mrs. Fannie
Blackford, eighty-eight years old,
was carried to the street by her
son and sonin.laW. A. j. Sherman
and T. r. Blackford.
Gains Rapid Headway.
AS soon as the buildings were
cleared of the occupants Chief
Watson then ordered the firemen
to work through the rear to control
the blaze. In the meantime, the
fire was gaining rapid Roadway
despite the efforts Of firemen.
About $3.50, nearly an hour after
the fire was discovered, the flames
in the upper stories of the apart
ments were under control 1t was
then the firemen discovered that
the gas pipes in the basement had
melted.
Firemen donned gas masks and
entered the cellar. making vain at
tempts to stop the flow OF gas.
James Beck, of the gas company,
who was at the fire, donned mask
and entered the cellar to reach the
meters. He failed and was dragged
out on a rope by firemen. Streams
Of icy water pouring into the cellar
made the work of those in gas
masks most difficult.
Floods Cellar.
Finding there was no immediate
possibility of stopping the flow OF
gas, Fire Chief Watson ordered the
cellar flooded to the street. This
was done and soon afterward the
fire was under control.
About 100 persons were occupants
of the apartments last night. To-
day all Of them are homeless. The
building itself was covered by in
surance, but only a few of the
tenants had their personal property
insured.
Every tenant who left the apart
ment had to battle his or her way
through dense columns of smoke.
Fire officials today began investi-
eating to learn the actual cause Of
the fire.
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