Evening star., 1924-07-27
FIRE
0SS0vER@90,0D)
Photographers FIashIight
lgnites Decorations at
industrial Show.
Special Dispatch TO The Star.

Special Dsndtch 10 Il ne Star
LYNCHBURG, Va, July 26.-Book-
ers' tobacco warehouse, in which the
second annual industrial exposition
was being staged this week by the
Lynchburg Wholesalers and Manu-
facturers' Association, and three
Main street retail stores burned early
this afternoon, when fiimsy decora-
tions ignited from photographers
fiashlight The damage is estimated
were not available, due to the fact
that upward of fifty exhibitors lost
displays ranging in value from sew
eral hundred to $4,000. A retail
grocery and wholesale grocery were
deluged with water, and stocks are
probably entire losses.
The fire started an hour before the
afternoon vaudeville programs were
to start, and very few people were
in the building. An effort was made
to pull down the tissue paper rolls
which festooned the warehouse, but
the blaze spread faster than men
could work. With scores of roof ven-
tilators open, the blaze went through
the structure, and in less than five
fourth of block. was in a blaze.
Three stores Destroyed.
The stores Of Woody Evans Co,
retail grocers and feed dealers, 1920
Main street: Perrow Evans Hardware
Co, 1918 Main street, and the Army
and Navy Sales Co. store. 1916 Main
street, were gutted with complete
grocers, 1213-15 Commerce street.
and Anderson. Stone & Co, retail
grocers and feed dealers, 100 Thir-
teenth street, as we'll as the Offices
Of the Tobacco Warehouse Corporation
were flooded with water.
Fred r. Reh, decorator, who had
more than a carload of decoration
materials in the building, lost the
entire outfit, and had no insurance.
He was burned about the head and
incipient blaze, this being the only
accident reported.
Although some 500 merchants who
attended the exposition from out of
town, had gone home, the program
for tonight, which included a we'd
est crowd. Members of three vaude-
vile troups lost all their equipment
, and costumes.
The photographer, whose fashlight
caused the fire. when the blaze spread
made an exit through a warehouse
window onto a platform, used for
loading tobacco, jumped nine feet to
the pavement and fed.
Many Automobiles Burned.
In the exhibition booths were
costly industrial machinery, printing
presses, furniture, and some 25 or 80
| automobiles. all Of which were
burned
All of the available apparatus from
fire stations was brought to the fire
on the second alarm, and then many
citizens volunteered and worked an
hour and half before the fire was
under control. The department had
| ample water, for large main used
only for Are purposes, with 10 pounds
pressure, was available on three sides
of the blaze.
Several squares of parked auto
mo biles were moved off by citizens
or many of these would have burned.
AS it was, only one burned at the
| street curb. The three Main street
stores which were burned had open
| doors leading into the floor of the
tobacco warehouse, condition which
accounts for the spread of the fire.
Other buildings were saved by fire
walls.
More than $50 pounds of dynamite
were removed from the hardware
| store before the flames reached there.
| Two persons were slightly injured
during the excitement.