Imperial Valley press., 1924-08-18
RUBBISH BLAZE CAUSES MUCH DAMAGl
Three Concerns, D
House Burns,
Wind Fans Fire

Famed by a stiff west wind
flames swept the concrete and stnc+
co structure owned by II. i. and
A. M Kendall at $40 Broadway this
morning, completely destroying tht
Willard Battery station, the Sales
and Service plant OF the Moreland
Truck Company, and the Ell Centre
station Of the Borderland Express
company. The losses are estimated
ut over $4,000.
While the fire department was
working to get the blaze under con.
troll, sparks. which travelled foi
several blocks, set fire TO the resi-
dence of Samuel Naliboff, at 567
Commercial street, destroying it be
fore. the flames were put out.
i Slight damage was done TO the
Riverside rooming house at 54s
Broadway when sparks caught in the
E roof and burned Ia large hole in
the shingles before it was 4extin-
guished.
The fire started at the Willard
Battery station where & pile Of rub.
bsh burning at the rear of the
building suddenly spread before the
breeze and, catching theToof, quick
ly covered the entire structure.
i. -. Sixteen Cars Lost
The flames spread so quickly that
it was impossible for anyone to re-
main in the building long enough to
move the cars or even the records.
Twelve automobiles and four
trucks were completely destroyed,
us well as about $4,000 worth OF
truck parts and accessories. The
trucks were estimated to be worth
about $4,000, three Of them being
Morcland trucks owned by the Bor-
derland Express company.
Mr.. II. +. Kendall, who was part
owner in the Willard Battery sta,
tion, is in Oregon on a vacation
trip with c. +. Harris, who operated
garage in connection with the bat.
terry. station. Mr.. Kendall's Is brother
A. M. Kendall, who operates the
Willard Battery station in Brawley,
and who is partner in the shop
here, could not be reached this
morning at Brawley. He is said to
have been in San Diego for the
Weekend.
Besides the fact that several mem
bers of the fire department are out
of the city, the force on duty set up
hose lines and within an hour had
the flames almost entirely out. En-
ployees of the companies jim the
building and residents here who
were present assisted the depart
men. in every way possible.
Many Explosions
j. +. Wiley, in charge of the hat
scry station in the absence of Mr..
Kendall, lost two automobiles and
n large quantity of household goods,
which lie had stored in the building
during the summer months.
One Of the reasons for the rapid
spread of the fire through the build
ing was the explosion of tanks con.
tanning gasoline. AT short intervals
the reverberations of the exploding
tanks could be heard and jim each
case there followed n sudden spurt
of flame. When the fire was finally
put out there remained only two
concrete walls and a pile of blacked
rafters that had fallen to the floor
So far as can be learned the great
er part Of the losses are covered by
insurance, thess Ragan Insurance
Agency carrying several policies
Tho AutomObile club also held in
surance policies of most OF the auto
mobiles.
Mr.. Wiley lost about $1,000 in
radio supplies, it was estimated.
The Naliboff residence on Cpm'
mercial Street was gunoccupied when
the flames were discovered, both
Mr.. and Mrs. Naliboff being in San
Diego. Before the flames had eat
en- through the roof of the house,
most Of the furniture had been re-
lnoved. The residence next door,
also owned by Mr.. Naliboff, was
saved from the flames, although the
side of the house nearest the blaze
was slightly damaged.
Although FL Centro was partially
deserted today by boosters or Con-
gressman Swing, there were tar
sized crowds surrounding each OF
the fires. "''! %.