New Britain herald., 1926-01-08
Two Alarms Sounded,
 Calling Out All Ap-
 paratus In City To Fight Morning Blaze.
Four Bremen Hurt, None Seriously - Pillows of Smoke Envelop Vicinity Fire Held in Attic.

Fire played a return engage ment at the Palace theater this morning at 9:09 o'clock, after an absence of 23 years, when the old playhouse was damaged to the extent of $90,O00 by water, fire and smoke, accord ing to an estimate by Chief William J. Noble, of the fire department. John s. Contaras, one of the owners of the thea ter said this afternoon that he did not believe the loss was as much as that estimate, but that the damage was probably covered by insurance. The fire also damaged the Sweeney block south of the theater.
 Four firemen were injured while fighting the fire. They are:
 LIEUTENANT THOMAS HlNCHEY, Fire Dept. No. 4. Cut of the hand which will keep him from work for a few days.
 CAPTAIN WILLIAM POR- TER, Fire House No. ?. Nail in foot.
 HARRY HMM, Hook and Ladder Company No. l. Slid on ice and injured knee.
 JOHN H. HENNESSY, Com pany No. l, Severe, cut of little finger.
 A second alarm was turned in which called out all the fire fighting apparatus. The blaze was first dis covered short while after g o'clock by City Electrician George Cooley, who will be in the city of New Britain's employ 50 years neSt July. Mir, Cooley and Policeman Joseph Kennedy were walking down Main street when Cooley saw smoke pouring out of the roof of the thea - ter. He quickly informed Ken nedy who in turn called the fire dc- partment
 Company No. 1, commanded by Chief William J, Noble, quickly ar- rived on the scene and was fol. lowed by other companies. Heavy black clouds were belching from the building, tinged with ominous vel low. Smoke was pouring from the top Of the fourth story windows, and lazily seeping from the cornics on the sides of the building.
 Aerial Ladder Run Up
 With no hesitation and lightning Ike efficiency. Chief Noble tool, charge of his men, who hoisted lad ders on all sides of the building an | were fighting the fire within thre, minutes after they arrived on tn, scene. Chief Noble ordered the trol ley wires clipped in front of th, theater, so that the S0-foot aeria ladder could be hoisted on a leve with the fourth story.
 Bob Smith, driver for the chief was the first fireman to climb upof the ladder and hold the hose whil, water poured into the smoking build ing. The smoke clouds were beconl ing thicker every minute, but Shit stuck 1t out until the chief ordere, him down when it could be seen tha he was being overcome with smoke
 By this time the crowd had b. come almost as thick as the smokr and it was necessary to rope th, . street off in front of the playhouse Chief of Police William c. Hart wa D on hand to take charge of his me, and Detective Sergeant William r
 McCue and his staff Of dc,ectivt
 were assisting in the handling of th
 crowds.
 Building Thought Doomed For while it seemed as if th ' historic old playhouse was doomet 1, Smoke began seeping through th
 third story windows and becam
 thicker beneath the roof on all side!
 The smoke was so dense that 1t ham A pered the men in their work, ofte + binding them momcntarily, and th Z stream of water which kept pour d ing in the building seemed ineffcc IS tive.
 l. However. Chief Noble and h
 men kept battling the fire, whic It was made more difficult because il l., tin roof kept the flames inside q n building, causing more smoke tha d would ordinarily ensue. ConSiderab r. difficulty was experienced on q
 fourth floor. right hand side. Flam, n leaped into the roof and down q A stair steps, eating their way into q Id roof and the third floor. Even D. fringe Of the balcony chairs we r. bitten by flames which for a whi
 threatened to completely destroy tl n, entire theater.
 ie Outside the crowd waited anxiou
 ly after Chief Noble ordered Il
 pumping engine shut off. and tl l; fire fought from the inside. For l. while firemen were only seen on tl
 roof trying to pick their way ir
 the roof with axes. Presently, thr
 fremen came to the front windo - and leaned out easpi9c for breath in the swirling smoke that envelop r. them. Other firemen rushed into | e. theater, and before IS minutes V ns over, the chief came out of | 10