The border vidette., 1927-03-05
NoGAES' WORST FIRE IN YEARS
(From Thursdays Herald)

the entire business block occu-
pied by the j. F. Johnson Ford
distributing plant and machine
shop; the Dodge distributing
agency of the West Coast Motor
company and the service station
of the Johnson plant and which
for some time threatened to take
toll of the O'Keefe residence to
the south and Of the Federal
building to the north the work
of salvage started this morning
but little of value was secured
from the ashes and embers Of
the hour and 35-ininute blaze
that shattered all fire precedents
on the border
Gutted buildings; eyeless win
dows; floors covered with debris
of roofing, tires, twisted steel
and iron greeted workers of the
Johnson and Davey plants as
they opened the days labors
with picks and shovels, ,crowbars
and axes. The work of the fire
was complete. Little or nothing
saved out of the three shops all
jammed with repair work; sales
rooms floors filled with new
models of Fords, Dodges, Ford
son trucks and chassis. In place
of the bright new demonstrating
models were twisted masses of
steel; in some instances two cars
being virtually welded into one.
Losses are still set at $3.50, 900
including actual damage to pro-
perty and to the contents of the
shops; two of the largest in the
state of Arizona.
Chief Speaks
The fire, according to Gus
Michaels. fire chief. was specta-
cular in that it gave the depart
ment little or no opportunity of
fighting the blaze. Starting in
the stock room of the j. F. John
son plant the flames ate their
way through a fimsy partition
and into the paint room where
combustibles, heated to explod-
ing points, sent the fire merrily
on it's way to all parts of the
building Within five minutes of
the start of the fire the peak of
the blaze was reached. Itwasim-
possible for firemen to master
the conf1agration work being
confined to restriction of flames
to the three affected plants. De-
spite excellent work the flames
spread to the Hunter residence
in Rudgin street where much
damage was done. Little was
saved from the house. But a
few hours in the past the work
of rebuilding is now engaging
the attention of the owners of
the building. Judge w. A. o.
Connor and Louis Hadgins,
while Johnson is planning for
temporary quarters and Davey
has already made arrangements
for opening a salesroom and re-
pair shop at 42O Grand avenue
This was to have opened today
The location is just north of the
Hotel bowman.
Much Paper Lost
According to Dan Foltz, super
intendent OF the Johnson plant.
the only cars saved were a few
new Fords, Sales contract paper
and notes aggregating $4,000
was lost in the fire but the bulk
of the sales paper, held in the
safe of the firm, was saved ac-
cording to a report this morning
following an inspection. Accord
ing to Foltz the safe was open
all during the fire but the keep
ing of steady stream of water on
the safe saved everything in it.
Similar contract paper held by
the West Coast Motor company
is reported to have been charred
and much destroyed. This loss
likewise will augment the initial
loss. it is said.
Not only did the garage men
lose considerable but private in
dividuals we'll featured in losses
in the fire. Numerous cars held
in the shop department of the
Johnson plant were totally ruin
ed. Among the cars was one, a
Lincoln, the property of the
Pablovich family of Hermosillo,
Sonora, Mexico, orange kings OF
the West Coast. This car has
just been re-painted and had
$500 job. Absolutely no insur-
ance was carried on it. Other
-. Is. o.%ol