The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1934-03-24
80 OTHERS INJURED
ASFLAMES RAVAGE
TRANSIENT BUREAU
Grease Boiling Over on Hot
Stove Blamed for Blaze;
Victims Are Trapped
HORRIBLE SCENES ENACTED
Men, Weakened From Sleep, Be.
come Panic Stricken and
Leap From Windows
HORRIBLE SCENES ENACTED

Lynchburg, Va, March 24.-(AP)
Fourteen persons were burned to
death and at least 80 others were
injured in a fire than swept the fed
eral transient bureau here shortly
before dawn Saturday. Three Of the
dead were negroes and the rest
white.
The bodies, some Of them charred
apparently beyond hope Of recogni-
ton, were carried to Lynchburg un-
dertaking establishments while the
injured were taken to two hospita, Il
in every available ambulance, hearse,
truck and private car.
Seventy Of the victims, approx
1nately half Of them white and the
rest negroes, were taken to Lynch
burg hospital in every conveyance
available and IA negroes were in the
Virginia state hospital. Power IA
cilities were cut off ut Memorial
hospital by the fire and this institu-
ton was unable to help.
Grease boiling over = hot stove
was blamed for the fire-the worst
in Lynchburg's history. William
Rash, the cook, said he had begun
preparing breakfast for the esti-
mated 200 occupants of the building
when the grease boiled over on the
stove and quickly set fire to the
building.
Blaze Proves Stubborn
The cook said he grabbed . bucket
Of water and dashed it on the blaze.
This did no good. He then emptied
two fire extinguishers without ef-
feet.
Rash's assistant, C. H. Fizer, and
the night Waterman, James Webb,
turned in the alarm.
Two stories above the fire, sleep
ing in cots only a few feet apart,
lay two hundred men - the white
transients in one section Of the
double building and the negroes in
another.
At the first call Of "fire" the men
became panic stricken. A high board
wall surrounded the windows OF
their sleeping quarters and the men
began tearing this down to leap into
the street.
Some dived to the street, Is feet
below. Others chung to the window
sills and dropped.
Policemen reported seeing some Of
the men clinging to trolley wires be.
fore they fell. All those who jumped
were badly hurt. Many had broken
legs and arm, in addition to burns
they had sustained.
The fire spread with tremendous
speed. The firemen said that within
10 minutes after trucks arrived floors
at the rear Of the building had
collapsed.
One Of Several Camps
The Lynchburg bureau was one Of
several camps set up throughout the
state to care for homeless persons
It was administered as . federal
emergency relief measure.
Most Of the men had on little OF
no clothing. Over one hundred were
herded into the Salvation Army cita.
del across the street and clothing
was provided there.
Those who reached the scene first
said the horror was unimaginable
Men lay groaning and writhing and
the snow was blood-stained.
As soon as firemen could enter
the building they began bringing out
bodies.
Night Superintendent G. F. Ander.
son Of the transient bureau said
James Webb woke him and he wal
able to save the records. The rosie,
showed there were 100 men in the
building, SO whites and LOT negroes
They were from all parts Of thu
United States.
He believed that by checking hi
records against the men injured the
dead could be identified.