The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1936-03-18
Two Serious Fires Rage in
Pittsburgh; Waters Are
Still Rising.
Continued From Page One)

out the night. Many office workers
remained in their business places
while laborers were kept on duty
pumping water out of Easements,
barricading windows and moving
stoc6 to higher floors.
Adding to the confusion was a
100000 fire at the Crucible Steel
Company's plant on the north side.
Firemen had difficulty with the flood
waters which surrounded the plant,
and had to plunge through waist
deep water. After four hours the
fire was brought under control. Five
firemen were overcome by smoke,
while a score of others required
treatment for frozen hands and feet.
Rowboats were the order of the
day instead of automobiles. Bridges
from the Golden Triangle
business district-to the North Side
and TIE west end were blocked off,
and traffic barred from them.
Water raced along Penn-ave,
which lies above the Allegheny
River, and ran into SiXth-st to Lib
erty-av There the display windows
of two large department stores were
disappearing under the water. On
the Monongahela side of town, the
water passed over Waster-st and
entered the triangle.
The flood was general in western
Pennsylvania. Wherever there was
a cff oil rio
Among the most seriously hit towns
was PunXsutawney. Water rose to
depth of nine feet in some por-
tons Of the borough when two
dams burst. The deaths of a mother
and two children were reported
there.
In nearby Rossiter, a family Of
for were drowned. The dead were
Russell Sage, his wife and two chill
dI'en. The mining town of Huff
was inundated. It's 200 residents
evacuated their homes for higher
grounds, where they spent the night
without shelter. Three youths who
sought to help rescue them met dis
aster when their canoe upset. They
were last seen clinging to the boat.
Many Rescued in Boats
In Blair County the situation was
serious also. Parts of Altoona were
under water, as was Hollidaysburg.
Many families in the latter town
we're rescued in boats. At Tyrone,
Allow Ctaalo q Jr,Iuoict u,oc rJ,01f,oor
while doing rescue work.
Another man was reported
drowned and two missing at North
Vandergrift. The two missing we're
last seen in a canoe as they at
tempted to save the third man from
the waters of the KiSkiminetaS
River.
Five hundred families of North
and East .Vandergrift fled their
hor1es and huddled together in
theater without adequate clothing
or food.
Factories Forced to Close
Cities and towns on the Lower
Monongahela, just above Pitts
burgh, escaped serious damage.
Many factories along its banks were
forced to close because of high
water. The business district in Nc
Keesport was flooded.
Residents in the lower section es-
capped after a warning yesterday
afternoon. The American Sheet
and Tin Plate Co. abandoned OPP
erations.
A third of the city of Tarentum,
on the Allegheny River, was under
water. Nearly 200 families left
their homes when they were
threatened. The Pennsylvania
Railroad suspended service between
Freeport and Kittanning. At
Freeport, 10 fiood-stranded persons
were given shelter in the Municipal
Building.
In the northern tier of counties,
snow and ice added to the hard
ships. Wires were broken down by
the heavy sleet. At Cory, Pa, in
Erie County, near the New York
line, three feet of snow blocked
traffic.
20 Houses Swept Away
In Brookville, 20 houses were swept
away by the raging Red Bank Greek
when it rose to the greatest stage
in SO years. Bridges were closed
and the houses were dynamited so
they would not lodge against the
structure, causing added strain.
In Mercer, Venango and Crawford
Counties streams also were raging
over their banks. All three counties
were blanketed in one of the worst
snow storms of the winter.
In the southern end of the state,
the coal fields of Fayette County
were closed by water as were many
manufacturing plants along the
Monongahela River and its tribu-
taries. The same situation was
true in Washington County, also a
great bituminous coal field.