Evening star., 1940-10-30
Fire
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hour after the alarm had sounded
and took charge. He ordered troops
from the Headquarters Company,
billeted within a block of the de-
partment, turned out Immediately.
About 200 machine gun troops
were summoned from Fort Myer
and approximately 400 infantrymen
were rushed in from the Arlington
Cantonment. All soldiers were armed
and were posted about the building
with strict orders to keep every one
out.
Fire towers were raised on Con-
stitution avenue and the water
from the hoses played on the fire,
| mingling with torrents from hoses
held by firemen on the roof. Win
doWS on adjoining courts were
smashed and water tumbled down
through the building.
Federal Works Agency officials set
the damage to the structure alone at
100000. War Department officials
would make no estimate of the dam
age to equipment and papers, but
said it would run into additional
thousands of dollars.
In listing the damage some hours
after the fire, Army spokesman said
that while papers of secret nature
had been damaged, nothing of i'm
portance" had been entirely lost.
T. AIl
The Signal Intelligence Service,
StorehouSe of many secrets, was di-
rectly under the fire and suffered
most, the Army announcement said.
1t was operating again by noon,
however.
The Air Corps Offices on the
third floor suffered inconvenience"
caused by water, but were able to
| function without serious Interrupt
ton, it was stated. The Adjutant
Generals School, Air Corps and
Intelligence Offices on the second
floor were soaked, but were put in
/ operation.
Heavy inconvenience" was caused
by water to the Signal Corps pro-
curement and planning section on
the first floor. The photostat and
blueprint rooms escaped damage.
The damage to the mimeograph
room on the first floor was so
serious that the organization will
have to move. The Signal Corps
message center was put back in
order quickly and resumed function
ing during the morning.
Delay in Alarm Reported.
Army probers were investigating
a reported delay in sounding the
alarm. Firemen said the blaze
must have had a long head start,
I judging by the fury with which
the building was burning when they
arrived.
A member of the building guard
told a Star reporter the guards had
been testing fire alarms in the
building a short time before the
real alarm was sounded. He said
that when a guard discovered the
fire and called to report it, the
officer on duty believed he was
joking and did not Immediately call
for fire apparatus. This was denied
/ by officers of the guard.
In the message center adjoining
/ the wing which caught fire, num-
ber of operators were on duty. IN
vestigators sought to learn how the
fire could have made such headway
without their noticing it.
The building as described by fire.
men was semi-fireproof. The floors
are built of heavy concrete and this
kept the flames from coursing down.
ward from the roof.
Steel Girders Twisted.
Shortly after am, flremen an
nounced that they had the blaze
practically under control. Dawn
broke to reveal the blackened skele-
ton of the long wing. The intense
heat of the blaze had twisted heavy
steel girders and completely eaten
out the interior.
Col. w. w. Gordon of Fort Myer,
who was in command of the troops
guarding the building, issued orders
that no one-not even War Depart
| ment Workers-was to be allowed in
the place.
He was fearful that the structure
weakened by the fire and water.
might collapse. Engineers inspected
the damage later and said there
appeared to be little danger of COL
lapse.
John w. Martyr, administrative
assistant to the Secretary of War,
later released an order for all work.
ers whose offices were in the third
wing to report to work at noon.
The rest reported on schedule
They arrived at their Office to
find the streets still blocked by fire
engines, the entrances cluttered by
fire hose and the corridors flooded
with water.
Nothing of Importance Burned.
Gen. Marshall told reporters he
believed the only damage done to
valuable documents was by smoke
and water. Nothing OF importance
had been burned.
National defense contracts were
not kept in the vicinity of the fire.
Many other records had been re-
moved from the Quartermaster
Corps Offices in the section to the
corps new offices in the Social Sc
curity Building.
| Gen. Marshall said plans had just
been completed to tighten regula-
tions on visitors to the building.
"We are in che process of setting
up a stronger building guard with
more system" he said. The force
will be considerably augmented to
prevent undue curiosity of unidenti-
fed persons"
He said it mad Deen planned to
give identification buttons and cards
to all employees and to make all
visitors to the building register.
The board of inquiry includes:
Col. Oswald H. Saunders, 1t. Col.
Milton Halsey, 1t. Col. John j..
Bohn, 1t. Col Everett Bohn and