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BIG BLAZE AT ROUNDS’ LUMBER WORKS
Surrounding Buildings Saved With Difficulty-About $5000 Loss to Mr. Rounds
[People’s Press, 4 June 1918]
On Sunday afternoon, Rounds’ lumber warehouse on the North side of the Welland River on North Main was completely destroyed by fire. Hundreds of people who were out in summer attire, it being a beautiful day, were attracted to the spot, and it was a large concourse of people who watched the Welland fire brigade saving the surrounding buildings. The big warehouse it was impossible to save. The Welland brigade were in full force on the ground, and were using the hose within about ten minutes from the time the alarm was sounded. The fire broke out in an extraordinary way. Passers by ten minutes before the whole warehouse was ablaze declare they saw no sign of the building being alight. The warehouse was stocked with furnishings, mouldings, and prepared lumber for buildings, etc., the whole stock being valued at about $10,000. The whole building and stock quickly were in one fierce blaze. The brigade saw that no force of water available could put out that blaze in time to save any of the stock or building. Then work was necessarily directed upon the large barn close by. In that barn there were two valuable horses which Mr. Rounds and one of his men got out just in time.
One horse went out quietly, but the other gave some difficulty. However, the animal was rescued and then Rounds and his companion went back into the barn. At the moment they entered a small hole was burnt through the roof, right above a large stack of hay. By throwing water on from the inside at that point, and the shower from the brigade’s hose then increasing in volume, the outbreak at that point was luckily beaten. The whole job of saving the surrounding buildings was an equally strong fight. Mr. Rounds speaks most highly for the skill, courage, and hard work the brigade boys put in, and he has asked us to publicly express his admiration of the brigade and gratitude for the good work they did. As it is his insurance will cover only about half the loss, so that he is likely to be about $5000 to the bad. But for the good work of the brigade, his loss would be much heavier. Rounds had a considerable loss once before, but that was away back in 1886, when a warehouse in the same spot was destroyed. At that time there was no insurance on the buildings so his loss was total. The origin of Sunday’s fire is a mystery.
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