Results for ‘Fires’
[The Welland Tribune and Telegraph, 6 July 1922]
R.D. Spencer, Experimenting, Started Bad Blaze
Quick action by the Fire Department averted what might have been a bad blaze Monday evening, when an alarm from Box 42 summoned them to the residence of R.D. Spencer, corner Myrtle Avenue and Spencer Street.
Mr. Spencer was experimenting with certain chemicals in his garage, using a large kettle for the purpose. Combustion unexpectedly ensued, and the experimenter was unable to check the flames. No time was lost, however, in turning in an alarm, and the department was equally prompt in getting to the scene. The chemical was brought into play, and the fire subdued before any damage of consequence had been done to the building.
The loss was confined to the chemicals, which were of nominal value, and to stains on the interior walls of the building, which a coat of paint will remedy.
Fire: 3 July 1922
[People's Press, 10 May 1910]
Total Loss Between Two and Three Thousand-There Was Insurance
A bake shop and barn belonging to M.E. Schooley and a barn of Robert Doan’s were totally destroyed by fire at an early hour on Monday morning. The location of these buildings was on Randolph street, Ward II.
About 3.30 on Monday morning Mr. Schooley awoke and noticed the reflection of a blaze in a mirror in his room. He got up and found his bake shop, which was next door, was on fire, the blaze coming out of the roof.
An alarm was quickly turned in and fifteen minutes later three streams were playing on the flames.
In the meantime one of Mr. Schooley’s men had got the garden hose out and Mr. Schooley himself was up on the balcony of his house with the hose preventing it from catching fire. The heat broke the windows of Mr. Schooley’s house and scorched the top of the sewing machine inside the house.
It was impossible, however, to save the bake shop or either of the two barns.
Mr. Schooley values the bake shop at $450 and says there was $800 or $900 worth of contents, such as flour, sugars, oven, pans etc., and 530 loaves of bread, and about $16 worth of cakes. Mr. Schooley values the burned barn and shed at $500 and contents including hay, rigs, sleighs, etc., at $150. He had $1000 insurance on the shop and contents and $500 insurance on the barn and contents. Two horses in the barn were rescued.
Mr. Doan considers his loss between $1200 and $1500. He rescued two horses from the barn, but about $300 worth second-hand stoves was destroyed along with other contents. The house was damaged extensively, especially the roof, which caught fire. The one side was affected by the flames and the plaster also.
The barn and contents were insured for $950.
A shed belonging to Geo. Noxel was destroyed and Charles Blackwell’s house scorched.
Mr. Schooley has no idea how the fire started. His employees had finished their work in the shop at twelve o’clock. Mr. Schooley is undecided whether to continue in business or not, but in the meantime has made arrangements with G.T. Wright to supply his customers until further notice.
Fire: 9 May 1910
McAlpine Home Destroyed and Chief Jones Finds Remains in Debris-Loss $6,000 and no Insurance-Mrs. McAlpine Seriously Ill From the Shock.
[Welland Telegraph, 26 April 1910]
A human life was the sacrifice given for an old valise at the fire which destroyed the home of A.J. McAlpine on the River Road at half-past three yesterday morning.
Mrs. Sarah Haun, an inmate, was warned to hurry out of the building which was enveloped in flames. She said she would go back for her valise. A few minutes later her son, a lad of fifteen, said to Jacob Wise, one of the earliest arrivals at the fire, “My mother is up there,” and he pointed to an upstairs window.
Mr. Wise called for a ladder and stove in the window with a board. The flames shot out making entry absolutely impossible.
The charred remains were found by Chief Jones yesterday forenoon, the victim having evidently been caught in the hallway. Read the rest of this entry »
Woman Was Burned Alive at Welland
McAlpine Homestead Burned in the Night Time
[People's Press, 26 April 1910]
Mrs. Sarah Haun was burned alive, and her remains were found in the cellar where they had fallen. Her death was the human toll collected by the fire fiend.
It happened in the early hours of Monday morning when the McAlpine homestead on the river road went up in flames.
At the cry of alarm Mr. McAlpine got up, and found the back part of the house in flames. His wife lay very ill in bed, but his granddaughter arose.
They called to Mrs. Haun to get out while there was yet time. They went in her room and begged her to come before it was too late, but it was in vain. Mrs. Haun would not leave till she was dressed, and even then, with a lamp in her hand, she started across the hall to another room in which she had left her hand satchel. The flames were raging fiercely in the stairway and she was overcome, and her remains were not found until late in the morning.
It was a little after three o’clock when the family discovered their house was on fire. The fire was so far advanced that there was but little time to do anything. The girls, Minnie and Blanche, daughters of Bruce McAlpine, but who were staying at their grandfathers, were forced to get out in their night clothing, shoeless and stockingless, and Mrs. McAlpine, who was in feeble health, was wrapped in a blanket and taken to a neighbors. Gordon Haun, aged 14, escaped safely. It was he who alarmed the household.
Ormond Gilchriese was the first to see the fire from his residence on East Main street, about 3.15, and, while Doug Payne telephoned in the alarm, Ormond hastened to the scene of conflagration. The McAlpine girls told him Mrs. Haun was inside, and he tried to get in, but the flames made it impossible. He carried Mrs. McAlpine down to Mrs. Fischer’s and returned.
The night operator at the central station received the message of fire and telephoned to Dr. Colbeck’s office, as no answer came from the town hall. Dr. Colbeck got out and rang the bell about 3.20 or 3.25 until Officer Laing arrived.
The firemen got to the scene as quickly as possible with the aid of Chet. Tufts’ team, and it required the hose from two carts to reach from the hydrant on Burgar street to the blaze, the building being in the outskirts of the town.
Sparks were flying as far as the registry office, and it is fortunate the night was wet and not very windy.
The building was a frame one and, although old, Mr. McAlpine had put some $1200 worth of improvements upon it recently. There was no insurance on the house or contents and very little of the latter were saved. Among the losses was a valuable piano.
An inquest was held in the town hall on Monday afternoon, when the jury returned a verdict that Mrs. Haun was burned to death owing to her own negligence in not making her escape when she was told to.
Mrs. Sarah Haun, the victim, of the fire, was a widow, aged between 55 years and 60 years. She had been at Upper’s hotel, Allanburg, off and on for about 18 months, and left about three weeks ago to go to Mr. McAlpine’s where her son worked. She originally came from Stevensville. She was not considered of very bright intellect. She worked for Jno. Webber near Port Robinson, at one time.
Fire: 25 April 1910
[Welland Tribune, 1 September 1876]
This morning about half-past one o’clock, Mr. Thomas Smith was awakened by his wife and found the house filled with smoke; he jumped out of bed, ran down stairs, and finding the way clear he returned for his wife and children, whom he assisted out. Mr. Smith lost all in the building, except a bureau, (containing a family Bible), a bonnet, and a few other things, a cook stove, clock and canary bird. He lost a valuable library, a set of blacksmith’s tools, a set of draughting tools valued at $80, all their clothing, bedding and furniture, save as above stated. The house was entirely new, the family only moving into it the evening previous; the things had not been sided up, and the stove was not up, nor had any lights, other than a bed-room lamp, been used. As the fire originated from the outside, it evidently was the work of some evil-disposed person. Insurance, on the building, $400, and none on the contents.
[Welland Telegraph, 21 February 1890]
Mr. Elias Burgar’s Residence Destroyed
LOSSES AND INSURANCE
About half past seven o’clock yesterday morning the alarm of fire was sounded by the town bell and Messrs. Beatty & Sons’ steam whistle, and a very few minutes both hose reels were at the scene of conflagration at Mr. Elias Burger’s residence, West Main street. When the firemen reached the spot the fire had spread behind the plaster and under the rafters, and was creating such dense volumes of smoke that an entry to the interior was an improbability. The flames had evidently started from the kitchen, but the immediate cause is unknown and probably always will be. Mr. Burgar had started a fire about seven o’clock and went out to do some chores, but before he had been ten minutes absent from the house he was summoned by his wife rapping violently on her room window; looking out he saw smoke coming from the roof of the kitchen, and not knowing the position of the flames feared to open the door. He got in at the window of Mrs. Burgar’s room and quieted her fears as much as possible, though she was very nervous, and had been confined to her bed by sickness for some months. By this time some of the neighbors arrived and the sick woman was carried as carefully as possible into Mr. Shanahan’s residence, but the nervous shock left her very weak. Miss Crow who lived in the house occupied a room upstairs, and before she could get out she was nearly suffocated by the smoke and was rescued with some difficulty. The smoke was so dense that it was for a time impossible for the firemen to enter and the hose was turned on the outside with very little effect, as the absence of ladders and appliances to break a hole in the walls prevented their entry. It was probably half an hour before the smoke was sufficiently subdued to allow a successful effort at saving the contents, and by that time much was destroyed and badly damaged. People worked with a will, however, using every possible care in removing the furniture as soon as they could get at it. A large amount of clothing and bedding was completely destroyed, and Mr. Burgar’s secretary, in which he kept his papers, is included in the loss.
The building is badly wrecked; the kitchen roof is completely destroyed and the walls and partitions are badly damaged. The house was erected by Mr. J.W. Jackson some 10 or 12 years ago, at a cost of between $2500 and $3000. Mr. Burgar purchased it some 4 years ago, and carried an insurance of $1600 in the mercantile and $400 in the Queens on contents. He can as yet hardly form an estimate of his loss, but it will not be less than $1200.
SPARKS
Mr. Burgar will rebuild the house as soon as the insurance is adjusted.
The water pressure was adequate to the demand, but was not as good as usual.
The firemen were furnished with hot tea and coffee by some of the residents nearby.
The need of a thoroughly organized hook and ladder company was well demonstrated.
Mr. C.J. Page was a good mark for the branchman and he made a bull’s eye at the first squirt.
The fire bell roused a good many easy going citizens who had “just turned over for another nap”
Had a regular fire alarm system been in use the alarm might have been sounded 10 minutes earlier.
Fire: 20 February 1890
[Welland Tribune, 29 March 1895]
Contractor Geo. A. Ellsworth has received instructions from the executors of the Gibson estate to proceed at once with the work of remodeling the above house, and already a staff of men are at work under his direction. Ornamental hardware floors will be laid throughout, every room freshly papered and decorated, and bathrooms, closets, and other modern conveniences introduced, including hot air heating for the entire building. The bar-room will be moved to the west end and a handsome office and sitting room, with plate glass fronts, constructed in connection. Ample rooms will be fitted up for commercial men, and the house put into first class shape from cellar to garret. Landlord Nelson Pitton, the present lessee, is already on hand and under his able management we predict that the Frazer house will soon again regain the old time popularity with the travelling public. Mr. Pitton is an experienced hotel keeper, having catered to the public at Paris, Ont., and Grand Rapids, Mich. The remodeled hotel will be fittingly named “The Arlington.”
[The Welland Tribune and Telegraph, 1 March 1921]
Saturday Night Fire Caused Damage of $20,000
S.L. Lambert suffered a severe loss on Saturday night when fire broke out in his planing mill on Burgar Street. The alarm was turned in to the department about ten-twenty, when W. Bates, Queen Street, was passing the building and noticed flames and smoke issuing from the windows and roof. He immediately sent his son to notify the yard watchman who got into communication with Central Fire Station. The department made an immediate response, but upon arrival found that it was absolutely impossible to save the planing mill as it was completely enveloped in flames, having broken through the roof.
For a time however they worked on the mill like fiends and did all that was humanly possible to check the progress of the conflagration, but without avail. Seeing that better results would be by obtained by saving the adjoining building, they concentrated their efforts to this end with successful results, confining the fire entirely to the planing mill. Control over the mill was obtained about half an hour later.
Considerable havoc would have been done had the flames reached the adjoining buildings which were stocked to the roofs with Georgia pine and large quantities of dressed, dry lumber. The value of the lumber in these buildings was estimated at about $25,000 by Mr. Lambert yesterday, and it was stated that very little insurance was carried on this stock. The firemen are to be complimented on their successful efforts in saving these buildings which would have added largely to the large loss.
Another thoughtful move was made by the crew of a passing Canadian National (Grand Trunk) freight train, seeing the predicament of two cars of dressed lumber that were standing alongside the burning building, unhooked their engines and rescued the two cars from the siding, where they would almost certainly have been burned had it not been for this brilliant move.
The Welland Fire Department were helped to great advantage by the Empire Mills Fire Company, under the direction of J.D. Payne. They stretched a line of their hose from one of the Mill hydrants, thus making it possible to fight the flames from the east side, where they were at this time rather fierce and dangerous. The Welland city firemen did wonderful work.
The cause of the fire is at present not fully determined, although it is generally supposed that it was caused by the wiring on the west side of the building, where it appears that the fire started, as it was at its worst at this point when the brigade arrived. There is still however the possibility that the fire could have been started by a spark from a passing engine, as residents of that section report that a heavy engine was seen to pass the mill a half hour previously throwing out sparks in large quantities. There was at the time no possibly way the fire could have started in the building from heating appliances as the mill was heated from a boiler room some distance away, and there was nothing else that was ever alight except a glue pot, and that had not been alight for several days.
Mr. Lambert’s loss will hit him very heavy as he values the mill and its contents at $20,000, the machinery used being valued at $18,000 and the building at $2,000. Mr. Lambert told the Tribune and Telegraph that the property was not half insured only having $7,000 on the machinery, and $2,000 on the building. Had the contents reached the stock sheds the loss would have been enormous.
Fire: 27 February 1921
[Welland Tribune, 3 January 1890]
The old log cabin which stood in the field west of Mr. D. McConachie’s residence in the fourth ward was burned on Sunday morning about 9.30 o’clock. The cabin was a relic of Welland’s pioneer days. At one time it was the home of that noted colored character the late “old Black Joe.” Since then Aunt Chloe has lived in the log house; but all tenants had deserted it of late years, and it was unoccupied when burned. It is supposed that tramps set it on fire. The fire department was called out, but they did not pull their carts through the mud. The old hut was not worth the trouble.
Fire: 29 December 1889
About 4.30 o’clock on Monday afternoon fire was discovered at the residence of Walter Clendenning, Jane street, near the Fair Grounds. The alarm was quickly given and the firemen were soon on the scene. A bucket brigade was organized and fortunately the blaze was extinguished without the use of the hose. The fire originated in a bedroom upstairs in the dwelling, where a stovepipe pulled apart, setting fire to some clothes hanging nearby. The burning clothes fell on the bed which was completely destroyed and the room was badly damaged. Had the fire gained a little more, headway, the result would have been much more serious as the wind was blowing at a terrific rate toward all frame residences in that vicinity. Mr. Clendenning carried no insurance.
Welland Telegraph
19 January 1905
Fire: 16 January 1905
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