http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87062268/1905-11-01/ed-1/seq-1/
ENTIRE BLOCK SWEPT BY FLAMES
DAMAGE WILL AGGREGATE $300,000
FLAMES SPREAD
WITH GREAT
RAPIDITY
Whole Brent Building a Roaring
Mass Within a Few Minutes
MANY TERRIFFIC
EXPLOSIONS
When Fire Reached Stocks of
Powder and Cartridges
LARGE PLATE GLASS STORE
FRONTS SHATTERED AND
GLASS DRIVEN ACROSS THE
STREET IN SHOWERS -- SEVERAL
FIREMEN NARROWLY ESCAPED
SERIOUS INJURY -- BUT
SMALL AMOUNT OF CONTENTS
OF BUILDINGS SAVED.
Probably the worst fire in the history of Pensacola for a period of ten or fifteen years occurred early this morning when almost the entire block, Garden street, south to Romana, was destroyed. The los entailed by the conflagration is estimated in the neighborhood of three hundred thousand dollars.
Hundreds upon hundreds of people, who were awakened shortly after midnight by the cries of fire and the general alarm calling out the firemen, congregated upon the streets and watched the firemen and volunteers as they battled with the flames.
Discovery of the Fire
The fire was discovered about 12:25 by two young men who were on their way home. They were attracted by sparks falling through the floor of the Osceola Club kitchen into the building which was soon to be occupied by the L. &.N. as a city ticket office. They quickly ran down the street and notified Watchman Way, who sent in an alarm.
The fire trucks to respond found the buildings in a smouldering state. No flames were discernable, but as far south as Main street, the burning and smouldering timbers could be plainly smelled. Several streams immediately began to play upon the building, where the fire seemed centered, but apparently the entire section of the block from the Hannah drug store to the Blount-Watson building was in flames the flames burst forth, evidently coming from the new Brent building.
Flames Burst Forth
There was a roar as the fire came through the roof and within a few minutes the building was a mass of flames. Ladders were quickly paced and firemen climbed to the balcony where they played upon the fire, but with little result, as it continued to spread with great rapidity. A second and general alarm was then sent in calling out all of the trucks of the city.
Big Building Ablaze
While the firemen, with numerous volunteers from the ranks of citizens were fighting, it was noticed that smoke was rapidly emerging from every window in the big Blount-Watson building. The fire had been carried through the corridor or hallway of the Brent building to that of the Blount-Watson one and secured a good lead upon the men. Volunteers with ladders quickly entered the second story of this building and endeavored to save the valuable library of Blount & Blount and partially succeeded, not ceasing until the flames broke forth with such terrible fury that they were driven away.
The Wind Grows Stronger
The fire continued to gain upon the firemen. The Bruce sporting goods house was among the first to reach such a state that no goods could b saved from it. Several terrific explosions occurred, each driving flying glass across the street. For some time previous to the blaze reaching that place workmen were engaged in removing goods from all of the stores, but when the explosions of the powder and cartridges occurred, no one would venture near. While a large amount of material of this character had exploded during this time, the heavy explosions were caused by spontaneous combustion, blowing out the big plate glass windows. Later when the blaze reached the portion of the Bruce store the small cartridges began to explode and sounded like Gatling guns in action.
The Oseola Club
The Oseola Club seemed to be the point where the fire was mainly centered. The entire upper portion of the stores was in a mass of flames. The firemen fought bravely under Chief Bicker and at one time it was feared that two or three of them would either be seriously injured or lose their lives. This was directly after an explosion in the Bruce store. The flames had then reached the roof of the Oseola club and the awning of the building caught fire shutting off several firemen from the ladder on which they had ascended. Marshal Schad, who was on the scene quickly saw the condition of the men and directed streams of water which played upon them and the ladder with the result that they were able to leave the burning gallery, although scorched and with their clothing burned. The explosion injured them slightly.
Greek Fruit Store.
The Greek fruit store, adjoining the drug store of Sidney Kahn, was the next to go, sparks falling from above, and it was only a few minutes afterwards that Mr. Kahn’s store was in flames. The Forbes Furniture store was next in line, and here the fire raged, the strong wind carrying the blaze up the stairway and feeding rapidly upon the furniture contained in that place. The firemen had a stubborn fight here, and more than once did they have narrow escapes from falling glass and galleries.
The Big Building
There seemed to be a lull in the fire’s southward progress at that time, but it went north, first breaking out on the lower floor of the Blount-Watson building. The flames seemed to break out at once in the offices of the McDavid-Hyer Company, the Gordon & Brown Hardware Co. and Thos. C. Watson Co., and it was only a few minutes before these places were gutted. About this time the flames broke out on every floor of the Blount-Watson building and it was quickly seen that this building was doomed to destruction.
Persons who were in the building endeavoring to save property were notified to leave the building, as it was becoming dangerous to longer remain there. They quickly left and all turned to saving the property south of the Osceola Club.
A Hard Fight
Here the firemen fought their hardest. Every line of hose available was strung, every man of the department was on buildings, galleries and at plugs, in an effort to stop the spread of the fire south. The idea of the chief was to stop the fire at the south end of the Osceola Club, and all efforts were centered there. Chief Bicker centered his forces at that point and notwithstanding the strong southwesterly wind and the big gain of the fire, the men held their own in the hard fight, receiving valuable assistance from citizens who were on the streets and who showed a willingness to help in the work.
Feared Block Would Go
For a short time, after the wind began to rise, it was feared that the entire block would go, and some even predicted that the entire business district from Garden street to Intendencia or Government would be burned. Persons as far south as Intendencia street began moving out their stocks, and the livery stables on that street got their horses and vehicles out upon the streets.
Sparks and pieces of burning timbers, in some instances as large as a bat, were falling in all directions, especially on the residences and cottages at the corner of Romana and Baylen streets, and every moment it was expected that a new fire would break out.
Water Pressure Good
While the pressure of water was nothing extraordinary when the fire was first discovered, the pressure continued to increase during the course of the big blaze and within thirty minutes the streams coming from the hose seemed to be very strong.
Mobile Assistance
When news by long distance phone reached Mobile, Chief Price of the Mobile fire department, quickly ran one of his engines out and placed it on a car, preparatory to leaving at a moment’s notice. A long distance phone from Mobile notified the Pensacola city officials that the engine with a full crew of men were ready to leave at a moment’s notice for Pensacola, should their services be necessary.
No Fatalities
Although numerous narrow escapes were witnessed by spectators during the course of the fire, there were fortunately no fatalities resulting. There was a great deal of uneasiness especially when the fire was burning in the hardware and sporting goods houses for fear that a large amount of powder or cartridges might explode. Several of the firemen were slightly burned and injured during the fire fighting, and serious injuries were sustained.
The Insurance
But little could be learned regarding the account of insurance carriers by those who were burned out, but the following amounts were estimated on the property given:
Brent Building ….. $40,000
Blount-Watkins Building … $25,000
Gordon Brown Hdw Co stock … $10,000
J. Geeker’s Fruitstand … $1,000
Hannah Bros. Drug store … $8,000
F.B. Bruce …. $2,000
L. Jacoby … $3,000
The insurance of the others, E.M. Anderson, C.H. Turner, G. Neri, Osceola Club, and the various offices upstairs in the Brent building and the Blount-Watson building could not be learned.
The fine law library of Blount & Blount, valued at $30,000 was almost all destroyed only a few of the books being saved.
Thos. C. Watson & Co. saved most of their most valuable records, but all of their office furniture and a large part of their books and records were lost.
The Fire Under Control
It was 3 o’clock before the fire was got under control, though the place was still burning at 5 o’clock this morning. While the Neri ice cream stand was more or less damaged, the fire practically stopped with the Osceola building, the extreme south part of which was occupied by Laz Jacoby.
A Shower of Sparks
From the time the flames burst through the roofs of the buildings, a perfect shower of sparks rained down upon the buildings to the south, falling as far as Zarragossa street, and it is a miracle almost that the whole tier of blocks from Garden street to the bay did not burn. Had there been any kind of breeze blowing nothing could possibly have saved that portion of the city.
Horses Were Taken Out
When the fire began to spread and it was feared that it might sweep the whole tier of blocks down to the custom house, the horses in the livery stables on Intendencia street were all led out to places of safety and were not taken back until the fire was gotten under control.
Walls are Down
Practically al of the walls of the buildings from Garden street to Neri’s ice cream stand, a distance of 500 feet along Palafox street are down, the most of them falling out into the street. The debris will have to be removed before the street car traffic can proceed on that street this morning.
Wicke & Co. Escape
Wicke & Co. Escape, whose plumbing establishment was just at the rear of the Blount-Watson building on Garden street, escaped without damage, although the building got very hot.
Origin of the Fire
The porters at the Osceola club stated that they left there at about 12:15 a.m. and that they saw no fire in the building when they left. F.B. Bruce said that he was in his store until 9 o’clock and that during the evening some one seemed to be doing a great deal of pounding and packing upstairs and that some of the straw in the rear of his building was carried upstairs, apparently for the purpose of packing something. Who was doing the packing and who carried up the straw could not, however, be learned.
Electric Circuit Cut Out
At 3:25 o’clock Marshal Schad ordered the electric circuits all cut out, thereby leaving a large part of the city in total darkness. The Journal officer’s light went out with the rest and the motor that runs its machinery also stopped. This caused some delay in getting out the paper and a part of the fire report could not be gotten into type for the first edition.
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