The Somerville Journal, 30 April 1897
| Scourged by Fire Dangerous Series of Mysterious Blazes Entails a Heavy Loss |
| Somerville was visited with a dangerous series of fires Sunday, with losses aggregating $30,000 to $40,000. The first at about 3 a.m. was at the paint factory of H. E. Wright & Co., 80 Mystic Avenue. In the afternoon there was a series of fires, beginning with the one in the Standard Vinegar factory on Washington street. While this was in progress, the Somerville Iron Foundry building, a few hundred feet away, began to burn. Before this fire was extinguished the building was destroyed, another badly damaged, two of the buildings of Haynes' vinegar factory damaged, and nearly a dozen houses on Myrtle and Washington streets had their roofs ignited by falling sparks. The strong south wind carried blazing brands as large as a man's hand beyond Webster street. The great fourteen-tenement, four-story house at the corner of Florence street also got on fire, but was soon extinguished. It was the narrowest escape that Somerville ever experienced. But for the gallant work of the firemen under Chief Hopkins the losses would have been many times greater. The origin of the fire in the foundry is a source of dispute; some say it was sparks from a fire engine which was playing in front of the building, and others that it was the work of incendiaries. |
| The fires in the Standard Vinegar factory and the Wright Paint factory had many suspicious circumstances. The state fire marshall is making an investigation. During the fire several of the firemen were scorched or cut by glass, notably Captain Frank W. Ring, of Hose 2, who had his neck and hand badly burned, and F. McIntire, who was taken to the hospital suffering from a severed artery in the wrist. Captain Ring was attended by "Dr." William Hutchins, driver of Engine 1, who had a chance to use the new emergency outfit. There was a long delay in giving the alarm for the morning fire on account of the distance from the fire alarm box. It is for a box in this section that the people have petitioned the city council. |
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