U.S. War Department Building Ablaze

Manawatu Times, Volume 65, Issue 259, 1 November 1940, Page 7

U.S. War Department Building Ablaze

EIGHT FIRE COMPANIES BATTLE WITH BLAZE WASHINGTON, Oct. 30. Fire started at 4 o ’clock this morning in the Munitions Building, which houses the office of the Secretary for War, most of the War Department, and also files of secret military information. It is now announced that the fire is under control. The blazo damaged and destroyed an undetermined number of documents and files, but the code room was undamaged. Fire-hose crews were stationed on the roof of the headquarters of the draft conscription lottery directly across the street, and officials were prepared to remove tho conscription records if necesllundreds of people watched eight fire companies battle with the flames, which gutted three wings of the buildings and set fire to a fourth. Tho army chief-of-staff, General Marshall, called out 500 soldiers to aid in removing the archives. The War Department has appointed a board to investigate the cause of the fire. The Secretary for War, Mr. Stimson, believed that the fire was caused by a short circuit or a cigarette, but not by sabotage.