DESTRUCTION BY FIRE.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXX, Issue 13070, 9 May 1913, Page 9

DESTRUCTION BY FIRE.

DYNAMITE USED TO STOP

FLAMES

'EXGEEIN& .SCENES IN -COAL TOWN, FERNIE (8.C.), April 12. - FanneJf'by' a '"strong wind which made' _ie work of the fire-fighters dangerous and SSiftHM 7h»pdess, over one hundred men, early this morning, fought to save the town of Michel from being wiped -*Qut by -flames. So serious was the situation at 4 o'clock this morning that dyna- . miting was resorted to in order to make t ( gap, in. the, path of the fire, and tlie, ne residence of Mr H. G. Lockhart, ... v?hich is nsar the Imperial Bank build.7,ing,"was purposely destroyed. This stop- ', J_>ed t^e . spread of tho. fire and concen."■.'trated "itT. on t large store of the TritesL.^P^i Company, and x\he Imperial Bank builclirig", tpth of which structures were , pon^Dletelv wiped - out. "How tge lire started is npt known, 'Ijixii i|i .had gained tremendous headway 'before the alarm was given. Hundreds .Vol jpeopk}, half clothed, turned out into, *'» wigj, bitter : „ cold, of the night and there almost a panic when they caught " SxgAii of thp, glare pf the flames in the sky. 'Scores j pi. ihen and youths started bnniediately vyith bucket brigades and ''^i^^.j^ut^it .was soon seen that the ■"^:^mMp-'W<»cti. balding and the Imperial j; - conld not' be saved. ""sparks were carried by the wind to .^ther., houses, pear the fire, and - these .^ere'in constant danger, only the con{^*jt^Tjjal lv *. efforts of amateur firje-fighters perched on" tjjb„ roof s. with buckets, savlngthemJ'fjQm catching. Yfh§n ,it was .seen that the fire was t likely "to spread through the direction ' ■* ! "dt'.' : mr'-T_dcl_iartV residence a conference was held, and it was decided to blow •' n^' r this 'ntt^dw'elJittj* in order to save the rest of the t9wnV All. the household g^Joaa "thaf could hui'riedly be moved . taken out and. dynamite was applied. The gap. caused by the ruins of "/the 'house 1 ' starved ,'the on'w&rd iusn of 'the flairleW, 1 and £he -fighters were able * to concentrate^ their efforts on the two larger^ buildlfigs.'' These and practically "all • their contents' were completely deThe loss of th.6 Trites-Wdod Company alone is estimatild at oyer ono hundred thonsarid dpllars.' and the loss on the Impe!rlsl Bank structure will also be heavy. Th*#e* 'lr'emains nothing but a charred 'hiaSs' of ruins to-day where last night was one of the best "sacked stores in the C>ows Nest district. .