Burning of a Chicago Stove Factory

Burning of a Chicago Stove Factory

The Cribben & Sevton stove factory, on the western outskirts of Chicago, occupied a space of 120 by 100 feet, and had been built for two years. It was a three-story building, with brick walls and of mill construction, with internal partition walls of the same material, but without sprinkler equipment or any provision in the shape of fire escapes to facilitate the exit of the 200 persons employed in the factory, or any means such as fire extinguishers, to check an incipient blaze. A watchman discovered the blaze as soon as it had started at 7 :20 p. m., in the north section of the building, but no guess can be made as to its cause, unless it was spontaneous combustion from such an accumulation of oily rags and waste as is apt to collect in factories of that type. A box alarm was at once turned in, which brought to the spot 21 engines—13 Ahrens, two Nott, four Metropolitan and two Continental. Twenty-one hydrants, 2 1/2-inch and 4-inch, single and double, were available, distant from each other 400 to 600 feet, and with a pressure of 17 pounds. All the streams were thrown by the engines, the largest number at one time being 17— the number thrown all through the four hours that the fire lasted. The nozzles employed were 1-inch and 2-inch. The water pressure was not sufficient to supply the engines, as the hydrants were too far apart and the leads of hose too long. The water supply was furnished by direct pumping from a 6-inch and a 12-inch main laid in front of the damaged property on the 200-foot wide street. Of cotton hose, 19,750 feet were laid; every length was whole at the end of the operations of the firemen. In addition, deluge sets furnished Siamese streams. The value of the property destroyed was $185,000 on the building, and $200,000 on the contents—stores and machinery. The loss on the building was $35,000; on the contents, $20,000.

The Cribben & Sevton stove factory, on the western outskirts of Chicago, occupied a space of 120 by 100 feet, and had been built for two years. It was a three-story building, with brick walls and of mill construction, with internal partition walls of the same material, but without sprinkler equipment or any provision in the shape of fire escapes to facilitate the exit of the 200 persons employed in the factory, or any means such as fire extinguishers, to check an incipient blaze. A watchman discovered the blaze as soon as it had started at 7 :20 p. m., in the north section of the building, but no guess can be made as to its cause, unless it was spontaneous combustion from such an accumulation of oily rags and waste as is apt to collect in factories of that type. A box alarm was at once turned in, which brought to the spot 21 engines—13 Ahrens, two Nott, four Metropolitan and two Continental. Twenty-one hydrants, 2 1/2-inch and 4-inch, single and double, were available, distant from each other 400 to 600 feet, and with a pressure of 17 pounds. All the streams were thrown by the engines, the largest number at one time being 17— the number thrown all through the four hours that the fire lasted. The nozzles employed were 1-inch and 2-inch. The water pressure was not sufficient to supply the engines, as the hydrants were too far apart and the leads of hose too long. The water supply was furnished by direct pumping from a 6-inch and a 12-inch main laid in front of the damaged property on the 200-foot wide street. Of cotton hose, 19,750 feet were laid; every length was whole at the end of the operations of the firemen. In addition, deluge sets furnished Siamese streams. The value of the property destroyed was $185,000 on the building, and $200,000 on the contents—stores and machinery. The loss on the building was $35,000; on the contents, $20,000.