Packing Plant and Abattoir Fire at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada

Packing Plant and Abattoir Fire at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada

An early morning fire occurred on March 5, in the packing plant and abattoir of Gordon, Ironsides & Fares in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada. The city fire department in charge of Chief George W. Barnes, received a telephone alarm at 2:34 a. m., and upon arrival found the whole roof of the southeast section in flames. The apparatus attending consisted of a triple combination motor-pump, service ladder truck, 2 combination hose and chemical, and these were later augmented by the arrival of a 75-foot aerial truck, all of these pieces being American-LaFrance apparatus. The city department had in operation four lines of 2 ½inch rubber-lined cotton hose, measuring 3,600 feet, and used three 1 ⅛ and one l 1/2-inch nozzles. Two of these lines was attached to motor pumps, one taken to roof and the other to aerial, where it was connected to ladder pipe, where the l 1/2-inch nozzle was used. There was ample pressure on the water mains, there being for the most time 100 pounds. Only one plug stream was used and the line supplying this measured 1,250 feet. Besides the city fire department, the private fire company, numbering about fifteen men, employees of the firm, rendered excellent service and had four lines of 2 ½-inch cotton rubber-lined hose quickly on the seat of the fire, these lines being served from Gordon, Ironsides & Fares, Fairbanks, Morse stationary pump, the capacity of which is 800 gallons per minute. The fire at this plant is one of those which go to show the value of an efficient fire equipment in a building, and a sufficient number of trained men to operate same. This was one. The firm’s pump did excellent work, the engines maintaining an average of 115 pounds pressure during the whole eight hours required to get the fire under control. There is a good fire system at this plant, there being about twenty stations where hose is already connected to standpipes ready for use, fitted with l}4-inch nozzles, and there are shut-off valves at every outlet on standpipe. These are all connected directly with pump in engine room. Fire doors are also placed where needed and some of these work automatically. The fire is supposed to have been caused by spontaneous combustion in a quantity of wood shavings and chips placed between ceiling and rodf of building for insulation purposes. The damage was estimated at in the neighborhood of $45,000. The engineer commissioner, George Mackie, Esq., attended in person at the powerhouse, and directed operations in regard to water supply and pressure.

An early morning fire occurred on March 5, in the packing plant and abattoir of Gordon, Ironsides & Fares in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada. The city fire department in charge of Chief George W. Barnes, received a telephone alarm at 2:34 a. m., and upon arrival found the whole roof of the southeast section in flames. The apparatus attending consisted of a triple combination motor-pump, service ladder truck, 2 combination hose and chemical, and these were later augmented by the arrival of a 75-foot aerial truck, all of these pieces being American-LaFrance apparatus. The city department had in operation four lines of 2 ½inch rubber-lined cotton hose, measuring 3,600 feet, and used three 1 ⅛ and one l 1/2-inch nozzles. Two of these lines was attached to motor pumps, one taken to roof and the other to aerial, where it was connected to ladder pipe, where the l 1/2-inch nozzle was used. There was ample pressure on the water mains, there being for the most time 100 pounds. Only one plug stream was used and the line supplying this measured 1,250 feet. Besides the city fire department, the private fire company, numbering about fifteen men, employees of the firm, rendered excellent service and had four lines of 2 ½-inch cotton rubber-lined hose quickly on the seat of the fire, these lines being served from Gordon, Ironsides & Fares, Fairbanks, Morse stationary pump, the capacity of which is 800 gallons per minute. The fire at this plant is one of those which go to show the value of an efficient fire equipment in a building, and a sufficient number of trained men to operate same. This was one. The firm’s pump did excellent work, the engines maintaining an average of 115 pounds pressure during the whole eight hours required to get the fire under control. There is a good fire system at this plant, there being about twenty stations where hose is already connected to standpipes ready for use, fitted with l}4-inch nozzles, and there are shut-off valves at every outlet on standpipe. These are all connected directly with pump in engine room. Fire doors are also placed where needed and some of these work automatically. The fire is supposed to have been caused by spontaneous combustion in a quantity of wood shavings and chips placed between ceiling and rodf of building for insulation purposes. The damage was estimated at in the neighborhood of $45,000. The engineer commissioner, George Mackie, Esq., attended in person at the powerhouse, and directed operations in regard to water supply and pressure.