Fierce Fire Rages Unabated as City Fights Desperately. . .Blaze Centers at Union Station Although the Entire Town Is Threatened; Industrial Plants, Hospitals and Homes in Path of Flames; Thousands Are Homeless
NEW BERN, N.C., Dec. 1—(By the Associated Press)—At 4 o’clock this afternoon, the fire had destroyed at least 200 dwellings and about a dozen business houses in the vicinity of the union station. The flames are still raging, and the fire is far from being under control. The industrial plants of New Bern, located beyond the Union Station, are in grave danger of destruction. It is estimated that over 1,000 persons are homeless and the majority of them have lost all their possessions in the fire.
The Union Station is also threatened and two or three houses beyond have been burned. The Nasseff Manufacturing Company, the Dill warehouse and the Farmers’ warehouse are among the larger business institutions that have been completely destroyed.
Fire apparatus from Kinston is now at work and companies from Washington and Greenville arrived here a short while ago. Houses are still being dynamited. At 3:30 p.m., a section of the fire of George Street broke out anew and now St. Luke’s Hospital and the Tabernacle Church are in danger. Patients from the New Bern General Hospital have been moved out of the danger zone and are now resting in the Parish House of Christ Episcopal Church.
Centers at Depot
The central zone of the fire is now located at the Union station and Norfolk and Southern employees are frantically at work, moving engines, freight and passenger cars and other equipment.
The streets of New Bern are thronged with homeless people carrying household possessions in their arms, not knowing where they are going to sleep tonight. The assistance of hundreds of automobiles have been secured in helping remove furniture from the houses in the paths of the fire. A Central Relief committee is now being organized and citizens are opening up their homes to take care of the destitute.
-=-
NEW BERN, N.C., Dec. 1—(By the Associated Press)—With dense clouds of heavy black smoke sweeping low over the city and the crack of dynamite heard at frequent intervals, New Bern today is experiencing a fire which already has swept more than a score of blocks and threatens still further disaster.
At 2 o’clock this afternoon, the fire had swept a path varying in width from one to four blocks, from the western limits of the city to the Union Station, a distance of half a mile or more.
Roaring its way through block after block, the fire swerved to the north as it was checked in its path by the cemetery on George Street. Fanned by a high wind of almost gale force, the fire demon raged, with unstinted vigor, belittling all efforts to thwart its menacing tongues of flames.
Citizens Are Frantic
Frantic citizens, sobbing and screaming, rushed from house to house, aiding one another in removing household goods and carrying them to a safe place. Citizens by the thousands left their stores and offices and rushed to the scene of the destructive flames, but all they did was move slowly back as the flames soared aloft and sought new victims of their fury.
The town had barely caught its breath from the terrible damage caused by the Roper Lumber Company fire, when the warning voice of the alarm, coming from the extreme opposite end of the city, gave warning of new danger.
Nearby Towns Rush Aid
The entire fire fighting apparatus was forced to remain at the Roper mill, as the flames there were still dangerous. Fire engines from Kinston, Greenville, Washington and other nearby towns are now rushing there to aid the local department.
At 3 o’clock the fire was continuing with unabated fury and is threatening not only the destruction of Union Station, but the Norfolk-Southern shops and a dozen or more industrial plants, as well as scores of residences.
The fire started in the colored section of the city, but on its sweep to the river, it made victims of residences belonging to both white and colored. It is estimated that approximately 200 negroes have been rendered homeless and from 60 to 70 white persons. It has burned at least 150 houses.
-=-
NEW BERN, N.C., Dec. 1—(By Associated Press)—Fanned by a high wind of almost gale force, fire today already has destroyed more than a section of houses in the colored section in the west end of Noew Bern and is continuing to rage practically unchecked. Dynamite is being used to destroy other houses which are in the path of the furious flames.
With the entire fire department of New Bern engaged in fighting the earlier blaze at the Roper Lumber Company, at the opposite end of town, the fire gained frightful headway before any of the apparatus could be spared from the lumber company.
Negroes Hit Hard
More than 80 negroes are already homeless and the majority of them have lost practically all of their household possessions. Three persons, colored, were overcome by smoke in their efforts to remove household goods from their homes.
At 1 o’clock this afternoon, the fire was continuing with apparently no decrease of intensity. It is feared that at least 5 or 6 blocks, if not more, will be devastated by the flames.
The cause of the fire is unknown. It started in the kitchen of the house occupied by T.D. Davis, negro. Within 15 minutes, six houses were a mass of flames. From then on the fire spread in an easterly direction, destroying everything in its path.
-=-
Mill Hit by Blaze
NEW BERN, N.C., Dec. 1—(By Associated Press)—New Bern’s most disastrous fire occurred this morning at 8:30 o’clock, when the Roper Lumber Company Mill, operated by the Rowland Lumber Company, was almost completely destroyed.
The loss is estimated as being in excess of $300,000, which is said to be well covered by insurance.
The fire started in the saw mill and was caused by extreme friction from a belt which had become hung up. The flames spread rapidly and workmen in the mill had to flee for their lives. Three persons sustained painful injuries by being burned about the face and hands. The entire saw mill, the engine room and the dry kiln, containing over a million feet of lumber, were entirely destroyed and one of the smaller sheds was also completely demolished. The fire at noon today was still burning, although the firemen at that time had it under control.
The Roper Mill was leased by the Rowland Company over a year ago and employs approximately 300 men. It is New Bern’s largest industrial plant.
From the front page of the Fayetteville Observer, Dec. 1, 1922
No comments:
Post a Comment