Fire in the basement of Newsom & McBride clothing store shortly after midnight gave the local firemen and the few chance spectators happening along quite a scare for as the smoke poured out in dense clouds, it had the appearance of a conflagration which was in the act of sweeping the entire block.
Despite the great amount of smoke, however, no very great damage was sustained by Newsom & McBride from the fact that practically their entire stock of goods was saturated first with smoke and later was drenched with water. H.T. McBride, manager of the store, declared that though he had considerable loss, he was unable to make any estimate.
The building, the property of Hoover’s Inc., was not seriously damaged, practically the only rebuilding which will be necessary being the flooring which was partially burned on the underside. The ceiling of the store is blistered in one place and is badly smoked elsewhere, necessitating repainting.
Fortunately, the fire was confined to the basement where it is thought to have caught in a trash box. It seems to have spread rapidly, burning a few boxes of goods and then catching on the underpinnings of the floor.
It was first discovered by Officer Vic Holbrooks, who was making his rounds further up the street. He noted it from the Y.M.C.A. and hastened to call the fire department. Quick action kept it from spreading.
According to spectators, the smoke was far greater than that which came from the fire which last fall burned the Piedmont Moving Picture House. It poured out of all possible exits in dense clouds. It is thought that the fact that the basement was so tightly closed kept it in its semi-smoldering state and for that reason did not spread as greatly as it might have otherwise done.
From page 4 of the Concord Daily Tribune, Tuesday, May 5, 1925
newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073201/1925-05-05/ed-1/seq-4/
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