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$10,000 FIRE NEARLY SUFFOCATES TRIO
Pottery Plant of Excelsior Co.
YOUNG WOMAN OVERCOME Owners Blame Low Water Pressure in Hydrants for Total Loss of Property.
A young woman was rendered unconscious by smoke, two women were partly overcome, and heavy damage was done as the result of a fire early yesterday morning, which destroyed the plant of the Excelsior Pottery Company at 495 Fifth street. The fire occurred at 4 o'clock and had gained considerable headway before it was discovered. The damage is estimated at $10,000. The pottery plant is the property of the Peter Ritger estate, and is conducted by Mrs. Ritger and her sons, who live in a frame dwelling house in front. Peter Ritger, one of the sons, was awakened by the crackling of flames and looking out of the window! I saw that the factory in the rear was ablaze. He called his brother Sebastian, and the two aroused the sleeping members of the family. Verona Clark, employed as a domestic, occupied a room lacing the pottery plant, and it was necessary to break down the door to reach her room. The place was filled with smoke, and Sebastian carried the girl to the yard, where she revived in a few minutes. Frederick and Paul Ritger, who slept in a room near the burning factory, were roused with difficulty, being partly overcome by smoke. All ran to the street not fully dressed. An alarm of fire was telephoned in and when the firemen responded it was 'some time before streams of water' could be turned on the fire, due, it was said, to low water pressure in the hydrants. The flames practically destroyed the factory and did considerable damage to the house. The police estimate of the damage is $10,000. Members of the Ritger family said that the loss would exceed that amount. "The house would have been saved if the firemen could have had enough water," said Sebastian Ritger yesterday afternoon. "We got along with what water we had," said Battalion Chief Exall, in whose district the fire occurred. "In some parts of the city the water mains are smaller than they are in others. "Was the pressure then too light?" he was asked. "I did not say so," said Exall. Chief Astley said that he had received no report of the matter last night. |
FIREMEN BALKED BY DRY HYDRANTS AT $10,000 BLAZE
Chief
Astley Scores Conditions Chief Astley, of the fire department, today sent to the water department a letter complaining of the unusual lack of water at the fire which early yesterday morning destroyed the plant of the Excelsior Pottery Company, at 495 Fifth street. Three persons were overcome by smoke and damage amounting to $10,000 done at the fire. The chief in his letter stated that there wasn't a drop of water to be had at the hydrants at Bloomfield Avenue and Fourth Street, Second Avenue and Fourth Street and Second Avenue and Sixth Street. This unlooked-for lack of water greatly handicapped the firemen. "Each of these hydrants failed to give any water when tapped," was the burden of the complaint made by the chief. George Sanzenbacher, in charge of the water department, admitted the truth of the complaint of the chief and said that the trouble is that the department hasn't been able to extend the 16-inch water main to that section of the city "On a second alarm fire," he said, “there is too much demand made on the water. We hope to extend this main in a very short time." When the fire was discovered Verona Clark, a domestic, was asleep in the home of Mrs. Ritger, a frame house in front, and the door had to be broken open to get her out. She was unconscious from smoke. Frederick and Paul Ritger, who were also in a smoke-filled room, were gotten out with some difficulty.
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WATER LOW AT POTTERY BLAZE
Firemen
Hampered in Fighting DROVE OUT NEARBY TENANTS Flames which practically wiped out the. pottery of the Peter Ritger estate at 491 to 499 North Fifth street early yesterday' morning menaced a half dozen dwellings and drove many of the tenants, clad in night attire, into the streets. The loss is $4,000. A woman fainted in one of the houses, which was badly damaged by the fire and was carried out, while Frederick Ritger, a son of the late Peter Ritger, was injured about the feet while running to sound an alarm. The firemen were hampered in their work by the scarcity of water. Chief Astley received reports from Engines Nos. 2 and 4 this morning that the two companies had been unable to draw water from a hydrant at Bloomfield Avenue and Fourth Street, another on Fourth street between Bloomfield and Second Avenue and a third at Second Avenue and Sixth Street. He forwarded the report to Engineer Sanzenbacher of the water department. The latter said that the shortage was due to the fact there was insufficient water for the number of engines that tried to obtain suction. A contemplated Improvement in the system serving the section would remove any further complaint on this score, Mr. Sanzenbacher said. Chief Astley said that the shortage of water had nothing to do with the loss of the pottery buildings. He declared it was doomed before he arrived. None of the first alarm engines experienced any difficulty in getting water, he added. The establishment manufactured flower pots and had been used for that purpose for thirty-six years. According to the firemen, the timber had been dried out by the heat from the oven. One of the Ritger sons went through the plant at 8 o'clock Saturday night and everything was apparently in order at that time. The Ritger family, consisting of Mrs. Fredericka Ritger, a widow, and seven. sons, live at 495 North Fifth Street, directly in front of the plant. When the blaze started they were all In bed. Shortly before 4 o'clock Peter Ritger was awakened by the cracking of wood and flames, and going to a rear room, saw the fire. He aroused all the others in the house, and when Veronica Clark, a servant, saw the fire she fainted. Sebastian Ritger caught her in his arms and took her to the sidewalk, where she was revived.By the time the firemen arrived the flames had gained considerable headway. The reflection could be seen for a good distance. Battalion Chief Moore sounded a second alarm immediately after arriving. Engines were already taking positions at hydrants then. Difficulty in getting water hampered the firefighters considerably, and, the firemen said, some of the steamers went to two and three hydrants before getting into action. In the mean time the flames spread to the Ritger home and quickly burned the roof off. The tenants of the houses nearby made hasty exits, as before the firemen got the water working on the blaze the flames scorched and blistered the adjacent dwellings.
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