Fire, which broke out in the tire and battery department of the S.J. Chapman auto accessory stores in the Holland building on North Street about 5:30 o’clock Wed. afternoon was brought under control after a few minutes of strenuous fighting under difficulties by the fire department and employees of the company.
S.J. Chapman said Thursday that he had made no estimate of the damage and that it will be impossible to estimate the loss until the work of cleaning and repairing is completed. The loss to the building amounted to practically nothing.
The fire originated from a tire vulcanizer and was caused by some rubber cement getting into the hot molds and becoming ignited. Nine employees of the company went to work immediately fighting the blaze with fire extinguishers while an alarm was sent to the fire dept. Smoke originating from the blaze among the tires and storage batteries in the rear of the store with gaseous smoke that made fighting the fire very difficult.
Mr. Chapman was painfully burned about the face and arms while working with the fire extinguishers at the seat of the blaze. His employees suffered considerably from the intense heat and from the smoke. The fire dept. arrived promptly after a short run and put a line inside the building where the blaze was smothered with water from the engine pumper. Firemen, Chapman employees and a few volunteers fought inside the building until the last sign of fires was extinguished and the dense smoke began to clear away.
At one time a line of hose burst inside the building and the fighting was halted until another line could be laid. The dense smoke pouring out of the building was carried to other parts of the Holland building and to buildings adjacent. There was some damage to decorations and furnishings in the second floor rooms but the fire did not get through there.
The concrete floor of the lower building and the metal ceiling probably assisted in curbing the loss. While the loss could not be estimated hurriedly because of the character of much of the stock that must be examined carefully to determine if it is damaged, the company did not suspend business pending an adjustment of the loss.
An adjuster for the three insurance companies carrying the insurance witnessed the fire and the splendid work of combating it and after a conference with the agents for the companies, Mr. Chapman was authorized to remain open for business and submit the account of his loss as soon as possible. This was one of the quickest adjustments of a fire loss ever made here.
While electric wire and fixtures were somewhat damaged, new wiring was being installed early Thursday and the company was able to care for all departments of its regular business in spite of the fire on Wednesday.
(Extracted from local newspapers and compiled by Harry Boyd, posted athttp://www.marionfire.us/ )