Photo Catalog Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Tongass Laundry and Dry Cleaners office fire at 315 Grant Street, April 1, 1954 |
Image # |
2003.2.63.1232 |
Object Name |
Negative, Film |
Date |
1954, April 1 |
Photographer |
Saari, Paulu T. |
Location |
Ketchikan, Alaska |
Description |
Tongass Laundry and Dry Cleaners fire, April 1, 1954 More than 40 firefighters, including Coast Guard personnel, fought this blaze at 315 Grant Street. Several adjacent residences were damaged, and the Tongass Laundry and Dry Cleaners building, was a total loss. Ketchikan Daily News photo caption, 4/2/1954 (photo 2003.2.63.1232) "The fire breaks through the front of the building as firemen battle to contain the blaze to the one building. The Abercrombie building in the background with two buildings between it and the fire which were quickly evacuated." Ketchikan Daily News article, 4/2/1954 "Night Fire Demolishes 2 Buildings Charmed skeletons of buildings marked the remains of the fire last night which completely demolished two buildings and caused fire amid water damage to five others. The first fire alarm was turned in at 9:41 last night and brought fire men to the blaze which was reported to have started at the rear of the Tongass Laundry and Dry Cleaners building, 315 Grant street-one of the two destroyed buildings. Families in the surrounding homes immediately began moving their household goods, furniture and personal possessions out and across the street. Claude Benner, co-owner of Tongass Laundry company, reported this morning that he saw the light from the fire while in the Eagles and was able to move all the laundry and cleaning out of the building before the tire reached it. ALL ESCAPE SAFELY The occupants of all the building escaped safely, some in disheveled appearance, but families were scattered and separated as local citizens crowded to the scene. Over 40 firemen and a number of local men aided in fighting the fire which was finally under control after an hour of playing ten hoses amounting to 6500 feet of line on the blaze. Firemen clambered over the buildings, breaking out windows and knocking holes in roofs so the fire would go no further. Harry V. Newell, captain of the fire department, thanked the absence of a strong wind fur saving the greater share of the endangered area. "If we'd had a strong breeze, probably the whole thing would have gone," Newell said. COAST GUARD ASSISTS Hoses were played on the lire from the roofs of the Cold Storage building, the Eagles hall and the Masonic temple. The lire boat and a coast guard pumper behind the Cold Storage building worked hoses and water from their positions. Joe Diamond, owner of the Tongass Laundry and Dry Cleaners building, could not estimate the damage to his building, but said it was partly covered by insurance although not enough to rebuild it. Occupants of the three apartments over the cleaners, Mr. and Mrs. Buck Jones, Eve Boyanchek and Kenneth Annette, lost all their personal possessions and household goods in the blaze which leaped from windows and roofs. The second completely destroyed building was an unoccupied shed to the rear and left of the Tongass budding. Directly behind the cleaners building, a home owned by Irma Hollenbeak and occupied for the past month by Mr. and Mrs. Ray Davis, was badly charred in front and reportedly suffered considerable fire and water damage in the interior. Mrs. Hollenbeak said it was partly covered by insurance. HOME BURNED The home at 317 Grant, occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Knickerbocker, and to the right of the Tongass cleaners was badly burned at the rear and suffered considerable water damage in the interior. Water pouring through holes chopped in the roof of the Robert Gregory residence, 321 Grant, caused considerable damage to the house which was otherwise missed by the fire. Water is also believed to he the cause of damage to the V. M. Koul residence, 321-A Grant street, to the rear of the Gregory residence. A house at 309 Grant, to the left of Tongass cleaners, of unidentified occupant or owner, was badly burned at the rear and suffered heat and water damage. Even the Masonic temple was scorched by the heat of the blaze and men moved many of the temple's furnishings out of the building until it was certain the temple was out of danger. Total damage from the fire has not been estimated and the initial cause of the blaze has not determined." |
Provenance |
Donated to the Museum by the Photographer |
Film Size |
4" x 5" |
People |
Saari, Paulu Toivo |
Search Terms |
Ketchikan Daily News Newspaper Fire Fire fighting Fire Department Grant Street Cleaners Dry Cleaners |
Credit line |
Ketchikan Museums: Paulu T. Saari Collection, KM 2003.2.63.1232 |