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Show Free m Volume II, Number 3 September 22, 1973 PARK CITY AND THE WORLD How it destroyed Park City in 1898 Fire has been an almost constant threat to Park City from the beginning of its existence. From the work of a pyromaniac who sought revenge on the town by setting a torch to the Catholic church to a sudden blaze that killed a miner and his two children, the spectre has remained. But no single fire is as prominent a part of the citys history as the one that broke out early one Sunday in June 1898, destroying nearly all of Main Street and calling to action the resources of the townspeople. Park City had grown to a By prosperous mining town with a population of eight thousand from its beginnings 30 years earlier when prospector- - soldiers from the company of .Colonel Patrick E. Conner had erased Wasatch Mountain pases and tapped the Young America, Green Jacket and Yellow Monster claims. Thirty-thre- e major mines of corporate and innumerable ownership prospect holes and shafts were in active operation. An ethnic mix of Irish, Cornish, English, Scottish, Chinese, Scandinavians, Slavs, Austrians and Mexicans peacefully thanks, according to one historian, to the towns 27 saloons which are only reflected the lusty thirst of the miners, but were also somewhat of a necessity in keeping the public peace. Park City had been one of the first Utah towns to get electricity and telephone service, It boasted two hotels, a handsome city hall and opera house that hosted prize fights as well as dramas. Culture and stability were slowly supplanting the rowdy conduct on Saturday nights, even though an occasional fist fight would brighten up the evening. Utah State Historical Society Photo "? sVVSS mid-189- 8, co-exist- ed Prowling among the rubble of 1898 fire. . How it rose again in 1973 ' It was a Park City luxuriating in the opulence of an era when silver was King. But the grim spectre of fire still lurked in the background. Like most mining towns, Park City had begun as a cluster of wooden buildings, huddled close together near the mines. Fire had struck more than five times and, while the volunteers were successful in containing it, insurance companies wouldnt write policies for businesses or homes. The citys sole surviving newspaper (of its original six). The Park Record, had campaigned for better fire fighting equipment and the replacement of tin stove pipes with brick chomneys. But the business of mining silver took precedence. At 4 a.m. Sunday, June 19, 1898, a Chinese cook saw flames shooting from Henry Freemans American Hotel at the top of Main Street. Freeman contended later that a lodger whod had a few too many had tipped over .a lantern in his room, but other citizens blamed it on ' accumulated grease in a trap above the kitchens stove. Whatever the cause, the flames had caught a gusty wind coming down Empire Canyon from the south by the time a local constable fired the three traditional distress pistol shots, followed shortly by shrieks from the Marsac Mill whistle. By 4:30, both sides of Main Street were aflame. Half asleep townspeople pushed. pulled and draggl'd goods from the Continued on Page 2 truck and I came right jp by NICK SNOW behind them. Whats emerging from the By the time we got there, ashes of a fire that destroyed the fire, had pretty well taken seven Main Street businesses most of the back wall of the of town a is 27 a Aug. picture store. that mobilized to fight off disIn spite of that, we had it aster. well controlled until a ' pretty with shaded a Its a piture heater or an oil tank in the ghastly orange from the flames building burst. Then it shot all leaping skyward as volunteers of Qver the of entire row all shapes and sizes manned Qf buildings. hoses, poured coffee and evacu- It was explosion that ated inventories until early the nd out the park City next morning. 11 other com- from for help Its a picture outlined in munities. while hydrants where normally boister- - functioned (due to older .ones, were very which ous townspeople opened differently from before a lurking threat new piugSj having not been quiet surfaced without warning. piaced) and trucks from Heber Im awfully lucky to .have ity, Kamas, Coalville, Summit David Novelle said park a house, gait Lake County ar-he walked through his smoke- - rfved citizens from nearby residence behind three taurants, bars and houses that burned to the deniyappeared, . . . and in 1973; the horror remains. My wife and 1 had Continued on Page 4 ground. looked over the breakfast table often at these buildings and remarked, If they evdr go up, Fire fighting capabilities, as ber 0f buildings three stories theyll go up like a match. hydrants, how the water flowed rated by a state agency 15 years or higher. We were headed out for and other aspects of how- fast it ago, are the basis of insurance The present Class 7 rating, the evening around 9:15, walkwould get on the fire rates for Park City in 1973, The which adds. 200 per cent to toward Car the down alley (2) The type of fire departing Mountain Flower has learned. what similarly built residences 19 when we saw the smoke ment and its capabilities, in Park City is due for anoth- - or business establishments pay the behind the died from Park Citys case, a volunteer coming er regrading, since the last one in Lake City to Park City Poison Creek Drug. that rated equivalent to squad iS based on six cate- a Class 8. It was Novelle who called was in 1958, Bob Feeney, manapreiniums tauience Services of-the Perk City Fire Dept. Fire g" (3) Fire alarm system that of ce the State of Utah, said most the Water earned Chief Tom Sullivan, at home a Class 8 rating. supply, (j) as: week. And I think if we accordof all, when the alarm came in, recall- not only (4) Fire Prevention important aspect this at it we time, regraded an a On equivatook ed that it probably involving codes that were adopt- jng j0 Feeney. ask for would have to more a between to get ed, but how well they were en- jen basis, that came couple of minutes for us closer there. The volunteers were on equipment, specifically a ladder class 6 and Class 7 forced," that earned a' Class 8 their way up the street with the company, because of the num- a seven. That included the rating. first . . mal-smo- ke re-th-at as res-damag-ed sud-buildin- gs Pipe insurance: Who gets burned? . - Building codes and how well they were enforced, which contributed to another Class 8 rating. (6) Structural conditions, which earned a Class 6 rating. The ratings, which occur in cycles, consist of inspections of fire fighting facilities and buildings in the community. Feeney added that the code under which Park Citys present insurance rates were determined 15 years ago has been revised Continued on Page 2 (5) 20-ye- ar |