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Show ALCOHOL PLANT Explosion, Followed by Fire, Occurs at Pioneer Iron Furnace Company. INCENDIARY ORIGIN Flames Brought Under Control Con-trol After Strenuous Fight by Fire Departments. MARQUETTE, Mich., Jan. 29. An explosion followed by a fire early today to-day which destroyed the alcohol refining refin-ing plant, the primary building and a series of condensers of the Pioneer Iron Furnace company, owned by the Cleveland Cliffs Iron company of Cleveland. O., caused damage estimated esti-mated at $500,000. First reports of the explosion said that a number of lives had been lost but at daylight it was believed there had been no loss of life. Two men were injured although the casualty list can not be issued until the company com-pany rolls can be checked. For a time the fire threatened to destroy the entire plant, a portion of which is employed in making alcohol and the ground chemicals of explosives explo-sives for the United States and tho allied governments but after a two hours fight the flames were brought under control by the Marquette and the plant fire departments. The plant, which covers several acres of ground, is one and one-half miles from the. city. . The police believe be-lieve tho explqsiqn was caused by an incendiary. MARQUETTE,' Mich.. Jan. 29. An explosion, apparently accidental, followed fol-lowed by fire, wrecked the chemical "department of tho Pioneer Iron company's com-pany's plant on the outskirts of this city early today. The loss is estimated esti-mated at "over 100,000." Only the chemical department was destroyed. The company was working on government gov-ernment contracts and the most serious se-rious aspect of the loss is that the machinery ma-chinery cannot be replaced within six months, it is said. Early reports that an incendiary was suspected were not confirmed. At 10 o'clock company officials said that there was no loss of life in tho explosion ex-plosion of the chemical plant at the Pioneer Iron company. At that hour four buildings had been levelled and it was a question whether the flames could be controlled, owing to low water pressure and a temperature of 10 degrees de-grees below zero Incendiarism is suspected sus-pected by police and heads of the plant alike. Sprinkler System Disrupted. The explosion which started tho fire at 1:30 o'clock this morning disrupted the automatic sprinkler system and made leaks in the water mains leading to the plant, which covers several blocks outside the city proper. That thero was no serious loss of life was probably because of the employes em-ployes in tho alcohol refining plant were in the boiler room eating lunch. . Building Crumpled in Explosion. The building crumpled like a house of blocks at tho explosions and windows win-dows a milo and a half away were broken. One after another condensers containing elements of high oxplo-i slves blew up and great flames In sue-1 cession licked up the refinery, the primary pri-mary chemical, the barrel and tho storage houses and tanks. 1 Plant Is a Wreck. The plant is a wreck. The immediate imme-diate loss, $500,000, is regarded as less serious than that of the resulant idleness, idle-ness, as it is said that the machinery, much of that brought into being by the war and very difficult to replace, cannot can-not be fully reassembled inside nine months. The company had been working work-ing night and day on govornment contracts. con-tracts. i Theoretically ' the chemical plant 'was immune to accident and in the absence of any theory to account for accident the belief in a malignant outside out-side cause Is hold. The police have thrown a drag net about the city to gather all suspicious characters, even strangers for whose presence an ac- counting is desired. |