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Show Fire Threatens Business Block; Loss Near 10,000 Threatening an entire business block on Main street, American Fork's worst fire in twenty years gutted the interior of Bate's store early Wednesday morning and caused caus-ed damage tentatively estimated at near the $10,000 mark. The store is owned by Elmer P. Bate. Smoldering probably for one or two hours before it was discovered by Night Marshal Wendell Bush and Mrs. Mary Nielsen, a nurse at the American Fork hospital, the fire had a good start when the American Fork fire department was summoned summon-ed at 2:30 a. m. Residents in the vicinity reported that they had smelled smoke as early as 1 o'clock. Fire Chief Walter B. Devey said that, although the cause of the fire had not been definitely determined, it is thought to have started in the basement next to the furnace. When the fire department arrived, part of the main floor had caved in, and the entire basement was aflame. The firemen narrowly escaped being be-ing caught in an explosion as they were getting ready to enter the building the accumulated gas in the place exploded twice. In order to get in to fight the fire, the firemen had to break the skylight to create an uparaft to carry away the smoke, which had been pouring out the front and back of the store. After fighting the flames for four hours, the nine firemen brought the fire under control. They remained on the job for nearly six hours more, quenching the smoldering fires and pumping more than a foot of water from the basement. Virtually all of the stock of meats, groceries and hardware was ruined, either by flames or smoke. The fixtures, fix-tures, including a meat cooler and the meat locker were badly damaged. Only the hardwood construction of the floor prevented that from collapsing col-lapsing entirely. The store was completely gutted, only the walls and foundations escaping serious damage. In battling the ,fire, the department depart-ment used virtually every firefight-ing firefight-ing method at their command. Through their efforts the spread of the fire to the Anderson Mortuary and Cook's Ice Cream store, on either side, was prevented. Mr. Bate reported his property was insured. Trouble for Mr. Bate struck the second time Wednesday forenoon, in the form of an automobile accident." Mr. Bate suffered shock and minor cuts when his gasoline truck was overturned in a collision with another an-other car, at First South and Second Sec-ond West. The truck turned over and a quantity of gasoline was lost, j |
