| OCR Text |
Show Dating back to 1953 Big fires 'rage' in Davis County - I AFTERMATH OF LAGOON fire of Nov. 14, 1953, razed the amusement park's huge jr" dance hall, fun house, shops and concession stands -- even scortching the roller coaster. Damage, even at that time, was estimated at $250,000. Left insert is Marlow Burningham, the only Bountiful fireman to die in the line of duty since the department was organized inJ911. Photo courtesy of Lagoon Corporation AFTERMATH OF LAGOON fire of Nov. 14, 1953, razed the amusement park's huge dance hall, fun house, shops and concession stands even scortching the roller coaster. Damage, even at that time, was estimated at $250,000. Left insert is Marlow Burningham, the only Bountiful fireman to die in the line of duty since the department was organized inJ911. Photo courtesy of Lagoon Corporation By GARY R. BLODGETT Editor Canned goods were exploding, and shooting into the air like Roman Ro-man candles. It was early morning of July 4th, 1961, but it wasn't a fireworks display dis-play being witnessed by hundreds of spectators. It was the night the old Safeway Store burned to the ground. I remember it well - just like I remember (with goosebumps on my arms) the many other large fires that I witnessed as a newspaper reporter and photographer. In addition to the Safeway Store just west of Main Street, there were, among others, the Smoot Dairy Farm; Chevron and Phillips refineries; South Bountiful LDS Chapel; Bountiful Elementary School, the youth center in City Park, Pineae Tropical Nursery, Arbon Floral, Lake woods warehouse, ware-house, the Boat Shop, Bountiful Golf Course Clubhouse, and of course the Lagoon, just to name a few. Before that, there were other "big fires" such as Marion Wil-ley's Wil-ley's office and shop, Lund Floral, and the City Cafe, pool hall and theatre on Bountiful' s downtown Main Street. Then there were the many home and mobile home fires that stick in your mind, especially those in which persons suffered bums and the half dozen or so residents of these fires that died in the blaze. "We've been fortunate that not more persons perished in these fires, especially the large commercial commer-cial blazes," noted Lt. Burt Burningham, Burn-ingham, a long-time veteran of Bountiful's volunteer fire department. depart-ment. It was Burt's father, Marlow Burningham, who was the only fireman who died in the line of duty. It happened during a residence resi-dence fire on 600 East the morning of Aug. 11, 1952. Marlow, who was captain of the department, went into a smoke-filled smoke-filled basement to rescue his brother, Wilson, who was reported "down on all fours." The captain managed to get Wilson out, but immediately im-mediately returned to save another fireman who had become disoriented dis-oriented by the heavy smoke. Marlow apparently ran out of oxygen ox-ygen and instinctively pulled the mask from his face and was overcome over-come with smoke. He was treated at the scene by his son (Burt) and others and taken home to recuperate. recup-erate. I "In those days we weren't as familiar with smoke damage as we are today," said Burt. "We should have rushed him to the hospital but we didn't and he died at home a few hours later." Smoot Dairy Farm in Centerville was the "worst fire" this writer can remember. Perhaps it was the sickening smell of the ISO purebred Jersey cows and expensive bulls that perished in that early morning blaze of Feb. 12. 1963. It was a dark, cold and very win-Jy win-Jy night. One of Davis County's notorious east winds was whipping down the canyons at more than 70 miles per hour. There was nothing the firemen could do. The blaze, apparently started by tangled power lines caused by the :ast wind, shot several hundred feet into the air. Flames quickly swept through the barns and sheds and firemen concentrated on saving sav-ing the Smoot home and nearby buildings. Damage was estimated at $500,000 -- but would have been several times that amount in today's to-day's economy. The Safeway Store had damage placed at $300,000 two years earlier. The Lagoon fire of Nov. 14, 1953, is by far the largest fire in modern history of south Davis County - although its dollar loss at that time was placed at $250,000. Flames gutted the huge dance hall, fun house, shops and concession stands, but there were no deaths or injuries since the amusement park had closed for the season. Some of the most potentially dangerous fires of the 1960s and 70's were the refinery fires where an explosion any minute could spew flaming liquid over a wide area. Bountiful and Davis County fire department personnel are specially spe-cially trained in fighting these dangerous dan-gerous fires and have suffered only a few minor injuries. Dating back to the "early days," there were several downtown Bountiful fires that gutted nurseries, nurser-ies, a cafe, pool hall and theatre -the latter two being on the site of the present Davis County Clipper office. A caretaker died in the fire of Lund Floral in 1954, according to Bountiful Fire Department re- ports. But fire fighting is not the only job of Bountiful's volunteer firemen. "We help where ever we are needed," stressed Lt. Burningham. Burning-ham. "We have an ambulance crew for medical emergencies; a search and rescue team available when needed; and we respond to all emergencies and disasters." Lt. Burningham emphasized that the fire department no longer assists in getting cats out of trees -but it will respond to someone trapped trap-ped in a chimney. The "Boy Santa" episode began when police found a 17-year-old youth stuck in a chimney of a Bountiful Main Street bank. He had been yelling for help for hours before being discovered just before sunup. It then took the Bountiful volunteer volun-teer firemen 90 minutes to get the prankster out of the chimney --while --while this reporter waited for his head to emerge and then start taking tak-ing pictures. Lt. Burningham emphasized that the department's primary concern con-cern is life-safety, but that their duties sometimes stretch far beyond. .... & 'Tlf.VS'ig CHARRED INSIDE OF former Bountiful Safeway Store are all that remain of this fire of early July 4th, 1961. Canned goods exploded like fire crackers, attracting a large pre-dawn crowd of spectators. . ' . A FIRE GUTTED THE inside of a newly constructed portion of Bountiful Elementary School, le.aving several classrooms in charred ruin. School was vacant and there were no injuries. . |
