Michigan City, IN Lumber Yard Fire Threatens Town, July 1913

FIRE PERILS TOWN

MICHIGAN CITY, IND., IS THREATENED BEFORE BLAZE IS UNDER CONTROL.

LOSS PLACED AT $1,000,000.

Flames Rage in Huge Lumber Yards -- Dynamite and Salt Used to Stop Spread of Flames -- Aid Summoned From Nearby Cities.

Michigan City, Ind., July 15 -- This city suffered a property loss of over $1,000,000 on Saturday, when the huge lumber yards of the HASKELL & BARKER Car company burned. The blaze was seen by citizens of towns a hundred miles away. For a time it appeared that the entire city was doomed.
Appeals for aid were sent to nearby cities. Chicago rushed fire companies with their apparatus, under Battalion Chief EDWARD BUCKLEY, to the cire on a special train.
In the meantime dynamite was sent from Gary, Ind., and was used in an attempt to check the flames.
The fire started in the south end of the yards, near the Michigan Central railroad. The fire company of Michigan City responded at once. It was handicapped by too few men, inadequate apparatus and the fact that there were few hydrants in the vicinity of the fire. The flames spread quickly to the north.
Before the arrival of the Chicago companies hundreds of volunteers carried lumber from the unburned parts of the yard to a distance of safety.
The HASKELL & BARKER Car company is owned by MISS KATHERINE BARKER, the property being held in trust by the First Title Trust company of Chicago. It is one of the largest concerns of its kind in the world and is situated on the east outskirts of Michigan City, east of the Michigan Central tracks. The sand dunes surround it on the west and north. The loss is fully covered by insurance.
At 1:30 o'clock Sunday morning the fire was under control. The great danger is that the wind may spring up and carry the flames to the plant of the Midland Chair company.

The Hamburg Reporter Iowa 1913-07-18
__________________

Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!