Gallatin, MO fire, Feb 1977

GALLATIN FIRE DAMAGE LOSS STILL UNDETERMINED

GALLATIN, Mo. (AP) - A fire destroyed the buildings housing two businesses and heavily damaged two others on the west side of the courthouse square in this northwest Missouri town.

It was brought under control about noon after burning for more than two hours Thursday morning. There were no immediate estimates on the losses.

Officials reported a man who was in front of a burning barber shop when its window blew out was cut on a leg by glass and the wound required 15 stitches.

Mrs. John Bradshaw, who with her husband operates a flower shop, said she heard breaking glass, went to the back of the store and found a wall of flame based near a furnace.

The fire spread quickly and destroyed the next building on the south, housing John Tomlinson's insurance and real estate office.

Frank Jones, whose barber shop is next on the south, said his place might as well have been destroyed. There was heavy damage at the Delmar Rodgers fabric shop, next in line. The back part of its roof fell in.

The roof caught fire at Ray Moore's American Motors dealership, the first building north of Bradshaw's flower shop, but it was not extensively damaged.

Gallatin is about 75 miles northeast of Kansas City and has an official population of 1,833. Fire department's [sic] at Hamilton and Pattonsburg, Mo., came to help.

Gallatin is among the towns in the area which have been fighting water shortages because of three dry crop years and severe drought since early last summer. But for fire-fighting emergencies, Gallatin has a pump line to the Grand River at the edge of town.

The Chillicothe Constitution Tribune, Chillicothe, MO 7 Feb 1977
__________________

Transcribed by Tim Taugher. Thanks, Tim!