FALLING WALLS INJURE FIREMEN

CINCINNATI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE DESTROYED BY BLAZE IN CLUB KITCHEN.

LOSS IS OVER $1,000,000

Downtown Section is Threatened by Second Big Conflagration in Three Weeks - Panic Among 40 Families in the Building.

Cincinnati, O., Jan 11. - Entailing a loss of more than $1,000,000, the second great fire within three weeks destroyed the Chamber of Commerce building at Fourth and Vine streets, damaged adjacent property and injured a dozen firemen.

While several firemen are unaccounted for, reports of fatalities among firemen and spectators, who were caught in the wreckage of the collapsed roof, can not as yet be confirmed.

The Cincinnati Stock exchange and the Louisville & Nashville railroad offices, both of which contained valuable records, were consumed.

Only the bare skeleton of the walls of what was pronounced to be Cincinnati's most magnificent architectural building remain. The building had a valuation of $1,000,000, while the fixtures in the various offices in the building were valued at $50,000.

For more than an hour several hotels and other properties, including a number of large department stores, were threatened.

Firemen at Second Fire.

A falling roof, crashing through five floors of the building, sent a storm of sparks over the business section of the city.

The fire gained great headway, owing to the fact that a large part of the fire apparatus was fighting another fire at the Poinciana flat building in Avondale, almost two miles away.

This fire in itself assumed large proportions, inasmuch as 40 families reside in the building, and a panic ensued when the fire was discovered.

The firemen rescued about 20 persons and there were no casualties there.

The Chamber of Commerce fire started in the kitchen of the Business Men's club, on the fourth floor. At the time a banquet was in progress, at which 150 leading Cincinnatians were present. All of these escaped without injury.

A sudden collapes of the roof caught many firemen and spectators, but as yet reports of fatalities have not been confirmed.

The Belleville News Democrat, Belleville, IL 11 Jan 1911

SIX MEET DEATH IN RUINS OF BUILDING

SEVEN-STORY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUILDING AT CINCINNATI DESTROYED

MANY FIREMEN ARE INJURED

Six Men Missing and Are Believed to Be Dead While Many Others Were Hurt - Financial Loss by Fire Over $500,000

By United Press

Cincinnati, O., Jan. 11. - Six bodies are believed to be in the ruins of the seven-story granite building of the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, which was destroyed by fire during the night at a loss of $500,000.

Sixteen firemen and spectators were injured. The missing men are Charles S. Sibbald, a grain and hay dealer; Brent Marshall of Covington, Ky.; Harry Leslie, a negro porter; Leslie Buchanon, a grain dealer, and Fred Seim, the night engineer.

The Aberdeen Daily News, Aberdeen, SD 11 Jan 1911

ONE BODY FOUND IN RUINS

Cincinnati, Jan. 17. - The body of Brent Marshall, vice president of the Early & Daniel Grain Company, was found in the ruins of the Chamber of Commerce building. As soon as Marshall's body was taken to the morgue the hunt for the bodies of the five other men killed during the fire was resumed with great vigor.

The Aberdeen Daily News, Aberdeen, SD 17 Jan 1911
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Transcribed by Tim Taugher. Thanks, Tim!