Coatesville, PA business center fire, Jul 1911

PLAYED POOL WHILE FIRE BLAZED NEAR

Special to The Inquirer.

COATESVILLE, Pa., July 13. - While a fire burned in the business centre of the town and the fire whistle was giving the alarm, firemen at one engine house quietly continued a pool game. Another company rushed to the scene, which was a one-story shoe shop, with nothing but a hook and ladder truck. The mistake was due to the fact that chemical engines from both houses had started out into the country to a barn fire, and at one house the alarm was supposed to be for that fire. A second alarm awakened then to the fact that the whistle was blowing for a box within two squares of the firehouse, and a steamer was rushed to the scene.

The firemen out in the country had just got within sight of the fire there when word reached them of the blaze in town, and Chief Steinwachs ordered both companies back to town, where the Brandywine company arrived just as the fire there was extinguished. The Washington's chemical went over an embankment in the darkness.

The town fire was at David Daubert's shoe shop and caused $1000 damage. The fire in the country was a barn of Mike Tetrabaja. It was totally destroyed with all its contents, including this year's crops. It was insured for $1000, which will not nearly cover the loss.

The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA 14 Jul 1911
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Transcribed by Tim Taugher. Thanks, Tim!