ri providence dorrance st wharf fire feb 1899

TONS OF COAL ON FIRE.

PROVIDENCE, Feb. 3.----At 2:48 this morning fire broke out in the seven-story coal elevator and pockets of the Providence Coal Company on Dorrance street wharf. The elevator is an immense timber structure in shape, and the wooden building was well in flames when the alarm was struck. The fire was soon under control, but the elevator was destroyed and the coal pockets fell in, letting 10,000 tons of coal down on the wharf, where it is still burning. The fire illuminated all the city , and three alarms called all the fire apparatus. Loss on building, $20,000; partly insured. The coal is worth $5 a ton and will be about half destroyed. Firemen were on duty a the burning pockets of the Providence Coal Company all day, and large force of police was on duty to keep the thousands of sightseers outside the fire lines. Thousands of tons of coal are still on fire, and the work of the firemen is contined[sic] to keeping down the blaze wherever it shows.

The New York Times, New York, NY 4 Feb 1899
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Transcribed by Linda Horton. Thank you, Linda!