Bellaire, WV House Explosion and Fire, Jul 1880

BELLAIRE.

Saturday's Fire---

Saturday morning at about four o'clock, the small frame house of Louis Kimble, situated on Noble street, in the Fourth ward, was discovered to be on fire. The fire, it is thought, started in the store room, but from what cause it is a mystery. The family were aroused to a sense of their danger just in time of the explosion of a keg of powder. The south and west sides of the structure were blown down by the explosion. Hose company No. 2 was not slow in making connection to a plug on Thirty-seventh street, and did noble work until a section of their rotten hose gave way. Company No. 3 arrived soon after and the broken section was replaced by a part of that company's hose. At this juncture both companies began pouring water upon an adjoining building owned by J. B. Shannafelt. The Kimble property and all the household goods are entirely destroyed. The stable, mule and store goods are all insured in the German Insurance Company, of Wheeling for $500. The house was insured in the Columbus Mutual, but the parties are of the belief that their papers were burned up in the fire. The building owned by Mr. Shannafelt is slightly damaged, but not so much as it would have been had it not been for the effective manner in which the firemen worked. The fire chief, Mr. Muth, complains of the poor hose the companies are furnished with.

Wheeling Register, Wheeling, WV 2 Aug 1880
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Transcribed by Linda Horton. Thank you, Linda!