Three Fires In Two Days-This Day In Norwood History-August 25, 1905

At the present writing there have been three fires in Norwood this week and all are thought to be of accidental origin. The firemen made quick time to them all and especially with the last one did fine work

About the middle of last Wednesday afternoon, Box 47 was rung in for a fire on the roof of Winslow’s station. It caught from sparks from the New York express which went by a short time before the fire broke out. Mose 2 responded quickly but was not needed for with a few pails of water, the station agent quickly extinguished the blaze and the all-out whistle blew a few minutes after the alarm was rung in. The damage was slight, being confined to a few shingles on the roof.

The second fire occurred yesterday forenoon when Box 28 was pulled in for a small fire in under the eaves of R. E. Oldham’s house on Railroad Avenue. The house is occupied by John Congdon. It is not known how the fire started. The damage was from water almost entirely and was slight.

The fire yesterday afternoon was one of the hottest Norwood has seen for some time. At just 1.30 o’clock Box 47 was rung in for the second tune in two days. The department responded very quickly and on its arrival at the “subway” near the Norwood Press, discovered the blacksmith’s shop of William E. Allen a solid mass of flame, and the three-story building owned by C. Sansone which stands very near the shop, was in great danger. Hose 2 arrived first on the scene and endeavored to connect a hose to a hydrant in front of the shop but the heat was too intense. They then went up the old Washington Street to a hydrant there. In the meantime the fire was gaining great headway.

Hose 1 and the Hook and Ladder arrived and five streams were soon playing on the fire. In fifteen minutes the fire in the blacksmith’s shop was under control. Attention was then turned to the block. The roof and upper story were burning hard. Ladders were raised to the roof, two lines of hose were taken up and the fire on the roof was soon out. Holes were then chopped in the roof and a line of hose equipped with a revolving nozzle was lowered into the room below. This was repeated in several places and the fire was soon all out.

As regards the origin of the fire Thomas McCarthy, blacksmith for Mr. Allen, tells the following story .

“I was at the forge making shoes when I began to smell smoke. I didn’t think much about it at first but it became stronger and I began to look around. We had about 2 tons of hay on a scaffold at one side of the shop and we also kept a horse there all the time. Well, I looked up towards the hay and to my surprise the whole scaffold was ablaze. I ran out and saw Andrew Jerden across the street. I shouted to him to ring in the alarm as the shop was afire. Then I ran back and got the horse out and a few other things. The heat then drove me out. I think the fire must have leen started by a spark from the forge flying up onto the hay.”

Andrew Jerden, the boy who rung in the alarm, had considerable trouble in opening the box. He said :

“When I got to the box, the chain to which the key was attached, got caught on the hook and the key wouldn’t reach to the key-hole. Finally, 1 put all my weight on it and it came off. This of course, caused considerable delay. When the alarm blew in, the fire was burning very hard.”

The blacksmith’s shop was a total loss, not even the chimney remaining. The Sansone building was not burned much except in the upper story, but the entire building was drenched with water. The house was occupied by C. Sansone and family on one side and William Welch and family on the other.1 The block and all the goods of Mr. । Sansone were insured. Mr. Welch had no insurance.

The’occurence of these three fires all so near together seems to agree with the old rule, that fires come in threes and the last one is the worst.