Melrose, Iowa Fire
January 10, 1908
The Albia Fire Department was summoned to
fight a serious blaze at Melrose five nights
later, at 4 a.m. January 10, 1908. In those
days, when motor transportation was not yet
general, it was necessary to ship the fire
engine by train. By the time an available
freight car could be located, Melrose
telegraphed that the flames were under control.
The offices and buildings of 12 small firms had
been destroyed at an aggregate loss of $20,000.
The fire started in the plant of the Melrose
“Big Four” Record, where printing equipment,
subscription-books and other records were all
consumed. A philosophic loser was
C.R. Thompson,
Melrose produce dealer, whose carload of
potatoes, valued at several hundred dollars, was
burned in the basement of one of the buildings.
Thompson salvaged a supply of the roasted spuds
and “served a potato-doughnut lunch to the fire
fighters down the line of action.”
Monroe County History, Iowa, page
73-74
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Transcribed by
Pam Whitmer. Thanks Pam!
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