The Herald
December 4, 1917

Plainville Town Hall

Is Gutted By Morning Fire

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Mistake in Sounding Alarm Causes Delay of Five Minutes While Flames Are Raging

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STARTS IN ROOMS OF HOSE COMPANY

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Townspeople Carry Books From Clerk’s Office After Documents Are Locked in Vault - Home Guard Rescues 2,000 Rounds of Ammunition - New Britain and Bristol Sent Aid

Plainville combination town hall, fire department headquarters, jail and library, included in a three story building on Pierce Street, were destroyed by fire today, the last embers not being extinguished until after 1 o’clock this afternoon. No final estimate of the loss has been made but the damage will be heavy, probably about 25,000 and it will be necessary, practically to rebuild the structure from the ground up as only the four walls remain standing.

Henry Orviss, in charge of the town’s road repair gang, entered the building about 10:30 o’clock and smelled smoke coming from the parlor of the fire department. He ran to the office of Town Clerk Usher and expressed the belief that the building was afire. The town clerk advised smashing in the door leading to the firemen’s quarters but it was decided to search for a key and a visit was made to the home of Fire Commissioner H.C. Thompson. In the meantime, someone telephoned to the Bristol Mfg. Co. plant, from which the fire alarm is sounded, and ordered the whistle blown. For some unknown reason, the wrong alarm was sounded, one blast on the factory whistle being given whereas five should have been blown. The sounding of the single blast confused the firemen and they knew not in which direction to go until the proper alarm was sounded five minutes later, after a citizen had gone to the Bristol Mfg. Co. and given directions.

By the time the firemen had assembled , the blaze had gained great headway and had swept from the second floor, where it originated, into the large public hall on the third floor. It was seen that the Plainville fire department could not battle successfully with the blaze and an appeal for help was made to the New Britain and Bristol departments and each responded by dispatching an auto fire pump. Chief R. M Dame and several firemen went to the scene in the chief’s car and apparatus was sent from Engine Co. No. 4 in charge of Captain Crowe.

Water Pressure Poor

Inadequate fire fighting equipment owned by the town of Plainville and poor water pressure combined to make the task of the town firemen a serious one. Four streams were turned onto the blaze, one from the roof of the Grange building, next door. But two streams directed from the ground barely reached the seat of the fire and had not the out-of-town firemen arrived it is probable the building would have burned to the ground.

While the fire was at its height, townspeople rushed into the office of the town clerk and carried out armfuls of books and important documents. The official records of the town were unharmed. Town Clerk Usher was working on one of the books when he learned of the fire and placing it in the vault, he slammed the door and retreated to the street.

Although not officially summoned, the Plainville Home Guard went to the scene and succeeded in carrying to safety 2,000 rounds of ammunition, which would have created havoc had the flames reached it. The guardsmen also rescued their rifles and thereafter maintained fire lines, patrolling the streets and adjacent ground and preventing a general influx of the public. Among the property carried out of the first floor was a voting machine, which was lugged into the yard. A few minutes later a chimney fell on the box containing the machine, hitting squarely and reducing it to junk.

Chief Wins Crowd’s Applause

Chief Edward T. Prior, who recently took command of the Plainville Hose Co., won the applause of the spectators when he climbed a ladder leaning against the front of the building and rescued a line of hose that had been put through a window. Urgent cries for him to come down were sounded from the ground but Chief Prior stuck to his task until the hose was dragged out, despite the fact that immediately over his head the flames were raging and that part of the building appeared to be on the verge of tumbling in. A few minutes after he slid down the ladder, the roof on the front of the building caved in. Ex-Fire Chief “Dick” Norton was also much in evidence, despite the fact that he is no longer a member of the fire department. When the alarm sounded, Norton could not repress the desire to jump into the thick of things once more and he freely gave whatever aid he could, which in fact was appreciated by his old company and the citizens in general. Before it could be checked, the fire had swept through the second and third stories and the collapse of the heavy slate roof completed the work of destruction. Despite the tons of water that were poured into the building,  it burned like tinder and it was feared that the upper story would burst like a pricked balloon and tumble to the ground as it bulged out noticeably. The building was one of Plainville’s landmarks,  having been erected thirty-five years ago. It was the headquarters of all civic and social activity and housed the officers of all the  public servants. Those who have been so unfortunate as to be guests of the town in the lock-up will be thankful for the fire as the jail is said to be a pest-hole of disease and vermin.

The Plainville Historical Society ~ 29 Pierce Street ~ Plainville, Connecticut 06062