Bothell Shingle Mill Destroyed in Flash Fire
Nearly two million shingles lost in a blaze that erupted in the upper story of a local mill; bridge and office narrowly saved.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Fire broke out in Bothell Bros.' shingle mill at Bothell about 9 o'clock on Thursday night. The pumps were quickly started and the hose was soon playing on the blaze, but with very little effect. The heat was intense and the fire spread so fast that the men had to drop the hose and run. All hands then turned to and tried to save what shingles they could. The dry house was opened and about one car load of shingles thrown in the river and saved. In half an hour the whole mill and dry house were in ashes. The fire started on the upper floor, but what started it still remains a mystery. The watchman had just been upstairs and was working below, when like a flash the whole mill was a mass of flames. With considerable work the county bridge that leads to the depot and mill office was saved. Nearly 2,000,000 shingles were burned. The loss is estimated at between $25,000 and $30,000, with no insurance. The mill was well furnished with machinery. The mill will be rebuilt, it is understood, near the old site.
“The watchman had just been upstairs and was working below, when like a flash the whole mill was a mass of flames.”
Bothell has grown from a mill town to a major suburban center, but the vulnerability of wood-based industry to fire remained a defining challenge for the region's early economy. This fire captures the frantic efforts to protect local infrastructure—the county bridge—that characterized frontier industrial accidents.
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