Tragedy at the Waldron Fire
A Fairhaven woman dies after slipping on ice during a blaze.
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.
The burning of the Waldron block last night was the occasion of one fatality. Mrs. James Gibson was among the hundreds of spectators who came out to watch the fire. Standing near Hotel Fairhaven she slipped upon a bit of ice and fell back, her head striking the stone sidewalk and rendering her insensible. All efforts to revive her proved unavailing and she died at 4 o'clock this morning without regaining consciousness. She was 60 years of age and leaves a husband and five children, three of whom are married.
“Standing near Hotel Fairhaven she slipped upon a bit of ice and fell back, her head striking the stone sidewalk.”
Accidental deaths on icy, poorly maintained sidewalks remain a recurring civic grievance in the Pacific Northwest. While the Waldron block is long gone, the vulnerability of the elderly during winter weather events highlights a century-old concern for pedestrian safety in Fairhaven.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.