A Father's Fatal Dash into the Flames
A Walla Walla warehouse manager dies after rushing into a burning building to save his children.
This afternoon the farmers' implement warehouse, near the W.C. railroad depot, was destroyed by fire. Roland Yeend, manager, was so severely burned that he will die. The building was a large two-story one with corrugated iron sides. It was filled with farming machinery and furniture, all of which is a total loss. Mr. Yeend's children were playing in the second story, which was used as a workshop by carpenters. The boy, aged about 4 years, struck a match which ignited some shavings and the fire rapidly spread to a quantity of machinery oil. Yeend ran up the stairs to save the children. He hurried them out and started to extinguish the fire, but the flames spread with such rapidity that he was forced to retire. He then ran downstairs to save the company's books and lock the safe. This done he rushed out of the office door, but the flames were coming in so fiercely that his clothing caught fire. He ran out into the middle of the street and fell prostrate. The flames had burned every particle of his clothing and eaten into his entire body, his face and scalp being literally cooked. At last accounts he was still alive, but there is no hope of his recovery.
“The flames had burned every particle of his clothing and eaten into his entire body, his face and scalp being literally cooked.”
This tragic account of a father's sacrifice in a Walla Walla warehouse fire highlights the extreme industrial hazards of the late 19th century. Today, fire safety codes and modern building materials have drastically reduced the frequency of such catastrophic losses, though the human element of tragedy remains a constant in civic history.
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