Midnight Fire in the Livery Block
Volunteers prevent a catastrophic fire at H. L. Tucker's residence and adjacent livery stable.
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 sharp clanging of the fire bell, about 2:30 Sunday morning, aroused and startled many sleepers, and in a short time the streets were lively with people. The fire was located in a shed in the rear of H. L. Tucker’s residence and adjoining the livery stable, and when discovered it looked as though the block was bound to be a prey to the flames, but volunteers worked with a will and soon succeeded in quenching the fire. The horses were all turned loose from the stable, the vehicles wheeled out and the furniture carried from the residence, and strange as it may seem the damage done in breakage and other ways could be counted up in dollars on the fingers.
“The damage done in breakage and other ways could be counted up in dollars on the fingers.”
Volunteers were the backbone of early Yakima’s civic infrastructure, a common sight before professionalized fire departments. Today’s historic downtown district still rests on these same blocks, where quick action by neighbors often meant the difference between a minor shed fire and the loss of a city block.
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