Firefighters Helpless as Hydrant Fails
A major blaze destroys a local mattress factory and blacksmith shop as faulty infrastructure prevents emergency response.
Walla Walla's need of a gravity water system or a more efficient system of fighting fire was given a forceful demonstration this morning. While firemen vainly attempted to screw the suction pipe onto a hydrant at First and Alder, fire rapidly ate up the plant and stock of the Walla Walla Mattress company at East and Alder. The inability of the department to get water until after twenty minutes had elapsed caused a public outcry. Councilman Smith, of the fire and water committee, noted that despite recent inspections, the hydrant threads were too worn to hold the connection, forcing the engine to move to Palouse and Alder. Volunteers saved the W. D. Smith undertaking establishment, but the mattress plant and D. McEachern's blacksmith shop were destroyed. Both owners plan to rebuild with brick as mandated by the recently extended fire limits.
“Somebody is to blame for today's blunder, and it will be the duty of the council to place the blame where it belongs.”
This incident highlights the perennial tension between rapid civic growth and the infrastructure required to support it—a struggle familiar to any fast-growing Western town. The shift from wood-frame structures to brick ordinances marks the transition from a 'frontier' town to a permanent city.
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