A Family Home Lost to Fire Outside Kennewick
The local land commissioner loses his residence and belongings in a mysterious early morning 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.
At 4 o'clock Monday morning, the residence of E. P. Greene, land commissioner of this district and editor and owner of the Pasco Express, was burned to the ground. The house was about one mile south of Kennewick. Mrs. Greene was at home alone when the fire started and only saved her clothes and one hat. The origin of the fire is unknown. The loss is estimated at about $600 with no insurance. Mrs. Greene will leave for Walla Walla tomorrow evening, where she will remain for the present.
“Mrs. Green was at home alone when the fire started, and only saved her clothes and one hat.”
Fire remains a persistent threat for rural homesteads in the arid Columbia Basin, just as it was in 1904. While modern fire codes and regional fire districts have evolved to offer better protection, the sudden loss of a home without insurance remains a devastating, recurring tragedy for frontier-adjacent families.
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