Sparks from Burning Trash Devastate Local Ranch
Twenty tons of hay and a large barn are lost at the Anthony ranch near Richland; family home saved by neighbors.
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.
A fire originating in sparks blowing from a pile of burning refuse and lighting in a stack of hay caused a great deal of damage at the H. E. Anthony ranch south of town on Tuesday afternoon. All members of the family were away from home at the time the blaze burst forth, and for that reason, the fire made such headway that the entire four stacks were completely destroyed, containing about twenty tons of fine hay. The barn in which Mr. Anthony housed all his dairy cattle was also burned to the ground, and it was only by the strenuous efforts of Richland men who hurried to the scene in automobiles that the family home was saved. The hay and barn were an entire loss, no insurance being carried on either. In addition to this, a great deal of farming equipment was burned and so badly injured that it will be useless for further service.
“It was only by the strenuous efforts of Richland men who hurried to the scene in automobiles that the family home was saved.”
In 1915, the loss of an uninsured barn and hay crop was a crushing economic blow to a farming family, relying on the immediate mobilization of neighbors with cars to save the house. Today, while the wildfire risk in the Tri-Cities remains a major concern, modern firefighting infrastructure and insurance models have changed how rural communities mitigate these sudden industrial-scale losses.
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