A Close Call at the Cleaning Shop
Static electricity turns a routine cleaning job into a dangerous fire, destroying a local shop's equipment and wardrobe.
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.
Archie Copeland, proprietor of the Pantorium, had a narrow escape from severe injury Tuesday afternoon when a tank of gasoline in which he was rinsing a lady’s skirt burst into flames. Mr. Copeland was at work in the small frame building on Second street used by him as a cleaning room at the time of the incident. It is thought the gasoline was ignited by static electricity caused by rubbing the woolen goods. The interior of the little building was quickly enveloped in flames, and by the time the fire department was on the job, the cleaning apparatus and four suits of clothes, two extra pairs of trousers, a lady’s coat, and a lady’s suit were destroyed. Mr. Copeland escaped with a few slight burns on the hands.
“It is thought the gasoline was ignited by static electricity caused by rubbing the woolen goods.”
Dry cleaning has moved on from open-tank gasoline rinsing, but the inherent risk of industrial fires in small urban spaces remains a constant for historic downtowns. This incident highlights how vulnerable central commercial districts were to 'micro-disasters' before modern safety regulations became standardized.
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