Judge Hanford's Concrete Landmark Lost to Fire
A vacant ranch house near the town of Hanford, built of concrete and valued at $5,000, is reduced to ruins by a suspected electrical fire.
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 beautiful home of Judge Hanford, located on his ranch just north of the town of Hanford, was entirely destroyed by fire Thursday night. The house was unoccupied, the T. D. Kelly family having moved out about three months ago. Clarence Berg had leased the ranch and was preparing to move into the house. The house cost between $4,000 and $5,000 and was insured for $2,000. By those who first discovered the fire, it is believed that it was caused by defective wiring. The little furniture that was in the house was saved. A greater part of the structure was of concrete and owing to this fact the fire burned for a long time. It is said that any kind of a fire fighting apparatus—even a Pyrene—would have saved the building.
“A greater part of the structure was of concrete and owing to this fact the fire burned for a long time.”
The town of Hanford, like much of this area, was eventually cleared and absorbed into the Hanford Site, making this lost landmark a double ghost. The reliance on early fire suppression technology, like the handheld 'Pyrene' extinguishers mentioned, highlights the vulnerability of isolated rural infrastructure in the early 20th century.
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