A Costly Cooking Accident
A small fire hazard in the woodbox proves disastrous for a Wenatchee rancher.
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.
Fires of ranch homes near Wenatchee recently caused uninsured losses totaling $10,000. One fire burned the home, barn, garage, and Ford car of J. C. Proctor. The fire at Proctor's in East Wenatchee was started when the burned-off end of an oversize stick of firewood fell out the door of the stove into the woodbox.
“The fire... was started when the burned-off end of an oversize stick of fire wood fell out the door of the stove into the wood box.”
While modern homes are built with stricter fire codes, the vulnerability of wooden structures to small, accidental sparks remains a persistent challenge in rural Washington fire management.
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