Father Wades Through Fire to Save Five Children
A local fisherman braves a blazing home in Seattle to rescue his sleeping children as the kitchen collapses in flames.
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.
Cuddled together and sleeping unaware of danger, five small children, sons and daughters of A. W. Dubier, a fisherman, were saved from a horrible death by fire when the father waded through a wall of fire this morning. Dubier says the fire started from an overheated kitchen stove. He was in the other room when smoke began to pour through the door. In a few seconds the kitchen was ablaze. His five babies were sleeping when their father seized two of them and ran from the house through smoke and flames. With fear in his heart, Dubier made his way through the flames to save the remaining babies. Snatching all three, the father staggered to the open air in safety.
“With fear in his heart, Dubier made his way through the flames to save the remaining babies.”
Residential fires caused by heating equipment remain a critical hazard in older housing stock, echoing the vulnerability of working-class families in the early 20th century. While building codes have evolved to prevent such rapid infernos, the precarious nature of 'fire-trap' housing continues to be a concern for modern tenants.
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