The Fire Ordinance of 1892
New city laws mandate fireproof construction materials in North Yakima's central business district to protect against catastrophic loss.
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.
It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to construct any building within the fire limits of the city of North Yakima without adhering to fireproof standards. All buildings, or additions to any building, which shall not exceed ten feet square and twelve feet in height to the peak, in process of construction or hereafter located within said fire limits, shall have their outer and party walls made of brick and mortar and iron or stone and mortar, and the roofs thereof shall be of fireproof material. Every person intending to erect any building within the fire limits or addition thereto in said city shall, previous to commencing work upon the same, file with the city clerk a plan of the building showing the location, dimensions and material to be used in the construction thereof.
“All outside and party walls of such buildings... shall have their outer and party walls made of brick and mortar.”
Early western town ordinances were often a direct reaction to the 'Great Fire' phenomenon that claimed so many wood-framed frontier settlements. These rules were the birth of modern municipal planning in Yakima.
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