Defective Flue Claims New Fruitvale Home
A newly constructed farmhouse is reduced to ashes in a district with no fire protection.
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.
A fire originating in a defective flue totally destroyed the newly built house on the H. F. Hultgren ranch in the Fruitvale district. Mr. Hultgren’s brother was living on the place and was in bed when the fire started; it had gained considerable headway before he discovered it. As there is no fire protection in that district all that could be done was to save a few personal belongings and let the house go. As it was just newly built and uninsured the owner suffers a total loss.
“As there is no fire protection in that district all that could be done was to save a few personal belongings and let the house go.”
The vulnerability of rural infrastructure, particularly the lack of fire services in outlying districts, was a constant struggle for early orchard settlers in the Kennewick valley.
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