A Clearing Fire Jumps the Line and Exposes Newport's Thin Fire Defenses
A brush fire on the Blackwell tract escapes the workmen, races behind the new Catholic church to Charles Craig's woodpile, and leaves the town counting hose and hydrants instead of houses.
A brush fire on the Blackwell tract, which is being cleared for residence purposes, got away from the workmen on Monday noon and spread back of the new Catholic church to the wood pile in the rear of the residence of Charles F. Craig. The department was called out and the fire in the Craig property extinguished before much damage was done. The fire demonstrated the need of more hose by the local department, and also that several hydrants should be installed in various sections of the city, where there are so many new buildings being erected.
“The fire demonstrated the need of more hose by the local department, and also that several hydrants should be installed in various sections of the city, where there are so many new buildings being erected.”
Newport in 1909 was clearing brush to make room for houses faster than it was laying hydrants, and the near-miss at the Craig place read as a warning rather than an accident. Pend Oreille County faces the same arithmetic today, as homes push into timbered ground and volunteer departments stretch limited equipment across a bigger map. The lesson the paper printed in 1909 — growth outruns infrastructure unless someone pays for it first — has not aged a day.
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