Two Fires Before Dawn, and One Engine to Cover Both
Turner Hall burned to the ground at 2:50 a.m., and while the department was still out, a row of four cottages went up at Twenty-fourth and M.
TACOMA, April 26 — Special. At 2:50 o'clock this morning an alarm was turned in for a fire at the Turner hall, at 1126 South K street. The flames had made such headway that it was impossible to save the building. It was a total loss. The cause is said to have been tramps, who had been in the habit of [loitering] in the ruins, which have been an abiding place for hobos for some time past. The structure was one story in height, about 100 feet long and 50 feet wide. The loss is about fully insured.
Before the department had returned from this fire an alarm [sounded] at 4:45 a.m. for a fire at the corner of Twenty-fourth and M streets. By this latter fire a row of four dwelling houses was destroyed, and a house owned and occupied by J. V. Cochran was damaged to the extent of $500, fully insured. Two of the four houses were occupied. They were [rented] by tenants and are valued at about $800 each. The origin of the fire is unknown. It is thought it originated in a barn owned by Cochran, and started near the rear of his house. The engine belonging to the district had gone to the other fire, therefore the department was late in arriving on the scene.
“The engine belonging to the district had gone to the other fire, therefore the department was late in arriving on the scene.”
A hall that housed tramps by night, blamed for its own destruction; four rented cottages worth $800 apiece; and a fire department stretched too thin to answer the second alarm. The geography of who rents, who owns, and which neighbourhood waits longest for the engine has not changed much in Tacoma in 130 years.
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