Fire Consumes Ranch Home Near Lenora
A family narrowly escapes a blaze that destroyed their home and belongings, including cash found later in the ashes.
Last Thursday afternoon, the ranch home of Frank S. Maxwell, located east of Lenora, was totally destroyed by fire, together with all its contents. The fire started in the attic and when discovered was so far advanced that nothing could be done to stop it, and the family was barely able to escape from the building. Wm. Frizzell and family, of Newport, who were visiting there at the time, also lost what household effects they had with them, and Mr. Frizzell lost $80 in money, $30 of which was in coin and was later raked from the ashes. The friends of Mr. Maxwell and family regret the misfortune that has befallen them.
“The fire started in the attic and when discovered was so far advanced that nothing could be done to stop it.”
In an era before modern fire departments and building codes, a house fire was often a total, devastating loss for a rural family. The detail about raking coins from the ashes serves as a stark reminder of the physical reality of such disasters.
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