Fire at Wellsburg

FIRE WELLSBURG NEESSEN

Posted By: Tammy (email)
Date: 10/21/2010 at 16:14:38

Fire at Wellsburg.

The business portion, six store buildings, were burned at Wellsburg last Thursday night. The fire originated in or near Chris. Shaffer's meat market, and all from carelessness. Mr. Shaffer had received a barrel of gasoline that day and had it placed just outside of his building and his hired man, a german, was pumping it into a tank. It being after dark he had a lantern sitting close by. The supposition is that the vapor from the gasoline was ignited by the lantern; anyhow the german found himself enveloped in flames, and ran to the pump and threw himself into a tub of water that was standing there, and while he was trying to get the fire off of himself the fire caught into the tank, exploding it, throwing the flames into the back part of the meat shop. The door being open the whole building was soon in flames, setting fire to the buildings on both sides of it. The first building on the south was occupied as a saloon; the next as a hardware store, run by Doein. The stock of hardware was a total loss, they not being able to get anything out. The next building was occupied as a general store, most of the goods being taken out and saved. The two buildings on the north of the one the fire originated in were not finished below, but were finished and occupied by families on the upper floor, in fact the upstairs of the four buildings on the south were occupied by families, who we believe got all their furniture out. The two families living in the buildings north of where the fire originated lost everything and no insurance. The other buildings, we understand, were insured. It was very fortunate that no lives were lost. This is a lesson to parties using gasoline never to temper with the stuff at night or near a fire. Neessen & Co. the proprietors have a rough building erected and the stock is now in awaiting the action of the insurance companies. The families who got their furniture out have it stored away in barns and sheds.

--Grundy County Republican (Grundy Center, Iowa), 27 May 1885