Telegraph Station 26, 11th and Spruce streets, was activated sometime
around 19:30 for a fire at the Jeremiah G. Mohn Wool Hat Factory, 213 South
11th street.
Several feet of fallen snow greatly delayed the arrival of the fire department.
It took Chief Miller more than four minutes to make the run from his house
in the 100 block of Penn street, a run that normally he would have finished
before the Gamewell system ceased tapping the fourth round of the alarm's
location.
Two factors helped Chief George Washington Miller decide that an immediate
second alarm was going to be necessary. First, the fire was progressing
with great speed, and second, Miller realized that the horses were going to
have a rough time pulling the heavy apparatus through the snow drifts.
Chemical and hose wagons from the Washington and Friendship companies were
the first to arrive. This was nearly ten minutes after the first alarm was
tolled and the second alarm was finishing its call for help. Once on
location, the men quickly returned to their stations to begin the more
monumental task of bringing the steamers. This required the use of not only
every company horse available, but also dozens of men pulling the apparatus
with ropes.
Several of the firefighters stayed at the fire scene and began their assault
on the fire. They relied on only plug streams until steamers could make the
trip.
More than thirty minutes had passed and still no steamers arrived on the
scene.
Chief Miller knew in his heart that the men were trying their best
to get to the burning hat factory. Even so, he needed as much help as
possible now. Thus, the triple-three signal for a general alarm began to
play over the church and fire bells throughout Reading.
The first steamer to make the trip arrived on the scene moments after the
general alarm, thirty-some minutes after Miller arrived on the scene.
The Reading Hose almost made the eight block trip with their chemical
wagon, but their horses gave out in the 1000 block of Chestnut street.
Winds then caused the snow to drift against the apparatus. Since they were
less than a block from the burning hat factory, the Reading Hose volunteers
ran to the scene to solicit help. With the aid of four more large sorrels
and nearly one-hundred men using ropes, the chemical wagon was pulled the
remaining black and a half.
Box 31, 4th and Penn streets, tapped out its location during the height of
the Mohn conflagration. The Schuylkills, who were en route to the general
alarm blaze, was just rounding 4th and Penn streets when the call for help
began to sound. Heavy smoke was found pushing from the Charlie Simon Dry
Good Store, 310 Penn street, when the men slowed down to investigate the
alarm. Schuylkill volunteers found the store locked up with bars that
covered the entrance way. The men vigorously rang the door bell until an
occupant was aroused and let them in. Unfortunately, the Schuylkill men were the only ones to make the run to Simon's Dry Good Store. Flames
consumed the entire first floor and the loss was listed at close to $1,500.
Meanwhile, at the Mohn Hat Factory, the 75 foot by 100-foot structure was
well involved. At one point, flames were shooting fifty feet into the air.
Two hours after the initial bell was rung, the entire roof gave way. Snow
and debris crashed into the second floor office area. Twenty minutes later,
the walls along South 11th street were showing signs of weakness. Chief
Miller quickly ordered his men to move the apparatus and take cover.
Frantic firefighters scampered from the front of the structure, dropping
charged hose lines that sprayed bystanders with freezing water. It was
only a matter of time before a structural failure brought down the front
wall.
With the wall down, the street became a sea of slush and a maze of debris.
Many firefighters walked boot high in the icy water, tripping over bricks and
taking head first dives into the icy water.
At one point, flames communicated to the roof of a dwelling at 229 South
11th street. That fire was quickly controlled.
It was believed the fire began in the engine room, located on the north
side of the first floor. From there, it burned through the ceiling to the
second floor.
Two members of the Washies, Albert Libra and David Dry, were moderately
injured when a large quantity of snow crashed down on top of them from the
second floor roof of an exposure.
Also injured was William Boger, a member of the Hampdens. Boger was
operating on a ladder when he was overcome by smoke and fell to the ground.
He was taken to the Homeopathic Hospital by the Reading Hose ambulance.
J. G. Mohn temporarily relocated his business to a vacant building in the
1000 block of Court street, which was one time used by the Guinther's Hat
Factory. Mohn remained at this location until his building was rebuilt.
The fire loss was listed at $4,185.71.
