Jasper County Democrat, Volume 22, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 August 1919 — A PECULIAR ORIGIN OF FIRE [ARTICLE]

A PECULIAR ORIGIN OF FIRE

Here Are the Facta and You Gan Provide Your Own Theory. Jaimes Britt of Barkley township used to scoff at fires starting without some well established cause, but he won’t do so any more. Wednesday evening his son went to the milk house, which adjoins their summer kitchen, and has a cement floor, to clean up to come to town to the band concert. This was about 6:30 o’clock, and he hung bls sweaty overalls on a nail at one side of the building. The heat was so oppressive that Mr. Britt, after going to bed in the houe6, got up and took a pillow and went out on the front porch and lay down and went to sleep there. About 12 o’clock he was awakened by the rain and noticed a bright light which he first thought was from the headlights of an automobile, and supposed the boys had returned from town. Not hearing anything of z them, however, after perhaps 10 minutes and the light still continuing to shine, he went around to the back of the house to Investigate. He found one side and the roof of the milk house all ablaze. - Fortunately Inhere was no wind and a trough full of water was handy. A few buckets of water extinguished the fire and an investigation disclosed the boy’s overalls in a charred heap on the cement floor, with several of the boards at the side of the building against which they had hung burned away and a hole 'burned ,in the roof directly over them. Had tfae fire not been discovered in time the entire building and dwelling house would have been destroyed. But how did the Are start? The boy was in the habit of carrying matches in his overalls pockets, but the overalls were damp with sweat and no doubt dampened the matches. The Are evidently did not start for several hours after the overalls had been hung up against the wall. Did the matches Ignite from spontaneous combustion and set the overalls on Are and thus communicate to the building? This theory is now held by Mr. Britt, and is evidently tfhe correct one, for no other possible cause can be assigned for I the Aames.