Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 September 1898 — DEATH IN BIG FIRES. [ARTICLE]

DEATH IN BIG FIRES.

Westminster, B. C., ami Jerome, Arizona, Are Destroyed. New Westminster, B. C., and Jerome, Ariz., have been almost literally wiped off the map, by fire. The loss to property at New Westminster is estimated at $2,500,000. The number of lives lost is not known. Fanned by a fierce wind, almost a gale, the fire, which started on the water side by sparks from a passing steamer, spread with such awful rapidity that ten streets were blazing in three hours and only smoking ashes mark the spots where scores of houses formerly stood. Handsome blocks, banks and churches went up in smoke. Hundreds of people nro helpless and homeless. Food, clothing and aid were dispatched from Vancouver. At Jerome the fire was started by Italians on a drunken carousal. Loss to property is estimated at $1,000,000. Eleven bodies were quickly recovered from the ruins, and thirty more are believed to have been cremated. A high wind was blowing and the flames spread rapidly. The fire did not get beyond the business section of the town. Hundreds of people are homeless. One hundred and fifty residences, thirty merchandise stores and many saloons are burned.