Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 38, Number 83, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 July 1906 — The Street Was On Fire. [ARTICLE]

The Street Was On Fire.

■For the first time in the history of Rensselaei, and probably of the whole state of the fire de partment was called out Tuesday evening, about seven o’clock, because one of our streets was on fire and likely to burn clear up, or clear down or clear out, it is hard to say which. It was a beautiful run the company made and in an alm.st incredibly short time after the alarm sounded the big fire team, Prince and Dewey came galloping down the street hauling the new hose wagon and the entire fire company, except two who were out of town. They took the old familiar route across the Washingbridge and out on McCoy avenue, and the immediate general conclusion was that the alarm was from Peacock’s place again. However, when the turn was reached at tbe end of McCoy avenue the fire was found to be under the street at the river bank.

There has been for a long time a big quantity of rubbish dumped down the river bank right at the corner there and some days ago some person set it on fire.' The fire has continued to slowly burn ever since and evidently the street there for some distance back is built on filled in material which was inflamable like peat, and the fire had already progressed several feet under the street aad was likely to finally reach the road way. Marshall Parks, had tried for a long time during the day to douse the fire ont with buckets, with water from the river, but without the least success. When the firemen turned their big hose down into the subterranean furnace, the contact of the water with the vast volume of fnrious heat produced a good sized volcano in violent eruption, and no doubt after the manner many volcanic eruptions, are produced. The explosion of the steam threw fire and hot water 20 feet or more in the air, and some of the firemen were more or less scalded. It took half an hour’s drenching to put the fire out. It is shrewdly surmised that the sounding this alarm was not altogether a surmise to all of the combany.