FIRE IN HOWARD

[Teresa]

Just talked to Danny, and he said that John Robertson, Curtis Carey, Todd Wincher, Craig Wilson, and Danny Signer are still there making sure that things are watered down. Derek  said that at 3 this morning, Danny Signer ( the fire chief) told everyone to lay down in the grass and take a 10-15 minute break..and everyone of the fireman were sound asleep. They had their 10 minute power naps and were up and working again.
Once again.. Hats off and Kudos to our volunteer fireman.

[patyrn]

Thanks to all who worked so hard to protect the surrounding structures.  This is the second time this year that Howard has needed its loyal volunteer fire department, as well as those of neighboring communities.  All property owners in the Howard area should be very appreciative of their expertise and dedication.

It is really unfortunate that this beautiful building of the past has been so neglected in recent years.  I remember when Billie and Charlie McClure were the proprietors of the hotel in its working days.  Also Mrs. Wolfe and later Hazel and Dave Knight.  There are probably some other familiar names connected to the hotel, too.  The woodwork and staircase were always so pretty.   It was a real landmark in its day.

[Bonnie M.]

Thank you to all of those wonderful volunteers!  As long as we have people who are willing to help other people in emergency situations, we will all survive!

Firemen are heroes!  (And, if you don't believe that, ask "anyone" in San Diego County!)

I am thankful that they were able to contain the fire, and that you didn't have the winds to spread the fire everywhere.  Also, thankful that no was was hurt.  (I hope no one was hurt!)

[Teresa]

No one was hurt..
The men are all very sore and tired. and I am sure will appreciate their own homes, hot showers and soft clean beds.

[Wilma]

I hope that we hear how the fire started.  Mostly, we never hear anything after the fact.  My guess would be that there was a space heater left turned on and when it cooled off, the heater kicked in with some combustible material nearby.

[Teresa]

I don't know much... but someone said she had a wood stove that she used for heat.
I did hear through the grapevine that the fire marshal was called in a while back..did his inspection. Found around 17 violations.. but never came back to give her any citations!
Now in my very ignorant and humble opinion.. I would think that a state fire inspector that was that lax on his job, and didn't follow through.. would be out of job, if he was under my supervision.

[patyrn]

I would agree!!!!  If someone of authority ever inspected it, it seems like it should have been shut down long ago.  I can't imagine allowing it to pass an inspection.  We have discussed on numerous occasions what a fire liability the building could be, and I guess it came true.  Thankfully no one was injured in the process.  I

[indygal]

Terrell and I are so glad no one was injured battling that fire...it was impressive and could have been far more serious. When we heard the siren go off, we went out in the front street (Wabash) to see what was happening. We could see flames, but they appeared to be much closer, as if the fire was in the block with the grocery and hardware stores. I immediately burst into tears, fearing the loss of such important businesses in town. As we walked closer we could see it was the Heritage House and again my heart just sank, knowing there wasn't any way to keep the place from being destroyed. The firefighters did a wonderful job keeping it contained, and the units from Moline and Severy were there right away (within 20 minutes or so of the warning siren...that's fast!)

We stood a safe distance and watched them battle the flames, and prayed there wouldn't be an explosion from all the flammable materials in the basement (paints, varnishes, etc.) We left around 10 and it was still burning.

We were blessed in so many ways. No one was hurt. It was a single detached structure and didn't spread to other buildings (can you imagine the devastation if that fire had started in the center of the main business buildings? We might have lost half of our downtown). The wind wasn't a huge factor, which means the smoke rose instead of spread (for the most part, anyway). We have a terrific volunteer fire department who handled this emergency with professionalism. And, though I hate the thought of losing any business at all, at least this one wasn't vitally important to our community.

As cluttered and dangerous as the place was, it did house a pseudo-museum of sorts. It's a shame that we lost a building with historical value.

As a side note, I was told there are no fire codes in Howard, therefore no fire inspectors. If that's true, the only inspections would be conducted by request or by insurance underwriters, and I don't believe the building was insured. Which means all the people who consigned items in the store suffered a monetary loss as well.

[Marcia Moore]

     Here is another view of the hotel at Howard that burned last night.  This one was taken in the 1940's.

[Teresa]

Thank you so much Marcia.
I would rather keep these pictures of what the old hotel looked like locked in my memory..rather than what it had become.
Shouldn't be so hard to do..as the Howard Hotel was certainly a pretty little place.

Without your pictures, I wouldn't have been able to do that.



PS~~ Video slide show is uploaded and ready for viewing in the Video section.