Elk County Forum

Son-in-law tells me that the old hotel in downtown Howard is on fire.  I can see a lot of smoke in that direction and a glow in the sky.  Have also heard the ambulance.  If anyone knows anything, would you please let us know.  He didn't know if it were the old hotel north of the Cox Building or the old hotel catty-corner from the Cox Building.

Have you heard any more on the fire?  I know some fire trucks from Severy went to Howard to help.

It's the old hotel, now Heritage House, owned by Dorothy Tiffany - where they also do the U-Haul.

I came home just now from the Howard UMC Bazaar; there were still flames in the building, probably a total loss.

Someone said fire trucks from Moline as well as some from towns up north came to help.

Do you know if anyone was hurt?  I heard an ambulance a couple of times.

Haven't heard about anyone being hurt - but we also heard the ambulances while at church.

I don't know if they're related.

Here's a picture.

And here is a video of tonight's fire:
http://www.cascity.com/howard/ectv.htm?bcpid=958623447&bclid=958764824&bctid=1313733080

Kjell video'd this tonight and I took pictures. He hurried home and made this video for the Howard Website.
Our Fireman are awesome! I was so proud of all of them

When I left at midnight, they had shut the water pretty much off and were keeping it contained within the structure. It had flared back up and I think they were just hoping that it would burn itself up form the inside and cave in. It is now 12:35 and I have no idea what it is like right now.
I do know that it is a total loss, as it was like old dry hay in the middle of a fire pit.
We are so lucky we didn't have the wind we had 2 days ago or the whole town would have gone up in blazes.

Just got home.

Fire chief sent half the squad home to rest in case the wind comes up first thing in the morning.  Heritage house burned to the ground.  Only thing left is Chimney.  It spread very quickly and had an enormous amount of fuel in it.  We were not able to keep the flames from going to second story and out the roof

Dan

Thanks for putting this information out for us, everyone.

A downtown fire is always so sad.  I'm glad nobody was apparently injured.

We'll see if Kjell or someone else can provide us with a photo to use in the newspaper.

Rudy

It is mentioned above that there was an old hotel north of the Cox building and an old hotel catty cornered from the Cox building.

The old hotel north of the Cox building burned. I have been on the second floor and it was ridiculously loaded with old clothes and junk, as was the rest of the building.

Anyone know what/where is the old hotel catty cornered from the Cox building?

Kjell and Teresa, thank you for the video.  Sad that Howard has lost another business building, but that place was an eye-sore, if you don't mind my saying.  As Jo said, too bad someone didn't have it that would have kept it looking like it should have.  Times change, tho.  The glow was so bright from my house and the scanner kept us pretty well informed.  I have a question, tho, when Knight's burned in Severy, I helped keep ice water, cold soda's, and cold wet towels handy for the firemen.  Do they do that here in Howard?  This was just volunteers, but seemed very important at the time and know the firemen appreciated it.

Waldo, the old hotel catty-cornered from the Cox Building is the old bank building that is badly in need of restoration.  I thought it had been a hotel at one time, but maybe not.  I am glad it didn't burn.  It is more of a historical building than the hotel was.

The Howard Hotel has been on the tax records since the very early 1900's.  Freank Winn posted the year that it went on the tax records, but I can't recall the exact date, but it has been close to 100 years.  It still makes me sad, as I remember being in there many times BEFORE it was trashed - and it truly was a beautifully well kept building at one time.

  The old bank building at the north end of Wabash Ave. was never a hotel.  There was a hotel on the corner that is now the First Nation Bank building.  My aunt, Clara Workman, in her teen years, worked as a waitress in the dining room there.  She told me that they wore black dresses, white frilly aprons, and a white half cap, as their uniforms.

Thank you Danny for posting when you got home. That was very considerate, considering how exhausted you must have been.
You men did a fabulous job and I know that you all are worn absolutely slick!
Until you and Derek were on the fire team, I never realized all that was involved in fighting a fire.
And the physical toll it takes on a person is unbelievable.
I observed several things last night. (and I will use my boys as an example, because as a mother, my eyes are always never far from where my sons are when they are fighting fire )
The team work and friendship among this group of men is wonderful.

Everyone knows that Danny and Derek are 2 big men. Derek was using the hose by himself on the north side of the structure.
I saw him finally set down in the middle of the street, all the while continuing to use the hose.
He needs  knee replacements, so I winced as I knew that his legs were probably killing him.... but on top of that I found out his blood sugar issue was popping up, and the level was dropping. That didn't stop him..
I saw Jarrod Wiseman run over and Derek stood up and Jarrod Wiseman braced and used his body as a wall for Derek to lean up against so he could continue to use the hose on the fire. What teamwork!
I saw Danny on the front of the hose on the south side.. and I knew the hose was getting to be a dead weight as several ran
over and grabbed the hose to help hold the weight up.
Derek went to the big truck to use the giant water pump, so they could get water to the top of the building, and let me tell you . THAT thing pumps some tons of water. But the fire still blazed.
One time Todd Wincher and Derek was trying to get the hose to pull and move over and with the power of the water pumping through it, they were struggling like crazy to get it to pull to another direction. Both men almost fell down when they were jerking on it..And on top of that, they run out of length. so they had to hurry and reconnect something else, so they could get it around to the back side of the building.
I watched other firemen.. Ian & Dave Denton and John Robertson, John Miller, Danny Signer, Ed Price and Jerald Morgan, Curtis Carey, Gary Harrod, Craig Wilson and others working on the building.. doing all they could to keeping it contained so Larry's Video store and the surrounding homes and buildings were safe.

(http://www.cascity.com/howard/images/fire-heritagehouse4.jpg)

(http://www.cascity.com/howard/images/fire-heritagehouse5.jpg)

I can not stress how phenomenal these men are. I am so proud of each and every one of them.
  Toward the end there was 2-4 men on each hose. And they all rotated with different ones in the front. I know that after a few hours of solid fighting the weight and pressure of holding that hose must make your muscles burn like the fire they are trying to put out. You know it makes me so proud of our group of men who live in this small country town and volunteer to do this hard and sometime dangerous work to try to save what people have in a time of fire.
Derek hollered at me once and motioned for me, so I run over to him and he said," Mom, We need bottles of water, we are about to die here!". I run over to Morgan's house and Barbie gathered up what she had and I took them around, Mark Cookson headed to the hardware store and grabbed some cases of water and brought back so they men could have water to drink.
When they would take off their hats the sweat and water just dripped off of them. Their gear is so heavy and of course fire and everything proof, so it must feel like wearing a furnace.
I can't tell you how proud I am of our department.
And also a big thanks to Moline and Severy fire department for coming up and helping their neighbors.

Rudy, I will send you the pictures that I took last night. I struggled to get some that were good enough to see. It was so dark and the only light was of the fire and dark smoke, so I didn't get many that are what I call good quality, but I am sure there is something in there you can use. It was dark and I can't see the best in the world anyway  8) but  I fiddled with the manual settings and finally got it set to where it was half way acceptable. But the problem is the camera detects the smoke and hones in on that so the pics come out blurry and not focused.
Kjell is going over right now to take some this morning, so I will send you those too.

     Here is a photo of the hotel building back in 1923.

Thanks, Marcia, You are indeed a wealth of information.  We appreciate you....VERY MUCH !!!

After looking at that picture.. I am really sad. I never realized how pretty and wonderful of a building it was.
It makes what it had become even more pathetic and disgusting.

Thanks, Teresa, for everything

I don't know how to edit previous posts, but would someone smarter than me please correct my typo in my most recent one. I meant to say "downtown fire."  Not "downfire."

Rudy

P.S. I fully expect all of you to respond, because "everyone" is smarter than me.

The day after... taken at 10.25AM.

(http://www.cascity.com/howard/images/fire-heritagehouse2.jpg)

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.
(http://www.cascity.com/howard/forum/beer.gif)

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.

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!)

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

Thanks for the photo and video work on this for those of us not in the area anymore.  It is sad to see the building gone.  I knew when I lived there that the condition of the building and the amount of kindling throughout the building that it was only a matter of time.  I have not been in that building since 1995, and am amazed it lasted this long considering conditions.

I would like to say that, as a former volunteer fireman for Howard and other places, that the hard work and dedication shown through long hours, sweat, and determination were truly put to the test I am sure and that the answer to the call to action is an example of what sense of community is all about.  A true testament to the fine people of Howard.  Great job to all involved.  With a fire of that magnitude, the lack of injury and the saving of surrounding structures is a great example of the dedication and training of the fire department. 

Thanks again for the information, photos and video, and the forum that places me back in Howard when I read the names and posts of those I have not seen for years.

Bill Reed

Hi Bill.....what a pleasure to see your smiling face, and to read your post.  I never make Mexican cornbread that I don't think of you.  Hope all is well with you and that you will enjoy a Happy Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas.
  Jo and Fred

Thanks for all the information and cool pictures!  We must have just left town (eating at Poplar's) before the fire broke out and didn't hear about it until this morning.  Glad we don't live down the street anymore! 

I must say, though, it was very handy to have the U-Haul place in town during Chuck's move and then my move.  And Dorothy was the friendliest person to us; she greeted us and welcomed us to Howard. 

Who and what is the house South of the building?  As old as it looks, it's lucky that didn't burn, too.

that building is Dorothy's as well and it is also filled to the rafters with stuff

Ahh.  Well, maybe I should rephrase and say... it's "lucky" that it didn't burn.  I bet if it wasn't for the video store next door, maybe the firemen wouldn't have been so careful about not letting it "accidentally" spread to help prevent them from making a return trip in the future???   :-X    ::)

Hey, don't say that!  Vacant, abandoned buildings can be dangerous for fire fighters too.  The whole idea is to stop it where it started.  It's just safer for all concerned. Expansion is not what you want, especially when there are exposures involved. It looks like your guys did a good job. If the building was not worth saving, then an exterior attack would be fine. Was it occupied in any way? I gather Howard has no female firefighters? Pity... ;D ;D We had a potential bad one this morning ourselves... Old apartments with a common loft. A ventilating fan on one end of the attic caught fire and headed down the attic with nothing to stop it. They hit it fast and hard and stopped it beautifully. Relatively little damage and no injuries...a good stop.

Oops; forgot we had the fire marshall watching over us.   ;D  My comments were just in jest; I hope you could tell by the smiley.  My penance was to add $5 to my bill at Cookson's this afternoon to help defer the cost of the water they donated.

I always know a good jest when I see one. Thanks for donating to the water fund, that was awfully nice of you. It's easy to get dehydrated even during cooler weather when you're dealing with a fully involved working alarm like that. Does Howard have an auxiliary to help?

It is very sad that the Hotel burned. Can someone let us know how Dorothy is? I am sure this is very upsetting for her.
Thanks
Army Mom

Dorothy had no insurance on the building or the contents.. and she says it started on the front porch and is saying it was arson.
The fireman think otherwise.. BUT...........She has insisted that the fire marshal come and investigate.

The city (since they/we will be the ones stuck with cleaning it up) wanted to go ahead and push all the rubble up and finish burning all the charred wood etc and get it dozed up and cleaned up.
She refused. Her opinion is the wood can be salvaged and sold..... and she wants to sift through all that , cause there might be some jewelery in there that can be saved and sold...............
::) What-ever.......... ::)

I don't mind saying publically what everyone is saying around town....... that something better change with the other building that she is in ( by Lannings..) or we are going to have another fire and let me tell you.. THAT one will be one that the town won't recover from.

I really hope you all can find a way to protect yourself from these conditions.  It seems that there are a lot of hoarder's who can't get rid of or organize what they have, they just keep piling it up into a rats nest.  Not only is a dangerous, but as I am sure you know Teresa, it is really bad Feng Shui for the community.  I believe it effects the prosperity consciousness on some level of the entire community.  They have finally started a movement here a few years ago to get the slum landlords to either fix up or tear down these eye sores.   I think of how much Moline has lost over the years to fire.  Keep at it Girl.

QuoteHer opinion is the wood can be salvaged and sold..... and she wants to sift through all that , cause there might be some jewelery in there that can be saved and sold...............

That does sound exactly like Dorothy.  :)

Perhaps she'll have a "sifting" party - the community could pitch in and get it cleaned up in a day?  ???
That would help, right?  :)   ???  :)