York Has Third Major Fire in Three Months
Fire which devastated the three-quarter block plant of York-Shipley, Inc., in York, Pa., makers of oil burners, threatened a wide residential area and gave the city’s volunteer fire department a hard night-long battle before it was controlled, with loss reported at $800,000.
It was the third major fire in York in three months. Four firemen were injured, none critically.
The fire was discovered in the boiler room of the rambling two-story plant about 11:00 P.M. and spread rapidly to a paint shop, thence through the entire factory, which is located on Poplar Street, near Belvedere Avenue, about six blocks from the center of the city. All firemen were quickly called and help was asked of West Y orkboro and Grantley.
Sparks and flaming embers from the spreading blaze were carried on the breeze over a wide area and residents utilized garden hose to wet down combustible roofs of their homes. Several hundred left their homes for fear the fire would spread. Firemen, however, were able to prevent serious extension of the blaze although little of the combustible factory could be saved.
Fire-fighting operations were in charge of Fire Chief Ellis Wagner. Twenty-five pieces of apparatus worked at the scene at the fire’s peak.
It is said the fire, and the two that preceded it, were instrumental in hastening the plans for increasing the effectiveness of the York Fire Department which is reported one of the largest volunteer organizations in point of personnel in the state.
