1897 Fire Brands

To continue from yesterday's long article published in The Fowlerville Review, here are what was labeled as the "Fire Brands" after the fire in the Beebe block:

A.J. Beebe and A.J. Hams now occupy the T.R. Shields residence.

Postmaster Curtis had the whole outfit packed ready for a hasty removal.

Nearly every man and woman in Fowlerville is a whole fire protection in themselves.

J.C. Ellsworth removed all his portable property from his bank to a place of safety.

The editor swallowed more smoke than was good for him and was pretty badly used up on Monday.

Judge Cole had just put out a little fire at his home all alone with his family when the alarm sounded for the big fire.

Daniel VanRiper was overcome by the heat and smoke and was taken home. He was able to attend to business on Monday.

The congregations came from the churches, in their best clothes, headed by their respective ministers and all worked with a will.

A piece of glass fell from one of the opera house windows just as W.M. Horton was passing along and cut quite a hole in his scalp.

Someone, whose name we have been unable to learn, had their moustache burned off by the bursting of the flames from the building.

The south wall of the Pullen building has been pronounced unsafe and Clyde Pullen, who occupied the living rooms above, has moved into the Henry Bristol house.

A week later,

Many laughable incidents took place in connection with the fire. One man rushed into this office with a bushel basket and wanted to turn all the type into the basket and carry it away to a place of safety. Another man came downstairs from the Pullen block with a cuspidor and deposited it carefully in the middle of the road. Another man gently tossed a lot of crockery from the second story window out upon the sidewalk, and yet the only thought of any one was to do good and help save the property.

After it was noted, M.H. Pullen will take down the south wall of his store, which was damaged by the recent fire, and rebuilding a heavier wall, talk was then at a zenith for better fire protection,

A map of the plan for water works in this village has been hanging in the post office for a few days past. We do not know the object of its being placed there, but we hope it will create a desire for that kind of fire protection upon the part of the people. With a few changes, it looks as though the plan would give good service, and from the figures upon it indicates the cost of its adoption to be about $15,000.

By the following year, a fire protection company had been organized by the village.