Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
It was about 11 a.m. on a mid-April day in 1914. Several maintenance men were raking and burning leaves below the Chestnut Street Hill, south of the Winona Hotel.
A sudden gust of wind carried flames and sparks to nearby cottages lining Chestnut Street. Within minutes, several of the cottages caught fire.
Bill Collison, who was in the park, ran to ring the fire bell mounted on a platform near the grocery store. The alarm brought every volunteer available. Al Cuffel, caretaker of the Winona Hotel, stationed himself on the roof with wet gunny sacks to beat out flying sparks.
People hurried to the scene of the fire. Two men, Philip Laurien and Victor Hatfield, brought from a barn located at the corner of Tenth and College the town’s only firefighting equipment — a hose reel on wheels. The hose reel was dragged to the scene, but the fire was too advanced. The water pressure from the contraption was not strong enough to keep the fire from advancing.
The Warsaw fire department responded quickly to a call for help and worked heroically. Bucket brigades were formed to douse the sparks and embers which showered the roofs of the closely-packed cottages. Townspeople worked frantically to save whatever could be carried from the threatened buildings.
One elderly woman, Mrs. Nancy Snepp, was carrying a pile of clothing and was severely burned as she was almost trapped inside a burning house. Several firefighters were overcome by the gasses and smoke and two of the men suffered heart attacks. Fortunately, there were no fatalities.
With winds increasing and flames intensifying, all efforts were placed on saving the Winona Hotel. Marvin F. Howe, the Pennsylvania Railroad tower man, remained at his post even as he watched his home burn to the ground. Howe wired Fort Wayne for help. A special Pennsylvania Railroad company train carrying a complete fire company of 13 men with pumping equipment arrived from Fort Wayne in about 40 minutes.
While they waited for help to arrive, volunteers, with the consent of the owners, dynamited several cottages in hopes of keeping the fire from spreading to the Winona Hotel. Two cottages were blown up, including a small frame structure at Fourth and Chestnut Streets.
Historian Daniel Coplen noted that a dynamited cottage named “The Bennett” had been purchased only a few days earlier by evangelist O. A. Newlin, who at that very hour was in his attorney’s office waiting to hand over the check to pay for it. Coplen said, “He would spend $9,000 for what would soon be a pile of rubbish.”
The explosions shattered the windows of nearby homes. Among these was “Felsenheim,” aptly named “The Stone House” at the corner of Fourth and Chestnut. It was the home of the Fluegel family and had been constructed of cement blocks and was roofed with asbestos shingles. Although window frames and other wooden parts were charred badly, the house stood like a fortress when all the homes about it were burning. Later, a roofing company showed movies of the Fluegel home calling it “The House that Stopped the Fire.”
When the special pumping equipment from Fort Wayne arrived, hoses were strung from the lake to the Winona Hotel. A steam engine, carried on a flatcar, was moved to the pier, pumping water from the lake up to the area of the fire.
The hotel was saved, and several hours after firefighting started, the blaze was under control. In the end, the losses in the town totaled more than $100,000. Twenty-three houses and cottages were destroyed by the fire. Four city blocks had been reduced to smoldering ash. Farmers living a mile east of the town had to beat out firebrands that landed on their barns and other buildings. Some embers from the fire, still glowing, were carried as far as Barbee lakes.
A Fire Department
is Organized
Winona had learned its lesson. The Great Fire prompted officials to organize the Winona Lake Volunteer Fire Department with Chaucy Eddington as chief. A horse-drawn wagon, and later a motor truck, were purchased. The town’s first fire station was erected just south of the Winona Hotel on Park Avenue.
The Newlin family, having lost their newly-purchased cottage in the fire, experienced further tragedy three years later, according to this report from the “Fort Wayne News” on Saturday, September 1, 1917:
Warsaw, Ind. Aug. 31 - Dwight Newlin, aged fourteen years, son of Evangelist and Mrs. O.A. Newlin, of Winona Lake, was almost instantly killed shortly before noon by a large touring car driven by Dr. James A. Gordon, pastor of the Winona Federated church. The Newlin boy was riding his bicycle and crossed the street as Dr. Gordon was backing his car out of his garage. He was caught by the machine and thrown under the wheels which passed over his body twice. Fred King and Charles B. Taylor, who witnessed the accident, assisted the injured lad to his feet and he walked to the sidewalk, saying that he was not hurt, but that he could not get his breath. Shortly after being taken to his home, he passed away. Physicians were unable to find any fractures on the first examination, and internal injuries caused his death.
The boy, who was an only child, an older brother having died some time ago, was a favorite at the park. He had a paper route and was making collections when the accident occurred. The parents and Dr. Gordon are prostrated with grief.
