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Wiconisco – Major Fire Damage at New Briquet Plant, 1919

In 1919, about one month after the American Briquet Company opened a new plant at Wiconisco, near Lykens, a fire, believed to have been caused by defective wiring, broke out and destroyed several buildings and electrical equipment. The plant employed 23 men. The company vowed to rebuild and be back in operation early in 1920.

Here’s how the fire was reported in the local newspapers.

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From the Elizabethville Echo, December 18, 1919:

FIRE AT LYKENS

Last Saturday morning about five o’clock fire was discovered at the American Briquette Company’s plant at Lykens [Wiconisco] and the “drier” section of the building and loading bins were destroyed causing a probable loss of $40,000.  The plant had been in operation since November 15 [1919] and was employing twenty three men, who produced 75 tons of briquette per day.  The work of rebuilding has already been started.

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Headline from the Lykens Standard, December 19, 1919:

EARLY MORNING BLAZE DESTROYS AMERICAN BRIQUETTE COMPANY PLANT

Loss Is Estimated at $40,000 – Firemen Experience Difficulty In Battling Flames Due to Hose Burning – Toms of Briquette Saved – Work on Destroyed Portion Started Monday.

___________________________________________

Story from the Harrisburg Evening News, December 13, 1919:

$75,000 LOSS IN BIG FIRE THAT RUINS TWO BIG BUILDINGS NEAR TO LYKENS.

Special to the Evening News.

Lykens, December 13 [1919] – Fanned by a strong west wind, a fire which burned for nearly three hours and which several times threatened the washery of the Susquehanna Colliery Company, this morning destroyed the two main buildings of the American Coal Briquette Company, north of the borough, causing a loss estimated at $75,000.  Defective wiring is believed to have been the cause of the conflagration, which broke out at 5:05 o’clock.

The Briquette Company is a subsidiary of the colliery company.  Officials said the destroyed buildings will be rebuilt at once, so that operations can be resumed early next year.  The entire plant of the Briquette Company, consisting of five large buildings, was “brand new,” operations having begun there only a month ago.  It took all year to establish the plant.

Save Tons of Briquettes.

The destroyed buildings were of frame construction and included the dryer or finishing department and the loading bin.  This bin contained about fifteen tons of briquettes when the fire broke out and firemen opened the false bottom, dropping the coal to the ground.  They then directed a plug stream on the coal pile and only a small percentage of the coal was burned.  The bin was a two-story building.

The dryer building was three stories high and contained a lot of electric motors, a stem boiler and much oil in addition to other paraphernalia and equipment.  Chemical streams were used to prevent the flames spreading to the mine washery.

Water Pressure Good.

The firemen fought the blaze with nine plug streams and they had excellent water pressure but the high wind made their work difficult and at times hazardous to life and adjoining property. It was 7:45 o’clock this morning before the flames were gotten under control.

The electrical apparatus destroyed included three fifty-horsepower motors, one five-horsepower, two ten-horsepower, one five-horsepower, and three fifty-horsepower mine fans.

The Briquette Company had employed twenty-three men and was turning out seventy-five tons of briquettes daily in an eight-hour shift.  The company had planned to add another eight-hour shift beginning next Monday.

_______________________________________________________

Articles from Newspapers.com.

Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.

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