THE REESEVILLE FIRE OF 1909
Note: The following appeared as an article published by Kevin
Neuberger in the Saturday, 28 Jan 1984 edition of the Watertown Daily Times.
On January 29, 1909, the village of Reeseville was almost destroyed by a fire which raged out of control in a blizzard.
On the evening of Thursday, January 28th, 1909 most of Reeseville's residents went to sleep blissfully unaware that the light rain that was falling would figure predominately in a tragedy the next day. When they woke up the next morning, everything was white as the rain had changed into snow overnight. By this time a major storm was breaking out with up to four inches already on the ground.
A little past noon on Friday, January 29th, Arthur Kohn, an employee in the hardware business of C. W. Steinacker, started work on a new project. He began adjusting the flow of gas for a hollow-wire blowtorch when either the wire broke or the cap blew off. The building filled with gas fumes and in seconds they were ignited by a nearby light.
The explosion that resulted threw Mr. Kohn through the front window. His hands and face were severely burned and he was sent to St. Mary's Hospital in Watertown for treatment. The flames spread to the nearby Frank O'Rourke saloon where a large quantity of gunpowder and cartridges were ignited and caused further explosions.
The Reeseville Fire Department arrived on the scene shortly after this with all of their equipment: a hose cart, a hand-built hook and ladder truck, and a Howe combined chemical and water engine. The latter piece of apparatus was hand-drawn and when powered by at least eight men it could throw three to four barrels of water per minute.
By the time of the department's arrival, the wind had turned into a gale-force blizzard from the north with winds at 50 m.p.h. The temperature had started to drop and the Reeseville firemen were hampered in their efforts as the hand pumper started to freeze up. The wind continued to spread the conflagration.
Word was sent by telephone and telegraph to Lowell for help. Efforts to communicate with other towns were useless as the blizzard had knocked out the lines. Just then, a train pulled into the village from the west. The conductor, seeing the plight of the residents, disconnected the locomotive and sent it to Watertown for help. Word was also sent for help to Columbus.
Around 1 p.m., the Lowell firemen arrived but the combined departments could not stop the raging blaze as it destroyed the State Bank of Reeseville, and George Rounds' saloon. The next to go up in flames were Theodore Klug's residence, E.A. Abendroth's blacksmith shop and Fred Etscheid's wagon shop.
A train arrived thereafter with help from Columbus in the form of a hook and ladder crew. Around 4:30 p.m. the other train arrived from Watertown with Fire Chief Carl Otto, a Sibley engine, and a sufficient crew of firemen.
The four departments teamed up and were able to contain the fire at the Bickel Bros. general store only after a couple of other buildings were razed. Friends and neighbors helped to rescue some of the store merchandise and it was 6 p.m. before the fire was finally out. In the course of this activity, Watertown Chief Otto cut his foot at the ankle straight to the bone and had to retire as he was unable to walk.
As soon as the danger was past, the departments from Watertown and Columbus returned home via special train. The village residents couldn't assess the damages until the blizzard abated the next day. Then they found most of the business block south of the railroad tracks and on the east side of the street destroyed.
Damage estimates ranged from $25,000 to $50,000 with hardly any of the buildings having insurance. Totally destroyed in the fire were the State Bank of Reeseville, the George Rounds' saloon, The C.W. Steinacker hardware store, the F.E. O'Rourke saloon and dance hall, the Reeseville Opera House, the F.E. O'Rourke ice house, the E.A. Abendroth blacksmith shop, the Fred Etscheid wagon shop, the August Bickel butcher shop and ice house, the Walter Miller barber shop, and the Theodore Klug home. Across the street, the Post Office, the drugstore and the A.W. Nowak barber shop had plate glass broken. The buildings were scorched and windows broken at the A.L. Hoehne and Ruedig residences. The Bickel Bros. general store was only partially destroyed but many of the windows were broken and the goods damaged.
After the fire, Reeseville rose Phoenix-like as the businesses were rebuilt with brick to stem the possibility of another disastrous fire.