A snippet from chapter 1 of Smoky Days And Sleepless Nights



            In 1859, fire breaks out in the Noble County Courthouse in Chapter One of
Smoky Days and Sleepless Nights: A Century Or So With The Albion Fire Department:

            John W. Bryant spotted the fire in Albion’s first courthouse at around 1 a.m. on a frigid January morning. He saw flames spread through the clerk’s office on the south side of the ground floor, and gave an alarm that likely consisted of a high pitched scream.
            In those days, the entire population of a town would turn out to give what help they could at the call of “fire!” In some communities the law stated everyone had to own at least one bucket. As the alarm spread, people would throw their buckets out the window, where they’d be grabbed up, until everyone formed bucket brigades to splash water on the fire.
            How many concussions resulted from fallen buckets hasn’t been documented.

            Albion’s first reported fire rescue and injuries followed … you can read the whole book by ordering on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Mark-R.-Hunter/e/B0058CL6OO/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1, or from my website at www.markrhunter.com.

7 comments:

  1. We should have had such laws in England. In those days buckets were used for throwing more , disgusting things from house windows.

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    Replies
    1. Here's a disturbing thought: When fires broke out and they needed a bucket brigade, they probably used the same buckets.

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  2. Excellent choice for a snippet, and excellent writing too.

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