Hartwick Fire Destroys Filling Station, Grocery, Home 1931

Hartwick Fire Destroys Filling Station, Grocery, Home 1931

Fire Destroys Filling Station, Grocery, Home

Hartwick Blaze Thought Started by Spark

From Electric Pump---Loss $2,500

Without Insurance

Hartwick, May 31---A fire that broke out at 6:20 p. m., Friday, at the Texaco filling station operated by G. A. Bresee, at the west side of the village, completely destroyed the one-story frame bungalow in which the filling station, grocery store and residence of Mr. Bresee were located.

For a time the fire, which burned fiercely for about three quarters of an hour, threatened to spread to nearby buildings, and the roof of one of them, a large hotel that is being remodeled into a garage, did catch fire. The blaze was soon extinguished, however, by the Hartwick and Cooperstown fire departments, which had been summoned to the scene as soon as the fire broke out.

It is thought that the fire was started by a spark from the electric gasoline pump. A Texaco truck was filling the tank when an explosion occurred and before any headway could be made in combatting the blaze it was beyond control. Oil and gasoline in the vicinity of the building fed the flames, which burned so rapidly that Mr. Bresee, his wife, and their 21-year-old son, Floyd, were unable to save any of the property from the house.

There was no insurance on the building or its contents, it was reported tonight, and the loss was estimated at $2,500. The Bresee family is at present staying at the hotel mentioned above, which is owned by Mr. Bresee. They have not yet announced any plans for the future.