Fire Suppression In Uptown Westerville
The fire in Uptown Westerville that destroyed two buildings at Home and State Streets began sometime after midnight. It was discovered by Herman Beddow, son of W. D. Beddow, who had been working in the restaurant in one of the buildings which is now in ashes. The fire is believed to have started in the kitchen of the restaurant in a faulty flue.
From the after-action report on December 16, 1896 at the Westerville Division of Fire:
“The flames had also done their best to work into the residence of A. K. Reed and W. G. Reed, in the building owned by William Clark. Its brick walls and iron roof helped, however, in stopping the fire’s advance, and the Reed’s escape with goods injured by water, smoke and mud, none being burned. “
“From the building next to the south, owned by Miss Laura Westervelt, and occupied by her and Miss E. Hubbell, all the goods were removed and saved, though of course they were more or less damaged.”
Westerville firefighters worked to extinguish the flames on a cold December night, but a strong northerly wind drove the fire towards buildings closer to the center of Uptown. A request for assistance was sent to Columbus but denied with Columbus saying it didn’t think Westerville had enough water to fight the fire.
Eventually, the fire was subdued when dynamite was used to demolish burning buildings to prevent the fire from spreading.
A New Way To Fight Fires Uptown

Starting Friday Westerville begins installing new water mains behind businesses from Winter Street to Home Street on the east side of State Street and Home to College Ave on the west side of State Street.
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