The Fort Dodge Messenger: May 6, 1903

Fire Causes Slight Loss

Barn Owned by L.L. Leighton Burned on Tuesday Evening

Loss Covered by Insurance

Cause of Fire is Not Known – Horse and Carriages Saved from the Building.

The department was called out on a long run Tuesday afternoon about 8 o’clock, the fire being in the barn on the premises of L.L. Leighton on Second avenue north and Sixteenth street. It is not exactly known just how the fire started, as no one discovered it until the whole upper story was ablaze. Forgetting the telephine (sic) in the house one of the boys, who was around home ran several blocks to a fire alarm box and turned in an alarm.

Mrs. Leighton had in the mean time telephoned the department, but in her excitement, forgot to tell where the fire was. This necessitated a stop of several minutes to locate where the call had come from, and by the time the department arrived it was too late to save the barn. The carriages and horses were all gotten out safely.

The loss will be about $235 of which there is about $185 insurance. Two other barns in the vicinity were rather badly scorched, and it was thought for a time that they would go, but the department paid all its attentionto these barns, when they saw that the Leighton barn was lost, and so prevented the loss of the two others.

The fire was first discovered by Willie Leighton when he went to the barn to look after the horse. He was just in time to get the animal out, as in a few more moments it would have been impossible to enter the building.

Tags: 1903, Leighton