One of the city’s “most beautiful and expensive residences,” the D.C. Corbin home, 507 W. 7th Avenue, was badly damaged in a morning blaze.

Firefighters battled the blaze for four hours before finally extinguishing it. Their efforts were complicated by the fact the house was on fire in two different places.

The first fire started in the basement on the north side “from an unknown cause.” The second fire was in the upper floor of the south end near the electrical fuse boxes. It was caused by a short circuit resulting from the first fire.

Mrs. D.C. Corbin was not in the house – she had been away for several weeks. Her nephew and a caretaker were asleep in the house when the fire began. The nephew, a boy, heard crackling sounds from the fire and called out to the caretaker. Then he jumped out the window to the ground, about 10 feet below. He then ran to the fire alarm box to turn on the alarm. The caretaker also escaped unharmed.

The caretaker said the fire could not have started in the furnace, since it had not been used recently. He surmised that faulty wiring was the cause. Damage to the house was estimated at $6,000 to $7,000 from the fire alone and about $10,000 when smoke and water damage were added. It was evidently repairable, since today it now houses the Corbin Art Center and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

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(From the Associated Press)

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