100 years ago in Spokane County: Burglars cut phone lines and used a torch to get into vaults at Fairfield bank
A gang of burglars used an acetylene torch to burn their way into the safe deposit vaults at the Bank of Fairfield. They escaped with cash, jewelry and bonds worth more than $5,000.
This was no ordinary bank robbery. The first hint that something was amiss came when R.N. Block, the manager of the Fairfield telephone company, looked out his window at 2:15 a.m. and saw someone on a pole next to the telephone office. As he watched from behind his curtain, the man on the pole severed a cable holding 75 phone lines. Before Block could do anything, he heard another burglar say, “What’s that fellow doing looking out from behind the curtain?”
“Well, I beat a hasty retreat for I did not know but what a bullet would be the next thing,” said Block.
From that point on, one of the lookouts stood guard over Block’s house and prevented him from leaving. Block could not phone for help, because the burglars had cut off all telephone service.
Then the burglars went to work, breaking into the bank and using the torch to gain access to the safe deposit vaults. They apparently tried to get into the bank’s main vault, but were unsuccessful.
Investigators with the sheriff’s department said that the use of the torch and the cutting off of telephone communications indicated that it was the work of “experts.”
The burglary wasn’t reported until 7:30 a.m., when the phone lines were restored and the gang was long gone.