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From the Divide County Journal - Crosby, North Dakota Wednesday, July 29, 1959 Fire in Ambrose on
Tuesday Fire Is New Chapter ... Old Story
The Journal photos above, hurriedly developed, printed, and rushed to Williston last night where the Williston Herald was so kind to make engravings for us, depict the Ambrose fire at three stages. The upper shot shows the ruins of Fegri's Market and Palm's Grocery, moments before the roof collapsed. The center photo was taken minutes before when the Fegri building front was still standing, but just barely. The lower photo shows firemen feverishly working to save the locker plant. Ruins of both the grocery markets can be seen to the left. Some of the groceries which were hauled out in the street can also be seen in the upper photos.
(By John M. Andrist) Fate gave the "Queen City" another rude slap in the face Tuesday afternoon, when fire struck again, wiping out all three of Ambrose' food stores and meat supply market. Damage was roughly estimated at better than $50,000. To old timers in the community it was just another chapter to an old, old story. Once the business metropolis of Divide County, Ambrose was a terminal point for the Soo Line railroad. It had several lumber yards, up to nine cafes, three banks, several grocery stores, a hospital, two newspapers, two drug stores, and a host of other businesses. At one time more than a million bushels of wheat were marketed in a single season. It was the primary source of supply for homesteaders throughout the western half of Divide County and well into Sheridan County, Mont., because it was the nearest point on the railroad. Crosby's victory in the torrid county seat battle, extension of the Soo Line branch into Montana, and the building of highway 5 three miles south of Ambrose have been rough economic losses. But the bitterest treatment has been dealt by fate. Fire after fire has struck in the three block long Main Street, which was nearly solidly filled with business blocks at one time. Now standing alone at one end of Main Street are the brick buildings of Thomte Hardware and Ambrose Implement; at the other end are the Farmers Elevator and Oil Company. A former bank building houses the Legion bar. Two other tiny frame buildings contain the cafe and post office, and the only remaining buildings house the small hall and a vacant bar building. We called Ambrose when we first heard the fire report. Her voice slightly breaking with emotion, the lady who answered the phone said, "It's the whole east side". It's been a tough half century for Ambrose. Fire which struck in the coal shed of Fegri's Market in Ambrose at 2:00 Tuesday afternoon destroyed three buildings, before it could be brought under control two hours later. Both Ambrose Grocery stores, Fegri's Market and Palm's Grocery, were completely leveled, and the Ambrose Locker Plant building was practically destroyed. The efforts of Ambrose and Crosby Firemen and other volunteers who helped haul water and man hoses was responsible for bringing the fire under control in time to save much of the locker plant equipment. Fegri's Market loss was estimated at better than $10,000, including stock, fixtures, and building. He carried $3,500 insurance. Palm had from $10,000 to $12,000 in stock and fixtures. He had only recently completed a major remodeling job, costing from $3,000 to $4,000 in materials and many weeks of personal labor. He had a $2,400 cooler and a new heating plant included in the loss. His building loss was also estimated at $5,000 to $10,000. He carried $6,000 insurance coverage. Ambrose Lockers estimated their stock, fixtures, and building loss at $15,000, about two thirds of which was covered by insurance. According to board member Kermit Thomte, all of the locker meat was salvaged after the fire, primarily because of a 14 inch layer of ralco wool insulation, which is difficult to burn. Thomte said he thought most of the lockers were also salvageable provided the weight of the fallen roof had not sprung them out of shape. He said crews were busy this morning trying to remove the weight of the debris from the lockers. Thomte said nobody was discussing rebuilding plans at this early date, but that somebody would move to set up a source of food supply before very long. Mrs. Oscar Peterson, a clerk in Palm's Grocery, was the first to summon help, when she called Pete Keller at the depot and Floyd Grote at the elevator. They rushed to the scene with extinguishers at 2:15, and the fire departments of Ambrose and Crosby were called. But within half an hour Fegri’s building was all but gone, and it was apparent that Palm's could not be saved. Firemen played a heavy stream of water on the locker plant through most of the blaze, but a brisk northwest wind fanned flames toward that building. With the help of water tanks, firemen were able to play four or five streams of water onto the locker plant in bringing the blaze under control.
Journal Publishing Inc. Used with permission
Your
comments: Merle Parsley remembers Chris
Fegri, the proprietor of Fegri's Market, as a kindly gentleman who
umpired the kids' softball games. They loved to have Chris remove his
shirt to reveal the large ship tattooed on his chest. Chris and
his wife Hilda lived in a small house across the street from the
hospital. Merle doesn't recall them ever owning an automobile and
remembers them walking to and from their store, even in the worst of
weather. Says Merle, "In those times everyone was poor. The
Fegris might spend the whole day sitting in the store and have only two
or three customers." |
