A disastrous fire, which stated tonight at 5:30 p.m., completely destroyed the garage of the Klondike Airways Ltd., the Dawson-Whitehorse mail carriers. The loss included two caterpillar tractors, a large stuck of equipment and tools, and a thousand pounds of freight, which was to start for Dawson tomorrow. The estimated damage is placed at between $15,000 and $20,000, and is covered with a small insurance only.
The conflagration started in the furnace which heats the garage and immediately spread to the floor, which had much oil reside on the surface. At the time, "Slim" Keobke, Klondike Airways mechanic, and George Chambers, Champagne mail carrier, were in the building, and the moment the flames started to spread, Chambers rushed to the Power House to give the alarm, while Keobke struggled vainly to save the caterpillars, but the flames were increasing at an alarming rate, finally forcing him out of the blazing structure.
The volunteer fire brigade and practically every able-bodied man in town
turned out with the temperature at 15 below and a howling wind blowing, in an endeavor to quell the blaze, but the high wind fanned the flames and in a very few minutes the building was beyond hope. All equipment outside the garage was moved by the volunteers to a safe distance, including several drums of gasoline, and the fire brigade kept the blaze under control until it burned itself out.
