From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Oct. 12, 1914:

• “Fire, that threatened to wipe out the entire Bowersock interests, broke out in the little stone storehouse attached to the paper mill, on Sixth street, at 3:30 Sunday afternoon, causing a damage of about $40,000. The loss is only partially covered by insurance. Lack of adequate water pressure was responsible for much of the loss. Two lines of hose were rushed to the fire, one from Massachusetts, one from Seventh, straight north on New Hampshire. Hardly had the fire department got a stream playing on the blazing building, than the water was cut off, and they struggled impotently with slack hose. Before pressure could be secured, the blaze, which had started from an unknown cause in a little shop in the southeast corner of the building, upstairs, had secured a good start, and although four lines of hose were quickly run in to the fire, the building was doomed. The fight then resolved itself into a dogged resistance against further spread…. The great grain elevator adjoining the blazing building was in constant danger…. Half of Lawrence had gathered to watch the progress of the conflagration. The blaze had licked the insulation off the electric wires, and thousands were endangered. Despite the efforts of the police and volunteer assistants, the crowds kept running beneath the heavily charged wires, that threatened to fall at any moment…. The fire was not placed under control until long after six o’clock. Two streams of water were kept playing on the smouldering ruins all night, and Paul E. Dinsmoor, assistant foreman of the paper mill, stated that for three weeks a constant flow of water would have to be kept on the ruins…. As a result of the fire, Lawrence was in darkness for two hours. The blaze had burned the insulation on the main trunk of the electric light lines, causing all the lights in the city to fail.”
• “Two Horses Burned in Second Fire – Blaze Broke Out in Walter Dunmire’s Barn…. Two horses were burned to death, two barns were demolished and two houses were badly damaged in a fire which broke out in Walter Dunmire’s barn at 716 Mississippi street last night at about 7:30…. Several men rushed to the barn to try to save the five horses that were kept there. Three of the horses were taken out but the fire gained headway so rapidly that it was impossible to get the other two out. The drivers were at the fire department with a limited amount of hose when the fire broke out as the fire at the paper mill had only been brought under control. They answered the alarm but could do little by themselves…. At one time two barns and two residences were on fire but garden hose and buckets were pressed into service and kept the main fire confined to the two barns. The fire had spread to Dunmire’s house, Otto Barteldes’ barn and Greenlees’ houses. The driver of the hose wagon went to the mill and got enough hose to run a line to the fire.”
• “While fighting the second fire last night Fire Chief Reinisch was heard to say, ‘And still some people think I do not need but six men in my department. They are talking of reducing the force next year, when I lack about four men of having enough now…. Just such emergencies as this show the people what they need for what they call adequate fire protection. What I want is four more paid men and the volunteers the same as they are now. I have asked the city officials to get 1000 feet of new hose but so far they have taken no action on my request.'”
• “Once more the hand of Providence has intervened to save Lawrence from severe loss by fire. The setting last night was ideal for a conflagration which would sweep one or more blocks in one of the best residence sections of the city. The fire originated in a barn in a well-kept neighborhood where the homes run so far back on the lots that the fire could easily be communicated from one to another. Although the fire department responded promptly, lack of hose and greater still lack of water pressure compelled them to witness the burning of buildings which could undoubtedly have been saved had there been plenty of water…. Can Lawrence afford to tempt Providence? Can she afford to do without proper equipment in the way of sufficient hose or can she afford to temporize with the water situation? The City as a whole is permitting conditions to exist that would not be tolerated for a single day by any business man in the town, if it was an individual affair.”
• “In explaining the effect on the telephone service of the fire at Bowersock’s and Dunmire’s last night, Manager Mason of the Missouri and Kansas Telephone Company stated that almost immediately after the fire bell was rung it seemed in the telephone exchange as if every subscriber rushed to the telephone simultaneously. Lights flashed all over the switchboard and the operators had a strenuous time trying to answer the calls. The great increase in the telephone traffic was naturally due to the desire of many subscribers to learn the location of the fire. According to Manager Mason, it is practically impossible for the telephone company to give out the desired information, especially at night when only sufficient operators are at work to handle the normal traffic. Such collective curiosity might prove to be dangerous indeed, because of the difficulty encountered at such times in putting through emergency measures…. Manager Mason believes that the general public will recognize at once the danger caused by curiosity calls, and hopes that they will abolish the practice in the future.”