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ACADEMY BUILDING DESTROYED BY FIRE
On Monday evening, May 30th of 1921, one of the Academy students headed up the stairs from the dining to the third floor. Upon arriving on the third floor, he discovered smoke coming from the attic over the colonade. The fire alarm was sounded and both of Bellefonte's companies responded. The attic was open from end to end allowing the flames to spread rapidly, and in a matter of minutes, the flames broke through the roof and the entire southern part of the attic was on fire. The flames seemed to break out in the center of the building and in a very short time that part was all ablaze.
Once the fire companies were on scene, three lines of hose were played on the fire but the pressure was not strong enough to carry the stream to the top of the Academy building. The Lock Haven fire department was called upon for aid. They willingly responded with their LaFrance pumper, making the run in forty-five minutes. They immediately went into action and assisted in quenching the flames before the building was completely razed to the ground. They also assisted in materially reducing the danger of any further spread of the flames, though the fire was virtually under control when they got here.
While the fire didn't reach the second floor, considerable destruction was done to the lower part of the building which was submersed in from three to four inches of water, used to extinguish the flames. The four large columns which supported the roof in front of the building were left standing, with nothing connecting them with the rest of the building. The roof and all of the third floor were in a heap of charred wood, with only the stone walls standing upright. The inside of the building downstairs was nothing but a mass of charred embers and blackened water.
Headmaster James R Hughes estimated the damages to probably be from $30,000 up. He carried $22,000 insurance. Nearly all the furniture and clothing of the students was saved. All the students and members of the faculty worked valiantly to save as much as they could and got most of the stuff out of the building.
It was noted that many items were carried away after it was out of the building. One boy was seen with a half dozen pair of shoes. The Democratic Watchman remarked, "One thing was quite manifest, however, and that was the indiscriminate handling of students books and clothing by boys who had no business there, and emphasizes the fact that at such times strict police supervision would not be amiss."
The Academy students were taken into private homes for the remainder of the term, which closed on June 10th. All the furniture was stored in the Armory, where some of the students were also staying. Mr. Hughes announced that school would continue as usual on Friday morning in the Bellefonte High School building.
Bellefonte was full of rumor concerning the cause of the fire that destroyed the Bellefonte Academy. It was ascertained that the fire was of incendiary origin but, despite an investigation conducted by State Fire Commissioner Finley, of the Altoona District, nothing was discovered that would in any way involve any of the students in such an unlawful act.
Following the work of the insurance adjusters on Tuesday, May 31st, the clean up the debris started and the work of rebuilding the Bellefonte Academy immediately followed. The contract was awarded to a local contractor, Edward Gheret. A new feature of the remodeled building was be a flat roof with sky lights, to take the place of the former peaked roof which contained the dangerous attic. The fire escape would be extended to the top of the building instead of to the third floor, so that in case of a future fire the firemen would he enabled to climb the fire escapes to the roof and fight the flames through the skylights.
As a result of the inept performance by the Bellefonte Fire companies, due to inadequate equipment the Borough Council soon after purchased a pumper engine.
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