STORIES FROM THE PAST
50 years ago
It required five hours, nearly a mile of fire hose, eight pieces of firefighting equipment and 33 fire fighters to subdue the stubborn blaze that destroyed the interior of the Balboa Hotel, 558 Broadway, El Centro, Friday night. The fire started at 6 p.m. and was put out at 11:45 p.m.
El Centro Fire Chief Lester Patton, who directed the battle to save the nearly 50-year-old condemned structure — a vacant hotel of about 60 rooms, stated the fire, of unknown origin, started in a bedroom in the rear of the building on the east side, first floor. “If we hadn’t been able to bring the fire under control within the first 30 minutes I am sure the entire structure would have been destroyed and with a strong west wind could have endangered the remainder of the buildings on the block.
“It was indeed lucky there was no one inside the building when the fire started as the flames raced so quickly down the narrow hallway and into the ceiling on the second floor and the attic, anyone inside would have been trapped.”
40 years ago
Willie Holloway and Jay Platt ripped the hearts from the breasts of the Central Spartans Friday night as the Brawley Wildcats dominated the County Seat athletes, 45-7, in a Victory Bell Game on the Warne Field grass.
Not since the 1950s had a Brawley varsity club scored 40 points against Central. They came in an exhibition game won by Bob Farrell’s Wildcats, 41-6.
Terry Lowe was at the helm in 1978, and Brawley closed the Desert Valleys League year tied with Central for second. Each club won three of five pennant clashes.
Two things kept Central from tying Indio for first place. The Spartans lost to the Wildcats, while the Rajahs were drilling the Coachella Arabs, 31-14.
Lowe screamed defense in a decade of JV coaching at Brawley, and his play-stoppers looked good Friday. Central tied Brawley, 7-7, at halftime, but could not score again.
30 years ago
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is scheduled to fill a 10-mile-long section of the old Coachella Canal with water beginning today. The project is a joint venture between the Bureau of Reclamation, Colorado River Board of California, Coachella Valley Water District and Imperial Irrigation District.
The announcement was made by Dave Gudgel, project manager of Reclamation’s Yuma Projects Office. “Off-road vehicle drivers need to be especially mindful that through the next few months the canal will be filled with water,” Gudgel said.