100 years ago in The Saratogian

Saturday, Feb. 15, 1919. The Lyric movie theater and the Hozhon Hogan hospitality hut for returning soldiers are destroyed in a fire that sweeps through the Crippen Building at 452-454 Broadway early this morning, The Saratogian reports.

“The origin of the fire is not known but it is known to have started in the basement of the Lyric theater, in the rear of the building,” a reporter writes. Investigators believe they have isolated the origin point to the basement office of theater proprietor A. H. Beckett.

The fire is first seen in the rear of the building by patrolmen Charles Ballou and Michael J. Sweeney around 12:45 a.m. Along with the theater and hospitality hut, the Crippen Building houses a billiard parlor run by Mr. and Mrs. Emmett T. Farrington and the apartments of Sarah E. Sanford and her son, Mervin B. Sanford.

“The fire was difficult to combat for the dense clouds of smoke made it impossible for the firemen to enter the building and soon it was unsafe to enter on account of the falling floors,” the report resumes, “Four streams of water were poured into the building at the second floor, the firemen standing on the roof of the theater, and three streams were directed through the front windows from Broadway.

“As the force of the water would not break the windows on the top floor, E. B. Hammond shot them out with a rifle.” Hammond runs a neighboring sporting-goods store.

Aided by police, local veterans defy firemen by rushing into the Hozhon Hogan to rescue irreplaceable war souvenirs that had been on display there since the hut’s January 4 opening. National Guard member Mulford Ramsey nearly asphyxiates while looking for the keys inside the Lyric, while Sergeant Richard Nichols puts on a gas mask to retrieve the hut’s piano.

Firemen are worried about collapsing floors above the hut and theater. “Finally the fire did weaken the floor of the billiard parlor and several heavy billiard and pool tables crashed down through, throwing a shower of sparks” after most of the souvenirs are saved.

While the Crippen Building proper is “gutted from cellar to roof,” the Lyric isn’t a total loss. The theater auditorium is an addition to the rear of the building and isn’t touched by the fire. Extensive smoke and water damage, however, mean that the Lyric “could be placed in condition only at large expense.”

The fire is finally under control by 6 a.m. “A comparison of various estimates this morning placed the loss at between forty and fifty thousand dollars, only partially covered by insurance,” a reporter notes.

—Kevin Gilbert