Goodrich- It’s been more than 90 years since a late February fire scorched businesses in downtown Goodrich.
In the early morning hours of Feb. 22, 1916 three businesses and a residence in the downtown area of the village were destroyed by fire, according to a newspaper report in The Oxford Leader.
The fire started in the rear of the Ray Ries? store which stocked shoes, drugs and groceries, according to The Oxford Leader report. However, the cause of the fire was not indicated.
Bernice Fields, a telephone operator in the central office located in the home of Henry Ries was first to report the fire. When the blaze started, Fields contacted the fire department several miles away in Flint before contacting telephone subscribers about the fire.
Jeanette Pierson, 85, a village native since the 1920s, says the only fire protection that existed during that time was a bucket brigade.
‘I remember the buckets for the fire department stored in a building between the current library and Ken’s Barber Shop,? said Pierson.
‘There’s not a lot residents could do back then, once a fire started. Flint was the closest fire department in the area. There was a pumper truck, but I would imagine all they could do was throw a few pails of water.?
According to the report, Fields stayed on the phone until fire ‘burned off the cable poles.?
Jim Hegel, 74, great-nephew of Steven Hegel, who owned a two-story building occupied by Ries and a one story center building occupied by Allen, recalls stories of his great-uncle and the downtown Goodrich fire.
‘The story goes that Steven bailed out of the second story window after the fire started with nothing but his nightshirt on,? said Hegel.
‘Very few items were recovered from the fire, but I do remember some of Steven’s guns with the wooden stocks burned off them. Those, I assume, were salvaged after the fire.?
After the fire, Steven moved to a home where the current Atlas Township Fire Department is located. He died in 1960 at the age of 90.
Losses in the fire totalled $15,000 and included Michigan State Telephone company office equipment, poles and wires at a cost of $250; George Allen’s restaurant and bakery loss $2,800 and Ray Ries stock of drugs, groceries and shoes at $4,000.