19470912 - 60 years ago today: Congoleum Rug Company Damaged By Fire

19470912 - 60 years ago today: Congoleum Rug Company Damaged By Fire

Democratic Advocate, September 12, 1947.

19 Pieces of Equipment From 13 Companies Bring Blaze Under Control In Large Warehouse At Cedarhurst

—The Congoleum plant at Cedarhurst, along the W. M. R. R. suffered its second heavy loss by fire Monday night when the rag warehouse caught fire from combustion. The building was sheet iron and 700 feet long. The first occurred years ago.

The following fire departments fought the blaze: Arcadia, Owings Mills, Pikesville; Sykesville, Boring, Glyndon, Reisterstown, Hereford, Cockeysville, Towson, Ellicott City, Pleasant Valley, Union Bridge, Mount Airy, Manchester, Hampstead and Westminster.

It was estimated that 300 firemen with 19 pumpers poured water into the rag piles for several hours before it was brought under control. During the height of the fire, flames were visible a mile and a half away, attracting hundreds of spectators.

A plant official reported that the warehouse was filled to capacity with from 5,000 to 10,000 tons of baled rags. No estimate of the damage was given by company officials.

The warehouse stands beside the North Branch of the Patapsco River, from which firemen pumped water, and is separated from another large building by railroad tracks.

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