HomeMy WebLinkAboutTAMU Campus House Fire 020504b
The Eagle/Bryan,College Station, Texas - Tuesday, Februarv 27,1979
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The second floor and atCic of the Old Board of Directors home on the A&M campus were destroyed by fire.
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As firefighters brought the blaze under control Mrs.
Jack Williams. above, rescued some belongings. Dr.
Jack Williams, right, watches the blaze among some
items already saved, By morning a yardful of fur-
niture had been rescued, directly above, Damage to
the Williams' apartment was limited to that caused
by smoke and water.
Staff ph9tos by Bill Meeks
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Fire at 2:49 a.m.
By ROY KLEINSASSER
Staff Writer
Lloyd Lyman wandered around outside
the fire-gutted structure, trying to sur-
vey the damage.
W'hen the Old Board of Directors
House burned early this morning, the,
university Press, of which Lyman is
director,.lost.lts sec~md.floor offices,
"....:.~,;'l...g.ue'ss ,we're, going to be, house
" '., ~unt1ng," he said\ '.
, "Some press. records are still intact,
Lyman s'aid, and the shipping room
b:ehind the building was undamaged,
,nooks were not stored in the house, he
, said, but in the University annex.
The press had been located in the
building since 1974, when Frank War-
dlaw founded it. Wardlaw, who was quite
fond of the ord house, was upset when he
was contacted about the fire this mor-
ning, Lyman said.
More recent residents of the building
former Chancellor Jack K, Williams and
his wife Margaret, were living in the
front apartment downstair,s.
Damage to the apartment Wa'S limited
to smoke and water, and by late thlo
morning, much of the furniture in it was
stacked across the street from the house.
The Williamses had been living in the
apartment only a few'months, Prior to'
.that'th~r h!,'d 'resided,i!ijtbf! ,president's'
llom'e'i '.ii..._ -' ' ," " ,- - "
- henovation work ,had, been.done.,on;the,
b1,lildill'g '~~f9.re Wi!ij'!l.ms :,haCi, occupietl
tqe apartmeQt,. Some' .Work w'as still
being done, ,Lyman said., '
The house is one of the oldest buildings
on campus, being first occupied in 1912
by the Board of Directors, (now Board of
Regents). The meeting room was up-
stairs and thf! directors had rooms in
back. .
Recently, the board, at Wardlawis
request had passed a resolution to seek a
historical marker for the building.
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Blaze forc,es Williamses from home
several antique furniture pieces,
From page lA. col.1. Firefighters from College Station
Janacek banged on the front door and Bryan immediately responded
of the house several times, but was in all available units,
- unable to awaken the Williams', "We had a problem with the trees
, - "He eventually kicked the door because they blocked our aerial
down just as Mrs. Williams awoke units from getting at the fire from
and approached the door" A&M 'above," Fire Chief Douglas Landua
Police Chief Russ McDonald said, said,
Janacek quickly evacuated the "We aiso had to get through
Williams', who were able to remove.. sev.era} layers of.roofing to.get down
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at it,'i-he added,
University Press had offices and
expensive typesetting equipment on
the second floor which was mostly
destroyed.
"The fire wiped out the attic and
most of the second floor and came
down through some walls on the first
floor," Landua said,
While the living 'quarters occupied
by Williams were not destroyed, the
area received heavy Bmoke and,.
water damage,. _ "
"It was about the worst fire \Ury,e~'
had at Texas A&:trf ('in recent.:.
history)," Fire Marshall' Barry'
Davis said, .
Davis- said worker, baa been
paneling the room on the second'
floor wbere the blaze started, AD-
$80,000 remodeling project w~.
underw~y at the bouse.
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