Hartford Hotel Fire 4-9-2004

Pearls In Our Past

Home

Postcard to You

Welcome Home

Business

Cemeteries

Community Folk

Community Services
    • Fire Department

Churches

Famous Folk & Heroes

Government

Historic Events

Historic Homes

Maps - Stats - Aerial Photos

Military-photos, letters &
histories - Rev. War to present

Military Submit Information

Misc. History

Scenic - Prints available

Schools-Hartford & Keeler
      • Athletics here
      • Band here
      • HHS graduate database here
      • Reunion News here
      • Class Composites here
      • Misc. Class Photos here
      • Memorable Teachers-Staff here

Social
      • Hartford Floats
      • Hartford Royalty
      • Misc.

Transcripts
    § Charles A. Spaulding
A History of Hartford - 153 pg transcript now available on-line!
    § Katherine Minshall - Early History of Hartford and Lawrence 12 pgs.
    § Eli Fayette Ruggles Recollections of A Busy Life - circa 1904

Precious Pearls

Site Credits

Who are they?

Recollections and Jottings

Freq. Asked Questions

Email the Webmaster

Search Our Site

Links of interest

     Enter your name and email   address below to receive occasional email newsletter
and notification of major changes to the site.
Use TAB key to advance to next box. ALL entries are required.
       * required fields

*
    Your First AND Last name
                  (required)

*
      Current email address
   Show entire email address,
    including .com, .net, etc.
                 (required)

*
Your connection to Hartford?
            ex: grad, resident,
former resident, summer visitor, etc.
                 (required)


If HHS student-grad, what class?

Last name during school at Hartford

   Register       Remove
      (Left-click your mouse on
   the appropriate box to select.)
               (required)

The Hartford House Fire (aka The Olds House) 4-9-2004 Hartford Michigan Page 1 of 2 Click here read the History of The Olds House-The Hartford House After the fire - Easter Sunday, April 11, 2004 What's left after the fire and demolition Story and original photos taken by Emma Thornburg Sefcik, Webmaster
4-11-04 Update - According to Firefighter, Kyle Norden, he and the Assistant Fire Chief went up after all was knocked down and found the dog, who growled at them. Kyle grabbed the dog and brought him down to safety. A nice end to this rumor!
The historic Hartford House structure was destroyed by fire that started about 12:00 p.m. on Friday, April 9th. I arrived at the scene and started taking photos immediately. Firemen from several area localities assisted in battling the blaze that seemed to be contained at about 2:30 p.m. It is my understanding that there were 12 or 13 apartments in the building and all residents escaped uninjured. It appears that the fire started on the 3rd floor, where 6 children resided with two families. A family dog, however, did not survive the fire (channel 8 reports that the dog did survive). The resident apartment manager, Edward Pendergrass alerted and assisted residents to safety. At this point, the origin of the fire remains under investigation. This story will be updated with new photos and facts as the investigation continues. A full story can be viewed on the Herald Palladium website at www.heraldpalladium.com.
12:57 p.m.	12.57 p.m.
12:58 p.m.	12:58 p.m.
12:59 p.m.	1:01 p.m.
1:02 p.m.	Roof edging was just starting to fall 1:03 p.m.
A few pieces of the roof are shown as the edging on the west side of the building fell to the ground. 1:03 p.m.	1:03 p.m.
1:07 p.m.	1:22 p.m.
1:22 p.m.	1:23 p.m.
1:23 p.m.	1:24 p.m.
The photos above also attempt to show surrounding buildings and houses for the folks who have been away from Hartford for awhile. Click on any photo to slightly enlarge for better viewing. Photos by Emma Thornburg Sefcik Click here to continue

Information for this web site was gathered from personal interviews, newspaper articles, scrapbooks, personal photo albums, and other documented materials - many available to the public at the Hartford Public Library or Van Buren County Historical Museum. Please report any typographical errors, updated information, or incorrectly stated information to the webmaster for correction. Reprinting for personal and instructional purposes is permitted, however, unauthorized commercial reprinting of this information or unauthorized linking to photos-pictures on this site is strictly prohibited without written permission from the webmaster.

Pass the word on to your friends and family about this site
It's easy...right click on this icon,
COPY and PASTE it into an email to them.
Click on the icon to go directly to the website.

©
A Pictorial History of Hartford, Michigan
Emma Thornburg Sefcik,
Competent Secretarial Service
Copyright © 2000 - All rights reserved.

Revised: May 09, 2008