Looking back: School starts on fire with hundreds of students inside and doctor removes open safety pin from girl’s bronchial tubes
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IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of Dec. 16 to Dec. 22 in east Idaho history.
1900-1925
REXBURG — The Rexburg public school building broke out in flames with 618 students inside, The Blackfoot Optimist reported on Dec. 22, 1910.
The fire started beneath the main entrance so students were forced to exit out the back of the building.
“The pupils were all emptied from the building in less than three minutes and without accident of any kind, due to frequent fire drills required in the school after a rear stairway had been installed to meet just such contingency,” the article reads.
The fire apparently started because of a defect in the furnace, which was located under the main entrance and in the center of the building.
Word of the incident was sent to Dr. Hyde, president of the state board of health and president of the board of trustees of the Rexburg Independent School District, as well as James H. Wallis, also a member of the board.
The building was built less than four years prior to the blaze and the only way to exit the building at the time it was built was from the main entrance.
Hyde and other board members demanded a rear stairway be put in and “after a hard fight (because) some of the people believed the expense was unnecessary,” the stairway was eventually installed.
“From the details given to Dr. Hyde and Mr. Wallis here, it is evident that it was this only that probably saved the lives of many of the children who might otherwise have become panic stricken and possibly have been shut off entirely from escape,” the article states.
The old school building was still standing and was next to the new building that caught on fire. The plan was to hold school in the old building and in rooms around town until a new building could be built.
Hyde wasn’t certain how much the school was insured for but he believed it was $11,000. He said $7,000 of that $11,000 total was renewed the week before the fire, also against some board members wishes. They “expressed confidence” that a building such as this one wouldn’t catch on fire.
Hyde left Boise and headed for Rexburg to help arrange where the students were going to attend class for the remaining of the term.
1926-1950
RIGBY — An “unusual throat operation” was performed on a five-year-old Rigby girl, The Rigby Star reported on Dec. 18, 1930, from an article previously shared by the Pocatello Journal.
Dr. Joseph A. Clothier, eye, ear, nose and throat specialist of Pocatello, removed an open safety pin that had been inhaled into the bronchial tubes of Harriet Kirby.
A report stated the girl had been playing on the floor when she suddenly chocked and inhaled the safety pin. A doctor was called but was unable to get the pin out so she was taken to Pocatello.
“Dr. Clothier inserted a lighted tube into the windpipe of the child, and with the accurate use of long forceps, carefully extracted the dangerous pin,” The Rigby Star wrote. “The unclasped pin presented a most delicate matter for the operator to cope with.”
1951-1975
POCATELLO — The first person to correctly identify the person dressed up as Santa Clause as part of the Idaho State Journal’s “Mystery Mr. Santa Clause” would win $2,500 in prizes, the Journal reported on Dec. 21, 1951.
All entry guesses were being accepted until Saturday at noon. The person dressed up as Santa was going to be introduced on stage at the Chief Theater that night at 9:30 p.m. At that time, the winner of the contest was going to be called to the stage to claim their prizes.
The winner would receive a $500 credit toward a down payment on a two-bedroom Floyd M. Anderson home, round trip airline tickets to Las Vegas, a five-day stay for two guests at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas and a $500 car or $500 credit on a used car from C. Ed Flandro.
The winner would also get a $500 lady’s diamond ring from Nate Morgan Jewelers, shoes for every member of their family from Rollick’s, a lifetime subscription to The Journal, a $100 suit, a bathroom renovation, $50 worth of cleaning and $2 theater tickets.
1976-2000
POCATELLO — A 19-year-old Blackfoot man was arrested in connection with a shooting that left a man seriously wounded on a downtown Pocatello street, the Idaho State Journal reported on Dec. 18, 1977.
Steve Mestas was booked into the Bannock County Jail on a $50,000 bond. Mestas was accused of shooting 24-year-old Jerry Motton as he walked across Center Street with another man.
Five or six shots were fired about 9 p.m. at the same time several stores nearby were closing.
“One of the slugs struck Motton in the abdomen, and the victim was taken to St. Anthony Hospital for surgery,” the paper wrote. “On Saturday, more than a week later, a hospital spokeswoman reported Morton in good condition.”
Other bullets that were shot flattened the front tire of a car parked along the street, and another passed through a store-front window, hit a light fixture and whizzed over the head of a Hudson’s Shoe Store employee. The employee had come outside to see what was going on.
Mestas was going to be arraigned that Monday.