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the Fedora was
making a run from Duluth, Minn., to Ashland, Wis., with Capt.
Frank A. Fick at the
helm
. The ship had a light load so it could
take on iron ore
at the Ashland port.
But
as the ship passed Basswood Island, near Bayfield, Wis., a
kerosene lamp exploded in the engine room and caught fire.
The fire spread so quickly that the engineering crew had to
abandon the engine room, and the entire 17-man crew was driven
to the very front of the vessel.
Capt.
Fick described the incident in the Sept. 21, 1901, issue of
the Ashland News:
Had
the fire started any other place on the boat we would have
had a fighting chance of putting it out before much damage
could be done. As it was the pumps which are utilized in case
of fire are all in the engine room and in the same apartment
where the large oil cans are stored. When the lamp exploded
the oil in the cans ignited, and before we could get anywhere
near the pumps, the entire
hold
was inflamed. A strong southeast wind was raging at the
time and fanned the flames into furious fiery tongues which,
running high into the air, illuminated the lake for a great
distance and showed us a place of vantage to beach our sinking
ship.
Fortunately
the
pilothouse
was located near the
bow
, so the crew could steer the steamer. With the unattended
engines running at full speed, Capt. Fick beached the Fedora
near Chicago Creek, north of Buffalo Bay. While the crew escaped
in lifeboats, the flames consumed the Fedora and
burned much of it to the waterline. Nearby, the Red Cliff
Lumber Company's yards and mill narrowly escaped being burned
along with the ship.
continued
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