Short Mountain Colliery, located in Bear Gap north of Lykens and Wiconisco, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, was the scene of many fires over the years. A fire in early 2016 destroyed the shops and sawmill. The shops were replaced by a new building that was built closer to the breaker.
The Lykens Standard of 2 March 1906 reported the fire:
Shops at Short Mountain Colliery Destroyed by Fire
Fire of unknown cause destroyed the building at Short Mountain Colliery, early Sunday morning, in which where [sic] located the machine, carpenter, and blacksmith shops, and also the sawmill. The company’s loss is $10,000, covered by insurance. The loss in tools to machinists, carpenters and other employees amounts to several hundred dollars. The fire alarm at the colliery, which is always the nearest whistle to the scene of a fire, was sounded first by the bull whistle at Lykens Valley at about 2:10 o’clock, and was repeated later by other whistles at the mines.
George Ely, the watchman of that district, had rang up about 15 minutes before the alarm was sounded, but did not discover the fire (which started in a partition on the second story), until the fire burst out, and when he returned from giving the alarm the entire structure was wrapt in flames making it impossible to save anything. The citizens of this section quickly responded to the alarm ready to render assistance, as did also Liberty Hose Company, but as the building was quickly consumed, and fortunately quite distant from any other building, there was not much to be done.
The shed used in winter to house cars loaded with coal in wet weather if left standing over night had been converted into a temporary shop un- [sic] a new one is built, which will be located neared to the breaker.
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Clipping from Newspapers.com.
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