Portsmouth Visited by $400,000 Fire

Article taken from The Zanesville Times Recorder, April 6, 1938

Portsmouth, O - April 6

Fire swept the Kricker building in the heart of Portsmouth's business district tonight, causing damage estimated by Fire Chief Robert Loudom at between $300,000 and $400,000.

Flames swept through the three-story building, a landmark in the downtown section, so rapidly that the entire interior of the structure was destroyed before all available fire-fighting apparatus here brought the blaze under control.

Equipment from suburban New Boston and Vanceburg, Ky, about 25 miles down the Ohio River, also was called into service.  Power and communication lines were disrupted for a time, pluging the downtown area into darkness, except for the lurid glow from the flames.