Originally published in the Voice of the Valley, July 5, 1978
Only rubble was left in the aftermath of a spectacular fire which destroyed the Four Corners Trading Post last Wednesday. – Courtesy Pony Photo
A well-known landmark on the Kent-Kangley Road near Highway 169 was lost last Wednesday afternoon when the Four Corners Trading Post was destroyed in a spectacular fire.
The owner, Jim Junivicz, was working in a nearby shed when he noticed fire in the back of the main building and called the fire department. When firemen arrived on the scene, the building was fully involved, with flames and smoke shooting more than fifty feet into the air.
The building and its contents were a total loss. There was no insurance.
Fire trucks from Fire District 43, District 37, and District 44 battled the fire. “We had plenty of pumping power, but our water pressure was inadequate at first,” explained Larry Johnson, fire marshal of District 43. The pressure was sufficiently increased when Water District 105 turned on their booster pumps.
This stove shows some of the havoc wrought by the intense fire which destroyed the Four Corners Trading Post last Wednesday. — Courtesy Pony Photo
“Not that we could have saved this particular structure even if we had had 4,000 gallons a minute,” Johnson added, “because it was fully involved upon our arrival. We did manage to keep the nearby carport and house from catching fire, but if they had started to burn we probably would have lost them because of inadequate immediate pressure.”
Two Fire District 43 firemen, Bob Gear and Mike Hermann, were hospitalized because of smoke and heat exhaustion. They were later released.
Water District 105 serves the Four Corners area. Johnson suggested that the water pressure problem in that vicinity could be solved by updating the system.
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