The Weekly Gazelle

The night of Jan 24, 1957 seemed as routine as any other night at Kagnew Station. The Post Exchange closed it's doors at dusk, the Snack Bar quieted at 2200 hours and crowds poured out of the Post Theater at 2030 hours. Within the next two hours lights dimmed in the barracks and a calm settled over the Post. But there was litle sleep for the troops that night. At approximately 0030 hours, Friday, January 25, 1957 the awesome whine of the fire siren shook the men from their "sacks" and out into the crisp night air. They were quickly convinced that this was no false alarm ro minor off-Post mishap. Thick white clouds were already billowing forth from the rear of the Snack bar. What happened during the next few hours is now history, but it's worth recalling some of the highlights as a belated trbute to the many nameless workers who fought till dawn to halt the blaze.

An important part of Kagnew Station vanished during that sleepness night. We lost not only the P-X, its Snack Bar and the Theater, but also Operations Company Orderly Room, the Post Signal Office, the barber, beauty, tailor and fur shops, several offices and other minor rooms. Original damage estimates were reported to be approximately $125,000.

Most important, however, was the fact that many inexperienced hands joining together to fight the wind whipped fire and to evacuate the nearby barracks had proved themselves more than equal to the task. There were no serious injuries and the few who did suffer from smoke exhaustion or minor cuts and bruises were quickly treated by the Hospital Staff.

The cause of the fire has never been determined but the reason it didn't spread farther is easily determined. It was simply hard work by all concerned. Special credit should go to the Security Guards who participated so willingly in every phase of the battle, to the men living in close proximity to the fire who somehow managed to evacuate almost everything bu the floorboards from their barracks "just in case" and to the above mentioned Hospital Staff.

Certainly everyone at Kagnew Station wishes to express thanks to the Asmara Fire Department without whose fine cooperation this story might have had a different and tragic ending. Their quick arrival and obvious "knowhow" contributed greatly to the successful battle against man's oldest enemy. Here was another example of the friendly relations between our Post and our host Government and further proof of the Eritrean Government's
concern for our welfare.

Ron Altic's fire experience: "I didn't get any pictures of the fire, but I remember it well. Where I was involved was at the Post Library. People were worried that the library was in danger so a group of us were told to get the books out of harms way. We moved many stacks of books away from the library and away from the fire. We probably did more harm than good because the library never did catch on fire. It must have been a major chore putting all of those books back in place."

Scanned copy of the above article along with picture of Theater, etc building after fire.

"The Weekly Gazelle, Asmara, Eritrea"