Burkhard Fire Ruins, 1973

Photograph

-

Lacey Museum

Name/Title

Burkhard Fire Ruins, 1973

Entry/Object ID

2007-012.A258N

Description

Burkhard fire ruins, 1973. These four black and white film negative strips were created for the Lacey Leader newspaper. These images show the burned ruins of a large brick building (the Burkhard Apartments). Image 37 shows a burned-out concrete brick structure. Image 38 shows a large amount of debris on the ground and a fireplace/chimney at left. The fireplace's opening is at the top left of the image. A second fireplace/chimney is at the read of the image. Image 39 shows the remains of a flight of stairs which appear to have gone into the basement of the structure below the fire. One of the fireplaces is visible in the background. Image 40 shows the remains of a window opening in a concrete block wall. A crumbling chimney is visible in the background. Image 41 shows a concrete tower-like object with a diamond-shaped decoration near the top. This object appears to have been a support structure for one of the building's chimneys. Image 42 shows the same tower-like structure, but the photographer has moved to their right and closer to the structure. Image 43 shows a view of a crumbling chimney through a burned doorway. The remains of a light fixture hangs from the top of the doorway. Image 44 shows a large amount of debris viewed through the same burned doorway in image 43. Image 1 shows the crumbling chimney with its fireplace, the remains of the stairs, and the large amount of debris laying in what was the structure's basement. Image 2 shows a view looking down into what was the basement. The stairs are at the bottom left of the image fairly close to the camera. Image 3 shows another view into the basement. The stairs are along the entire left-hand edge of the image. Image 4 shows a very similar scene image to that of image 2, but the photographer has either moved closer to the subject or zoomed in. Image 5 show is also very similar to image 2, but shows more debris on the upper portion of the ruined stairs. The image is oriented horizontally. Image 6 shows a similar image to that of image 5, but the image is oriented vertically. Image 7 shows a shot of the ruined building from much further away than any of the other images. Image 8 is very similar to image 38, but a wall to the left of the nearer chimney is visible in the image frame. Image 9 shows the remains of a flight of stairs attached to one of the outer walls of what was the basement. The burned-out building shown in these images in the Burkhard Apartments, which were located on Pacific Avenue in Lacey. The building was referred to as a "Lacey landmark," and previous to the fire had been renamed "Jane's Poor Boy." A caption in the Lacey Leader newspaper also referred to the building as the "Poor Boy In and Out." The building was built in 1908 and was moved to its location on Pacific Avenue in 1938. The building had 22 rooms on three storeys. The Burkhard was purposefully burned to serve as a training exercise for the Lacey Fire Department. (Lacey Leader, 5/2/1973, pg. 1 and 3) Printed in alternation along one edge of each of these film negative strips is "KODAK SAFETY FILM" and "KODAK TRI X PAN FILM."

Made/Created

Artist

Kenneth Dale Balsley

Date made

1973 - 1973

Place

City

Lacey

County

Thurston

State/Province

Washington

Country

United States

Continent

North America

Notes

Date: 05-02-1973 Film Size: 35 mm Medium: Acetate

Lexicon

Search Terms

Disaters/Fires, Burkhard Apartments, Lacey Fire Department