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"The fire that destroyed
the old Capitol on Jan. 3, 1921, broke out in the middle
of the afternoon. Within a few minutes after the fire was
discovered it could readily be seen that it was beyond
control and that the historical old building was doomed.
"I was outside the building at the time the fire started.
I ran hurriedly to the elevator that served the fourth
floor. I was the first person to actually reach the fire
area.
"The blaze was then racing along the south walls, jumping
from one exposed timber to another. The fire hose was
taken from its rack and spread to a point where the main
blaze could be reached. But on the turning on the water,
there was a squirt from every bend from old-age breaks.
The hose had not been tested for years. The fire started
in a room that had been used by the National Guard and
State Police mostly for the storage of tents -- old
clothing, bedding and other items used in their annual
encampments. But also stored in that room was 50,000
rounds of machine gun and rifle ammunition that exploded,
scattering the bullets, thus adding to the peril."
Eyewitness account and photo from Boyd Stutler, West
Virginia Archives
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