1918 Fire Survivors story

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1918 Fire Survivors

Jurek, Steve, 31 and wife Anna 33 (Wommicki) children Mary 6, Sophie 4, Victoria 2, and Margaret 3 months old.

This a contiuation of a story that appeared in the book 1918 FIRE SURVIVORS researched by the Moose Lake Historical Society; reference page 68 with the related story of Ida (Jurek) Olsen.

This is the untold story of Anna and her four little girls that day in 1918.

This is the untold story of Anna and her four girls as told by Sophie (Jurek) Kaspszak to son Harry over a period of ten years based on actual statements of fire survivors and her own memory of that period in her life.

SPLIT ROCK TOWNSHIP, SEC. 3- OCTOBER 12, 1918.

On that Saturday morning, Steve (our father) left home to answer the call of all able-bodied men needed to fight fires in the Automba area. This left us alone with our mother Anna.

Late in the afternoon,because of approching fires, my mother placed some valuables (wedding ring ) and clothing into a trunk and dragged it out and away from the house. Then she gathered us together along with extra blankets and headed for an open field south of the house. It’s amazing how clearly I remember running barefoot out into that field with sparks and embers blowing in the wind burning our bare legs and feet as we ran. The blankets covering my baby sister Margaret caught fire during our escape for safety and it wasn’t until later that my mother realized Margaret was badly burned. As we huddled together out in that field a man with a horse and wagon appeared and brought water to us and kept our blankets wet.

The following morning, nothing remained of the homestead. The buildings were all gone along with the trunk and the personnel items Mother tried to save. All the animals we had perished, with the exception of a few cows. Those that survived were so badly burned they had to be destroyed. Another grave concern was our missing father Steve who had not returned the following night with the other men who fled for their lives fighting fires in Automba.
Cold, hungary, and confused about what had happened, we headed south to the Ignatz Klejeski home which did not burn (the ruins of this farm are located across from the Josephine Klejeski home on Cty Rd 12). There we found shelter in a dirt floor basement and our first meal-raw potatoes and rutabagas. Late that afternoon you can’t imagine the joy we felt when we seen father Steve walking up the road to be reunited with us. How he survived when so many others lost their lives fleeing from Automba will never by known.

Eventually, we boarded an evacuation train to Superior where my baby sister Margaret was hopitalized and treated for her burns. We spent the winter in Superior with our Aunt Bea and Katherine Duzynski.

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