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The disastrous fire that broke out during the late evening hours of Wednesday, December 14, 1927 was discovered by local postmaster W. D. Burkitt.
Mr. Burkitt was on his way to pick up the mail from the midnight train, when he noticed a flickering light in the rear of the Austin retail store. He tried the door, but it was locked, so he hurried to the home of Mr. Austin, who lived across the railroad tracks. By the time they returned, the fire was out of control.
According to an account of these events included in Mabel Kendrick’s book Still Alive and Well - Whitney, Nebraska, “a telephone operator spread the fire alarm and immediately put in calls for assistance from outside points. Nearly 200 men from nearby farms and villages fought the blaze with buckets of water, preventing the fire from reaching a nearby lumber yard.”
It was not until the early morning hours of Thursday that the fire was doused. Six buildings were destroyed by the blaze.
In the aftermath of the fire, Whitney businessmen wrote a letter of thanks to the Mayor and citizens of Chadron. It was printed in the December 23, 1927 edition of the Chadron Journal.
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