4/10/2010:
LaMoure's Leland Hotel caught fire on this date in 1899 shortly after midnight. Owner C. W. Davis checked the furnace only moments before and, due to unseasonably warm temperatures, had shut it down. Therefore, exactly how the fire started was not apparent. However, it soon spread to every area of the hotel. Patrons fled from the building, most with only the clothes on their backs. On the other hand, Fannie McKusker and Jennie Holm kept cool heads and managed to carry the majority of their belongings out in a large bed sheet. They suffered some from the smoke, but were much better off than Judges Cronan and Kinter, who escaped with only their night clothes and great personal loss of property. The entire hotel was consumed, along with two adjacent buildings, but fortunately there were no serious injuries.
Dakota Datebook written by Jayme L. Job
Sources:
The Fargo Forum and Daily Republican. Thursday (Evening ed.), April 13, 1899: p.1.