Fort McKavett, the Fire

A bitter chill was fighting to get in. The 90-year-old hotel was drafty to say the least. It was a repurposed Union officer’s quarters from Fort McKavett, which was never been intended to be luxurious. Every room, neatly dressed and complete with a fire box to tend, was enough to keep Joshua busy all hours of the day and night. The key was to keep the coals going without a wicking flame. Sparks were the enemy, as each pop hidden in his logs held potential doom. Mr. Riggens, the old man who took over the Fort McKavett Hotel gave him this job, a responsibility which meant more than the dollar a day he put in his pocket. He was now obligated with keeping his new home safe, keeping the fire at bay.

That Sunday was no different than most, at first. Life at the fort was relaxed, and to see some men running to the hall, others shouting, something was happening and Josh wanted to know what. He finished his rounds of tending fireboxes as quick as he could and headed out the back door and across the 200-yard parade ground that saw so many drills and formations all those years ago. 

Military shifted to civilian 58 years earlier. The mess hall, once the center of the soldier’s daily lives became a meeting hall. It was a community center of sorts where town functions played out and gatherings took place. It also housed the best radio in the county, and on that day, someone heard a newsman break in with a story. 

It couldn't have even been 15 minutes that Joshua was listening, he had taken longer breaks than that and he had been away to tend other chores for longer. What he hadn’t done before was get careless. In his hurry to see what all the clamor was about he’d left his last firebox open. 

In the first five minutes a spark popped and the ancient cypress floor timber took flame. The next five saw the flames take the furniture and head to the cypress shingles. The next five proved fatal. By the time anyone saw the flames it was too late. The building was gone. The news of the attack on Pearl Harbor had ended old limestone Officer’s Quarters. It was December 7, 1941.