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Miami's Biggest Fire

          
    One of the biggest fires in the history of Miami happened when the Millner-Berkey department store caught fire on 19 August, 1948.  Fire departments from as far away as Joplin and Tulsa came to fight this fire which threatened to consume the entire west side of Main street from Central north to the Miami Hotel.  Radio station KGLC was then located in the Miami Hotel and gave a vivid live broadcast of this tremendous event. Three businesses were completely destroyed and four others were damaged.  The fire originated when an exhaust fan overheated and started the fire which spread rapidly.
    A large crowd watches as the fire departments fight the fire in this scene that was photographed from the window of the old police station or over Dyer Brothers Grocery store.  As a very young boy I watched this event and over 50 years later I can remember it vividly.  Flames were rising over 100 feet into the air and much debris from burned paper was drifting over the city.  You could hear the pops of ammunition exploding from the hardware section.  A tremendous column of smoke, that could be seen for many miles, rose over the fire.  Sirens from fire trucks coming from other towns was a constant noise.
    Nothing remains but the burned out shell of the Millner-Berkey store.  This picture was part of a group of unidentified photos that came from the Joplin Fire Department.  It took an old Miami boy to recognize it for what it was.
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7/20/02