DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. It starts with a building — three stories of brick, constructed right here in 1920 by the firm of Bachman and Goodwin. They called it the Argonne at first.
Later, when H. G. Karrenbrock purchased the structure, the name changed to the Antlers Hotel.
A solid-looking place, by all accounts. The kind of building that makes you think it'll stand forever. It won't.
December 12, 1929. Early morning hours — that dead quiet stretch of night when most folks are deep asleep, and a hotel full of guests expects to stay that way. A fire broke out in the building.
The firemen of the central station were the first on the scene, and they didn't come alone for long. A second alarm went out, and additional units came rolling in to help. Meanwhile, flames were climbing high enough to be visible throughout the city, and that sight drew a large crowd into the cold December dark.
Now here's the part where the night turns. Thirty minutes — just thirty minutes after that first alarm — the west wall of the structure began to crumble. Some of the fire fighters escaped.
But assistant city fire chief Smiley Turner and fireman Guno Anderson did not. The collapsing wall killed them both. And one occupant of the hotel, Kenneth — known to folks as Toby — Brice, of Bowie, also died in that fire that morning.
Three lives. Gone before sunrise. Wichita Falls did not look away from what that fire cost.
As a result of the Antlers Hotel fire, significant changes were made in the Wichita Falls Fire Department. Equipment was updated. New training programs were established.
City officials began strengthening ordinances, actively working to enforce the municipal fire code. Sometimes a city learns what it needs to learn the hardest way there is. The men who ran toward those flames — and the man who never made it out — made sure that lesson stuck.
What the marker says
A three-story brick hotel building was constructed at this site in 1920 by the firm of Bachman and Goodwin. Originally known as the Argonne, the name was later changed to the Antlers Hotel when the structure was purchased by H. G. Karrenbrock. In the early morning hours of December 12, 1929, a fire broke out in the building. Firemen of the central station were the first to arrive on the scene and were promptly aided by additional units responding to a second alarm. Flames were visible throughout the city and quickly attracted a large crowd. Thirty minutes after the first alarm, the west wall of the structure began to crumble. Although some of the fire fighters escaped, assistant city fire chief Smiley Turner and fireman Guno Anderson were killed by the collapsing wall. One occupant of the hotel, Kenneth (Toby) Brice of Bowie, also died in the fire that morning. As a result of the destructive Antlers Hotel fire, significant changes were made in the Wichita Falls Fire Department. Equipment was updated, new training programs were established, and city officials began strengthening ordinances in an effort to actively enforce the municipal fire code. (1981)