Aberdeen Armory insurance claim could pay millions more

By Thorin Sprandel • February 3, 2020 4:30 pm
The 1902 Metropolitan Steam Pumper was recovered after the Aberdeen Armory was gutted by fire in June, 2018. It was one of the first modern pieces of firefighting equipment purchased in Aberdeen prior to the city’s Black Friday Fire on Oct. 16, 1903. (Courtesy Dave Morris)
The 1902 Metropolitan Steam Pumper was recovered after the Aberdeen Armory was gutted by fire in June, 2018. It was one of the first modern pieces of firefighting equipment purchased in Aberdeen prior to the city’s Black Friday Fire on Oct. 16, 1903. (Courtesy Dave Morris)

Nineteen months after a fire destroyed Aberdeen’s Armory building, the insurance claim is still being negotiated by the insurance company and an adjuster hired by the city.

The city received $7 million for the Armory building in June, 2019, bringing the payout to about $9 million for the building itself so far, but the final valuation of the building and several items in the museum’s collection is still in dispute.

“The claim is for both the building and the artifacts,” said Stacie Barnum, parks director. She added that she expects the city to receive more than $9 million for the building when all is said and done.

With so much money on the line, the city entered into a contract with Alex N. Sill Company to represent the public’s interest in the claim from the fire, said Barnum.

“The four fire apparatus are considered the highest-valued items,” she said. They are also the items that are most disputed as far as their valuations, she added.

One of the four is a hand pumper built in Boston in 1855 called “Old Tiger.” It was brought around Cape Horn to the West Coast before the steamer General Miles brought it to Aberdeen in 1888.

The second piece of fire equipment damaged in the fire is the Metropolitan steam pumper purchased by the city in 1902. It was used along with Old Tiger to fight the Black Friday Fire of 1903 which started in the Arctic Hotel and razed the downtown business district.

The museum’s collection also includes a 1927 Ahrens-Fox pumper truck that served the city until 1968. In the 1970s, a group of Aberdeen firefighters fully restored it and it was often used for parades.

The fourth firefighting-related item was an 1890s hose cart that was likely a total loss as it was made from wood. The “Old Tiger” hand pump also had wood in its construction that burned away, but it may be able to be rebuilt using its metal parts.

“There are several major items still in dispute,” said former Mayor Erik Larson who worked with claim adjusters until he left office on Jan. 1.

Larson said it could be the end of the year before the claim is finalized.

LOUIS KRAUSS | THE DAILY WORLD The charred 1927 Aherns-Fox pumper truck was recovered from the Aberdeen Armory fire in June 2018 and driven in the Founders Day Parade a few weeks later.

LOUIS KRAUSS | THE DAILY WORLD The charred 1927 Aherns-Fox pumper truck was recovered from the Aberdeen Armory fire in June 2018 and driven in the Founders Day Parade a few weeks later.