- Date
- 1976-02-04
- Kind
- Disaster
- Where
- Beaver Island
- Participants
- Robert J. Gillespie (workshop_operator) · Bernard W. "Bill" Wagner (fire_officer)
- Carried out by
- Beaver Island Volunteer Fire Department
- Eras
- Modern era
- Concepts
- communityeconomygovernancecommunication
- Within
- Beaver Island
Summary
On February 4, 1976, an overheated stove started a fire at Robert Gillespie’s Beaver Gems workshop. The shop was badly scorched and the living quarters had smoke and water damage, but the building was saved; the report credits high- school boys led by Fire Officer Bill Wagner.
Evidence and limits
This is a newspaper incident report. It does not establish a complete response roster, financial loss, insurance outcome, or later business history.
Sources
See the sources block above.
Sources
- Reports an overheated stove fire at Robert Gillespie’s Beaver Gems workshop, smoke and water damage to living quarters, and high-school boys led by Fire Officer Bill Wagner helping when the regular crew was unavailable. It does not provide an incident log, damage estimate, or complete responder roster. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1976-02_Beaver-Beacon
- The held issue confirms the fire report and its praise for the young responders.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1976-02_Beaver-Beacon
Added 3 August 2026. Recent changes
Cite this article
Beaver Island Archive, “Fire at Beaver Gems workshop, 1976”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/fire-at-beaver-gems-workshop-1976/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, February 1976, “Fire Call.” (and 1 further source listed on the page).
Last revised 2026-08-03. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.
BibTeX for “Fire at Beaver Gems workshop, 1976”RIS for “Fire at Beaver Gems workshop, 1976”