Source: North Manchester Journal, September 30, 1909

Was Whole Fire Department.
A fire started by a cigar stub that had been thrown into a box of saw dust gave George Parmerlee a chance to play the whole thing as a fire department Friday morning. The fire was in Peter Speed's shoe shop, and the first notice of it was taken by John Young about half past five, when he saw smoke creeping out of the crevices of the building. He was right by the city hall at the time, and called to George Parmerlee, the driver of the fire wagon. George was just getting up, and when he saw where the fire was he thought he could handle that fire himself, and did not give an alarm. He grabbed one of the small hand chemicals from the wagon, and ran to the shop, and breaking open the door soon had the fire out. The blaze had started from a cigar stub that was thrown into a box of saw dust that was used as a spittoon. A hole was burned into the floor, and the shop was filled with a cloud of smoke. The damage was slight.