When 80-year-old John Woodyard saw his Virginia sawmill catch fire in the summer of 1924, he tried to save it alone, carrying bucket after bucket of water to the flames.
He believed one final bucket might be enough to extinguish the fire. Instead, Woodyard stumbled and fell, leaving him unable to escape as the blaze spread toward him.
Half-conscious and desperate to avoid being burned alive, the elderly man crawled to a nearby well and plunged into the cold water, believing he had found safety. Then part of the burning mill collapsed.
Flaming timbers fell directly into the well.
Woodyard’s son eventually pulled him from the water, but the injuries were too severe.
Leap Into Well Is Futile
HOADLY, Virginia. — An aged man’s futile effort to save his saw mill which had caught fire, resulted in his death early today in the General Hospital at Alexandria, Virginia. He is John Woodyard, 80 years old, of Hoadly, Virginia, and he died of burns.
The fire started at the mill on Woodyard’s farm Monday night. Woodyard, alone, attempted to extinguish the fire with buckets of water.
Jumps Into Well
Just as he was carrying a bucket of water — a bucket which he believed would be the last needed to put out the fire — Woodyard stumbled and fell. He was unable to get up. The fire spread.
As the blaze came near him, Woodyard, half unconscious, crawled away slowly until he reached the side of a nearby well. Realizing he would be burned to death unless he moved farther, and unable to do so, Woodyard plunged into the well.
The aged man struggled in the cold water for a few minutes, confidant he was safe. The fire reached such proportions, however, that part of the mill house fell over. The burning timber dropped into the well on Woodyard.
The aged man was rescued some minutes later by one of his sons. He was given first aid treatment and then rushed to the Alexandria Hospital, where he died today.
Source: The Washington Times. Washington, D.C. July 2, 1924.
