| Every 4th of July in Iowa you're bound to
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| | the general consensus goes as follows: A
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| here no end of complaining about the fact
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| | young boy was playing with a sparkler,
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| that one can't legally buy firework
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| | probably lit for him by one of
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| within the state's borders. If you know
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| | Bjornstad's clerks.
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| the sad, terrifying story of Spencer,
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| | Whether from some sense of mischief or by
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| Iowa the reason for this law becomes a
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| | careless accident, the lit sparkler was
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| bit clearer.
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| | dropped into the other fire-works on the
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| It was a sweltering 97 degrees on June
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| | display. The resultant explosion was
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| 27th, 1931 in Spencer, Iowa. 100 people
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| | heard in every corner of the city.
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| had already died that summer from the
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| | Conditions in Spencer were pitch perfect
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| heat alone. It was dry, too; there hadn't
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| | for a catastrophe. The heat, the drought
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| been a drop of rain in weeks and no one
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| | and the Devil-sent winds conspired to set
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| was expecting any for weeks to come.
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| | 2 1/2 city blocks ablaze. The citizens of
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| The only thing the folks of Spencer had
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| | Spencer fought hard for their town, but
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| to look forward to was the 4th of July
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| | no fire this big had ever been seen or
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| celebration, which would mark 165 years
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| | expected there before or since.
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| of American Independence from the British
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| | Courageous switchboard operators stayed
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| Crown by lighting up the warm summer
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| | in a burning building until the last
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| skies with as many rockets as they could
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| | possible moment sending out frantic calls
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| lay hands on.
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| | for help to neighboring towns, but road
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| Otto Bjornstad's drug store was the
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| | construction delayed most of the aid. By
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| epitome of the Iowan corner pharmacy; a
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| | late afternoon the Des Moines Register
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| Scandinavian-owned local business located
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| | received a telegram that read "Town is
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| on the corner of 4th and Main. If it were
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| | Burning. Send plane with dynamite and
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| fiction it would be trite. Inside the
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| | fire-chief. Water pressure is gone".
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| store, along with the hair-tonic and the
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| | By the time the fire was under control
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| digestive aids, was a seasonal display
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| | nearly 100 buildings in downtown Spencer
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| that had all the boys in town (and a few
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| | were reduced to smoldering shells. Thanks
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| of the men) practically hypnotized: a
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| | to luck, providence and the bravery of
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| 40-foot long table packed end to end
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| | Spencer's citizens, not a single life was
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| entirely with fire-works. On that day in
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| | lost.
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| late June there was a crowd of kids
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| | The people of Spencer, Iowa rallied, and
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| gathered round the table, eager for the
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| | in time, with hard work and the
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| 4th to arrive but for the moment
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| | generosity of their fellow Iowans, the
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| grudgingly content to stare at the piles
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| | town recovered, stronger than before. In
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| of rockets and dream.
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| | 1938 Iowa, like Michigan and New Jersey
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| What happened that day ha taken on a Mrs.
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| | before it, banned the sale and private
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| O'Leary-like air of myth, and the exact
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| | use of fire-works.
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| details are lost from living memory, but
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| | Hard to blame them, really.
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