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Roof set on fire
The only other mention of rooftop fires, in the Home News, did not refer to any specific locations. The story explained such fires as an incitement as much as a distraction: “One method by which the mobs stirred up excitement was to stack great heaps of newspapers on the roofs of buildings. The paper, when ignited, led those in the streets to believe spectacular fires were in progress and many fire alarms were sounded.” False alarms and the sounds of fire engines are mentioned in several newspapers, which might indicate that other roof fires were lit, or simply that calls were made to the fire department. Unlike fires in stores on the ground floor, those on a roof posed less danger to the apartments in the building.
The three fires in stores during the disorder were a block west of this building, on Lenox Avenue and West 130th Street, and at 429 and 431 Lenox Avenue, between West 131st and West 132nd Streets.