Women Endangered in Fire Panic in the Night.

Burning of Old Shed Rouses Families in Tenement Row.

Firemen Devote Efforts to Quieting Fears of Inmates.

A fire, thought to be of incendiary origin, destroyed an old shed in the rear of 237 Fourteenth avenue south early yesterday and incidently caused a fire panic among the inmates of the tenement row on Washington avenue between Fourteenth and Fifteenth avenues that nearly resulted disastrously.

Although a small affair the shed made a big blaze and the sudden glare of light in their windows roused the sleepers and drove them out of the building in their nightclothes.

In the excitement of the moment several women tried to jump from the windows and were with difficulty restrained by cooler heads.

The firemen had more to do in calming the fears of the tenement dwellers than in fighting the fire, but aided by the police they finally succeeded in ending the panic before any one was hurt.

The fire itself amounted to but little and a couple of streams of water sufficed to put it out. The damage was nominal.