While learning the expression "close, but no cigar", I came across this sentence:
It appears in U. S. newspapers widely from around 1949 onwards. For example, a story from The Lima News, Lima, Ohio, November 1949, where The Lima House Cigar and Sporting Goods Store narrowly avoided being burned down in a fire, was titled 'Close But No Cigar'.
My question is, did the store burn down? In other words, is narrowly avoided equal to almost failed to avoid but avoided?
Thanks in advance!