An illustration of the aftermath of the Great Baltimore Fire in February 1904
The Great Baltimore Fire raged in Baltimore, Maryland from Sunday February 7 to Monday February 8, 1904. In the fire, more than 1,500 buildings were completely leveled, and some 1,000 severely damaged, bringing property loss from the disaster to an estimated $100 million.[1] 1,231 firefighters helped bring the blaze under control, both professional paid truck and engine companies from the Baltimore City Fire Department (B.C.F.D.) and volunteers from the surrounding counties and outlying towns of Maryland, as well as out-of-state units that arrived on the major railroads. It destroyed much of central Baltimore, including over 1,500 buildings covering an area of some 140 acres (57ha).
From North Howard Street in the west and southwest, the flames spread north through the retail shopping area as far as Fayette Street and began moving eastward, pushed along by the prevailing winds. Narrowly missing the new 1900 Circuit Courthouse, now the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse, fire passed the historic Battle Monument Square from 1815 to 1827 at North Calvert Street, and the quarter-century-old Baltimore City Hall, built in 1875 on Holliday Street; and finally spread further east to the Jones Falls stream which divided the downtown business district from the old East Baltimore tightly-packed residential neighborhoods of Jonestown (also known as Old Town) and newly named "Little Italy". The fire's wide swath burned as far south as the wharves and piers lining the north side of the old "Basin" (today's "Inner Harbor") of the Northwest Branch of the Baltimore Harbor and Patapsco River facing along Pratt Street.
It is considered historically the third worst conflagration in an American city, surpassed only by the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, and the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906. Other major urban disasters that were comparable (but not fires) were the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and most recently, Hurricane Katrina that hit New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico coast in August 2005. One reason for the fire's long duration involved the lack of national standards in firefighting equipment. Despite fire engines from nearby cities (such as Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. as well as units from New York City, Virginia, Wilmington, and Atlantic City) responding with horse-drawn pumpers, wagons and other related equipment (primitive by modern-day standards, but only steam engines were motorized in that era) carried by the railroads on flat cars and in box cars, many were unable to help since their hose couplings could not fit Baltimore's fire hydrants.
Much of the destroyed area was rebuilt in relatively short order, and the city adopted a building code, stressing fireproof materials. Perhaps the greatest legacy of the fire was the impetus it gave to efforts to standardize firefighting equipment in the United States, especially hose couplings.
Background
In centuries past, fires regularly ravaged cities, frequently destroying large areas within. Close living quarters; lax, unenforced, or non-existent building codes; and a widespread dearth of firefighting services were all contributing factors to the frequency and extent of urban fires. The rapid expansion of American cities during the nineteenth century also contributed to the danger.[citation needed]
In addition, firefighting practices and equipment were largely unstandardized, with each city having its own system. As time passed, these cities invested more in the systems that they already had, increasing the costs of any conversion. In addition, early equipment was often patented by its manufacturer.[2] By 1903, over 600 sizes and variations of fire hose couplings existed in the United States.[2] Despite efforts to establish standards being made since the 1870s, they had little effect: no city wanted to abandon its system, few saw any reason to adopt standards, and equipment manufacturers did not want competition.[2]
Progression of the fire
John E. Hurst Building, site of the fire's outbreak
Fire was reported first at the John Hurst and Company building on West German Street at Hopkins Place (modern site at the southwest corner of the Baltimore Civic Center of 1962, currently the CFG Bank Arena) in the western part of downtown Baltimore at 10:48a.m. on Sunday, February 7, and quickly spread. Soon, it became apparent that the fire was outstripping the ability of the city's firefighting resources to fight it, and calls for help were telegraphed to other cities. By 1:30p.m., units from Washington, D.C. were arriving on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Camden Street Station. To halt the fire, officials decided to use a firebreak, and dynamited buildings around the existing fire. This tactic, however, proved unsuccessful. Not until 5:00p.m. the next day was the fire brought under control, after burning for thirty hours.
One reason for the fire's duration was the lack of national standards in firefighting equipment. Fire crews and fire engines came from as far away as Philadelphia and Washington that day (units from New York City were blocked by a train accident; they arrived the next day – Monday, February 8). The crews brought their own equipment. Most could only watch helplessly after discovering that their hoses could not connect to Baltimore's gauge size of water hydrants, although a machine shop in the Locust Point area of the city did start making coupling rings to overcome this problem. High winds and freezing temperatures further contributed to the fire's extent and firefighters' difficulties.[3] As a result, the fire burned over 30 hours, destroying 1,545 buildings[3] spanning 70 city blocks—amounting to over 140 acres (57ha).[4]
While Baltimore was criticized for its hydrants, this problem was not uniquely its own. During that era, American cities had more than six hundred different sizes and variations of fire hose couplings.[5] As outside firefighters returned to their home cities, newspapers published interviews that condemned Baltimore and exaggerated locals' response during the crisis.[who?] In addition, many newspapers published accounts by travelers who, in actuality, had only seen the fire as their trains passed through Baltimore. Nonetheless, the responding agencies and their equipment did prove useful, since the uncouplable hoses only represented a small part of the transported equipment. Ultimately, the tragedy led to the standardization of hydrants nationwide.[6][7]
In addition to firefighters, outside police officers, as well as the Maryland National Guard and the Naval Brigade, were utilized during the fire to maintain order and protect the city. Police and soldiers not only kept looters away, but also prevented civilians from inadvertently interfering with firefighting efforts. The Naval Brigade secured the waterfront and waterways to keep spectators away. Officers from Philadelphia and New York also assisted the City Police Department.
Thomas Albert Lurz (b. January 9, 1874), a Baltimore native and letter carrier with the U.S. Post Office, rescued tons of mail from the burning Central Post Office on the east side of Battle Monument Square, on North Calvert Street, between East Lexington and Fayette Streets. Lurz gathered a group of men who loaded bags of mail onto horse–drawn wagons, took them to North and Pennsylvania Avenues, and stood guard until the Maryland National Guard arrived (for which he later received a commendation).[citation needed] Meanwhile, back at the General Post Office, employees kept spraying water on the building's sides and roof and were able to minimize damage and save the 1889 Italian Renaissance edifice with its nine towers and central tall clock tower (later razed and replaced by the current 1932 building, later converted to city use as Courthouse East).
Aftermath
In the aftermath, 35,000 people were left unemployed.[8] Over $150 million (in 1904 USD) worth of damage was done, which is approximately $3.84 billion in 2014 dollars.
Immediately after the fire, The Baltimore News quoted Mayor Robert McLane: "To suppose that the spirit of our people will not rise to the occasion is to suppose that our people are not genuine Americans. We shall make the fire of 1904 a landmark not of decline but of progress." McLane then refused assistance, "As head of this municipality, I cannot help but feel gratified by the sympathy and the offers of practical assistance which have been tendered to us. To them I have in general terms replied, 'Baltimore will take care of its own, thank you.'"[9]
Two years later, on September 10, 1906, The Sun reported that the city had risen from the ashes and that "One of the great disasters of modern time had been converted into a blessing."[10]
Great Baltimore Fire of 1904, looking West from East Pratt and North Gay StreetsSame view in 1906, 2 years after the fire
Most agreed that the Great Fire directly caused no deaths.[11] An autobiography written by Alice Mae Cawthorne tells of a couple named Mr. and Mrs. Chambre who lost their twin daughters in the Baltimore fire. There are also reports of a merchant suffering a heart attack while evacuating goods from his store. It may be that deaths were not recorded accurately. In 1907 a bronze historical marker commemorating "The Great Fire" was placed next to the main western entrance of the "Wholesale Fish Market" (now the Port Discovery children's museum), one of three new adjoining Centre Market structures replacing the old burned second "Centre Market" building and Maryland Institute of 1851. Since the late 1980s, the structure has been renamed the Port Discovery children's museum. This major commemorative tablet reads "Lives Lost: None."[12] However, a recently rediscovered newspaper story from The Sun[13] tells of the charred remains of a "colored man" being pulled, almost two weeks after the fire, from the harbor basin, near the modern Inner Harbor area USSConstellation Dock (old Pier 2).[14]
Five lost lives were indirectly attributed to the fire. Two members of the 4th Regiment of the Maryland National Guard, Private John Undutch of Company 'F', and Second Lieutenant John V. Richardson of Company 'E', both fell ill and died of pneumonia. Fireman Mark Kelly and Fire Lieutenant John A. McKnew also died of pneumonia and tuberculosis due to exposure during the Great Fire.[15] Martin Mullin, the proprietor of Mullin's Hotel (on the northwest corner of West Baltimore and North Liberty Streets, above Hopkins Place), a block to the north of the John E. Hurst Building, where the fire started, also later died.[16]
Mayor McLane's mysterious and sudden death later that year, ruled a suicide, was also attributed by some of his contemporaries to the stress of post-fire reconstruction.[17]
As a result of the fire, Baltimore finally adopted a city building code after seventeen nights of hearings and multiple City Council reviews. The city's downtown "Burnt District" was rebuilt using more fireproof materials, such as granite pavers.[citation needed] Public pressure, coupled with demands of companies insuring the newly re-built buildings, spurred the effort.[3]
The National Fire Protection Association adopted a national standard for fire hydrant and hose connections. However, inertia remained. Conversion was slow and still remains incomplete. One hundred years after the Baltimore Fire, only 18 of the 48 most populous American cities were reported to have national standard fire hydrants.[18] Hose incompatibility contributed to the Oakland firestorm of 1991: although the standard hose coupling has 2.5 inches (64mm) diameter, Oakland's hydrants had 3-inch (76mm) couplings.[2]
H. L. Mencken, future famed columnist/commentator/author and linguist, survived the fire at the beginning of his blossoming journalism and literary career, but the offices of his newspaper, the Baltimore Herald (at the northwest corner of St. Paul and East Fayette Streets), were destroyed on the northern edge of the "Burnt District". Mencken related the fire and its aftermath near the end of the second volume of his autobiographical trilogy, Newspaper Days: 1899–1906, published 1941, "When I came out of it at last I was a settled and indeed almost a middle-aged man, spavined by responsibility and aching in every sinew, but I went into it a boy, and it was the hot gas of youth that kept me going."[19]
The Herald printed an edition the first night of the fire on the press of The Washington Post, in exchange for providing photographs to The Post, but could not continue this arrangement because of a long-standing arrangement between The Washington Post and the Baltimore Evening News. For the next five weeks The Herald was printed nightly on the press of the Philadelphia Evening Telegraph and transported 100 miles (160km) to Baltimore on a special train, provided free of charge by the B&O Railroad. The fire also devastated the city's other major newspapers, including The Sun with its famous "Iron Building", considered the forerunner of modern steel skyscrapers, built 1851 at East Baltimore Street. Across the intersecting South Street-Guilford Avenue was the publishing headquarters of the Baltimore Evening News, founded 1871 and built in 1873 with its mansard roof and corner clock tower. Baltimore's oldest news publication, The Baltimore American (dating back to 1773 or 1796 by various accounts and owned and published by local civic titan, General Felix Agnus), was also burnt out of its offices and forced to have papers printed out-of-town and shipped back by train.
The "Box 414 Association", which has assisted the Baltimore City Fire Department for many years, acts like a local American Red Cross, or military United Service Organization (USO), sending refreshments and break-time trucks to the sites of major alarms and fires to provide exhausted firefighters some comfort and snacks. It is named after the first alarm box pulled on the morning of Sunday, February 7, 1904.
The BCFD memorializes the fire annually at the bronze statue of a firefighter at the Department's old headquarters, facing City Hall, the War Memorial Building and the broad ceremonial plaza in between at East Lexington and North Gay Streets. Observances are also held at the closest street corner to the Great Fire's beginnings at South Howard and West Lombard Streets alongside the old Civic Center/Arena. The Maryland Historical Society commemorated the fire's centennial in 2004 with a website, two books and various events, lectures, and tours through the auspices of the Fire Museum of Maryland on York Road in Lutherville-Timonium-Cockeysville in Baltimore County. Several commemorative stories and special sections were published during the month in Baltimore's only remaining daily newspaper, The Baltimore Sun, and the four local television stations' and several documentaries and interviews/discussion programs on the city's public radio network (NPR) station, WYPR-FM, also commemorated the event.
More recently, the Baltimore-based rock band J. Roddy Walston and the Business memorialized the fire in "Nineteen Ought Four", on their album Hail Mega Boys.
A fire engine is a vehicle, usually a specially-designed or modified truck, that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to an incident as well as carrying equipment for firefighting operations in a fire drill. Some fire engines have specialized functions, such as wildfire suppression and aircraft rescue and firefighting, and may also carry equipment for technical rescue.
A fire hose is a high-pressure hose that carries water or other fire retardant to a fire to extinguish it. Outdoors, it attaches either to a fire engine, fire hydrant, or a portable fire pump. Indoors, it can permanently attach to a building's standpipe or plumbing system.
A fire hydrant, fireplug, or firecock (archaic) is a connection point by which firefighters can tap into a water supply. It is a component of active fire protection. Underground fire hydrants have been used in Europe and Asia since at least the 18th century. Above-ground pillar-type hydrants are a 19th-century invention.
The Oakland firestorm of 1991 was a large suburban wildland–urban interface conflagration that occurred on the hillsides of northern Oakland, California, and southeastern Berkeley over the weekend of October 19–20, 1991, before being brought under full control on October 23. The official name of this incident by Cal Fire is the Tunnel Fire. However, it is also commonly referred to as the Oakland Hills firestorm or the East Bay Hills fire. The fire ultimately killed 25 people and injured 150 others. The 1,520 acres destroyed included 2,843 single-family dwellings and 437 apartment and condominium units. The economic loss from the fire was estimated at $1.5 billion.
The Great Boston Fire of 1872 was Boston's largest fire, and still ranks as one of the most costly fire-related property losses in American history. The conflagration began at 7:20 p.m. on Saturday, November 9, 1872, in the basement of a commercial warehouse at 83–87 Summer Street. The fire was finally contained 12 hours later, after it had consumed about 65 acres (26 ha) of Boston's downtown, 776 buildings and much of the financial district, and caused $73.5 million in damage. The destruction to the buildings was valued at $13.5 million and the personal property loss was valued at $60 million. In the end, at least 30 people died, including 12 firefighters.
Firefighting is a profession aimed at controlling and extinguishing fire. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter or fireman. Firefighters typically undergo a high degree of technical training. This involves structural firefighting and wildland firefighting. Specialized training includes aircraft firefighting, shipboard firefighting, aerial firefighting, maritime firefighting, and proximity firefighting.
A standpipe or riser is a type of rigid water piping which is built into multi-story buildings in a vertical position, or into bridges in a horizontal position, to which fire hoses can be connected, allowing manual application of water to the fire. Within the context of a building or bridge, a standpipe serves the same purpose as a fire hydrant.
Storz is a type of hose coupling invented by Carl August Guido Storz in 1882 and patented in Switzerland in 1890, and patented in the U.S. in 1893 that connects using interlocking hooks and flanges. It was first specified in standard FEN 301-316, and has been used by German fire brigades since 1933. Amongst other uses, it has been widely employed on fire hoses in firefighting applications. It is the standard coupling on fire hoses in Portugal, Denmark, Slovenia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Poland, Czechia, Israel, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Greece. It is also one of the standard couplings on fire hoses in Australia and the United States.
In firefighting, the policy of two-in, two-out refers to United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) policy 29 CFR 1910.134(g)(4)(i). The respiratory protection standard requires that workers engaged in fighting interior structural fires work in a buddy system; at least two workers must enter the building together, so that they can monitor each other's whereabouts as well as the work environment. There must also be at least two standby personnel outside the fire area prepared to rescue the inside firefighters should the need arise. One of these outside firefighters must actively monitor the status of the inside fighters but the second outside firefighter may perform a variety of other duties, such as pump operations, incident commander or outside hose line operation. There are no provisions in the standard to waive the requirements for either the "two-inside firefighters" or the "two-outside firefighters", although the circumstances under which this provision applies are more limited than generally understood.
A water tender, sometimes known as a water tanker, is a type of firefighting apparatus that specializes in the transport of water from a water source to a fire scene. Water tenders are capable of drafting water from a stream, lake or hydrant.
Firefighting jargon includes a diverse lexicon of both common and idiosyncratic terms. One problem that exists in trying to create a list such as this is that much of the terminology used by a particular department is specifically defined in their particular standing operating procedures, such that two departments may have completely different terms for the same thing. For example, depending on whom one asks, a safety team may be referred to as a standby, a RIT or RIG or RIC, or a FAST. Furthermore, a department may change a definition within its SOP, such that one year it may be RIT, and the next RIG or RIC.
This is a glossary of firefighting equipment.
The Baltimore News-American was a broadsheet newspaper published in downtown Baltimore, Maryland until May 27, 1986. It had a continuous lineage of more than 200 years. For much of the mid-20th century, it had the largest circulation in the city.
A hydrant wrench is a tool used to remove fire hydrant caps and open the valve of the hydrant. They are usually adjustable so as to fit different sized hydrant nuts.
A hose coupling is a connector on the end of a hose to connect it with another hose or with a tap or a hose appliance, such as an irrigation sprinkler. It is usually made of steel, brass, stainless steel, aluminium or plastic.
Flexible suction hose, not to be confused with hard suction hose in U.S., is a specific type of fire hose used in drafting operations, when a fire engine uses a vacuum to draw water from a portable water tank, pool, or other static water source. It is built to withstand vacuum, rather than pressure, abrasion, and heat. Conversely, hard suction is capable of withstanding up to 200 PSIG, as well as vacuum. In the United States, it is standard equipment according to the National Fire Protection Association standards for fire engines. It is used in both structural and wildland firefighting throughout the world, and is made in various diameters and connection types.
The Great Fire of Toronto of 1849, April 7, 1849, also known as the Cathedral Fire, was the first major fire in the history of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Much of the Market Block, the business core of the city, was wiped out, including the predecessor of the current St. James Cathedral. The 1831 building of the Toronto City Hall and St. Lawrence Market south of King was damaged and was torn down.
The Baltimore City Fire Department (BCFD) provides fire protection and emergency medical services to the city of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1797 and established in 1859, the Baltimore City Fire Department covers an area of 81 square miles (210 km2) of land and 11 square miles (28 km2) of water, with a resident population of over 640,000 and a daytime population of over 1,000,000. The BCFD responds to approximately 235,000 emergency calls annually. There are two International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) locals; IAFF 734 for firefighters and IAFF 964 for officers.
Arthur "Smokestack" Hardy was a volunteer fire fighter, photographer, black fire historian and collector of fire memorabilia. He was the first African-American firefighter in Baltimore, Maryland. There is a museum of his collection of fire related artifacts in West Baltimore curated by Guy Cephas, a fellow Retired Auxiliary firefighter. Baltimore has named one of their fire stations after him.
Despite fire hose and hydrant coupler standardization efforts that are at least 144 years old, there remain significant areas in Canada, the United States, and Mexico that use fire hose and hydrant threads and other couplings that are incompatible with those used by neighboring fire departments. This is notable because the first fire hydrant was invented by Manhattan fire fighter George Smith in 1817, making these devices 200 years old.
1 2 3 Baltimore: The Building of an American City, by Sherry H. Olson, published 1980, revised edition published 1997, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore (Md.), ISBN0-8018-5640-X, pp. 246-48.
↑ The Architecture of Baltimore: An Illustrated History, by Mary Ellen Hayward, Frank R. Shivers, Richard Hubbard Howland; Published 2004, JHU Press, Baltimore (Md.), ISBN0-8018-7806-3, p. 237.
↑ Maryland Digital Cultural Cultural Heritage Project. "Great Baltimore Fire of 1904". Enoch Pratt Free Library. Archived from the original on 15 February 2004. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
Maryland Digital Cultural Cultural Heritage Project. "Great Baltimore Fire of 1904". Enoch Pratt Free Library. Archived from the original on 15 February 2004. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
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