NEW YORK CITY: NOV. 5, 1914 – Six men burned to death as flames swept through the Waverly Hotel on Eighth Avenue at 27th Street. The early-morning blaze began on the second floor of the four-story brick building, possibly from careless smoking, and quickly spread, imperiling the 65 men sleeping inside. Ladder 12 and Ladder 2 arrived and made several spectacular ladder rescues.
KANSAS CITY, MO: NOV. 7, 1914 – A cigar stub discarded into a pile of hay ignited a blaze within the Kansas City stockyards that destroyed 30 acres of pens, about one-third of the total yard. Workers and firemen struggled to move cattle to safety as the fire spread. More than 4,000 head of cattle perished in the fire.
SUPERIOR, PA: NOV. 15, 1914 – Two dynamite explosions, apparently part of an attempted extortion scheme, destroyed a store and killed four persons. Both ends of the building were demolished by the blasts and the remaining damaged structure was soon a mass of flames. The fire ignited five nearby dwellings and proved extremely difficult to extinguish for responding firemen.
BALTIMORE, MD: NOV. 17, 1914 – A street alarm box brought units to the corner of Bond and Thames streets, where they found the Terminal Warehouse on fire. During the response, Hose Wagon 32 and a chief’s car collided. Chief Emerson was thrown from the vehicle and later died from his injuries.
MARIANNA, FL: NOV. 18, 1914 – A dormitory fire in a state reform school took the lives of seven students and two school employees. It was 3:30 A.M. when a watchman found a large fire on the first floor near the base of the staircase. He sounded the alarm and tried to evacuate the building. The students themselves made several dramatic rescues, carrying their unconscious friends to safety.
LEADVILLE, CO: NOV. 19, 1914 – The town’s famous Tenderloin District was swept by flames that started in a rooming house above a saloon and dance hall. A half-block of flimsy wooden buildings burned to the ground before the flames could be brought under control.
KEANSBURG, NJ: NOV. 20, 1914 – A fire was discovered at 1 A.M. in a three-story frame building on the Beachway. As the first fire companies arrived, the building was completely engulfed in flames and several nearby wooden buildings had ignited. Mutual aid was requested, and help was sent from Atlantic Highlands, Keyport, Middletown and Red Bank. During its response to the scene, an engine from Atlantic Highlands rolled over, critically injuring a fireman. Twenty families were driven from their homes as firemen battled to stop the advancing wall of fire. Destroyed by the fire were two movie theaters, an office building, a restaurant and several stores with apartments above.
PASSAIC, NJ: NOV. 21, 1914 – Two firemen were badly injured when the engine they were responding in rolled over on Erie Street. Engine 6 was nearing Lafayette Avenue when the accident occurred. Both men were taken to St. Mary’s Hospital suffering internal injuries, and one fireman also broke both legs. This same engine was involved in a collision five years earlier that took the lives of two firemen.
BROOKLYN, NY: NOV. 29, 1914 – A woman and her four-hour-old baby were rescued from their third-floor apartment on Saratoga Avenue by two doctors and a nurse. The fire broke out in the apartment below, quickly filling the tenement with smoke. The nurse wrapped the baby in a shawl as the doctors bundled up the mother. The trio then carried the mother and child through the smoke-filled halls to safety.
