Compiled by PAUL HASHAGEN

Sept. 1, 1898: NEWARK, NJ – A fire in a smelting works caused extensive damage. Many smelting pots overturned during the blaze, leaving the charred remains of the building covered in silver. A large amount of silver also penetrated the floor a nd entered the ground.

Sept. 1,1898: SOUTH LONDONDERRY, VT – A husband and wife barely escaped their burning home and ran to release cattle stranded in a nearby barn exposed to the fire. Their best efforts were not enough – they were cut off by the rapidly moving fire and perished along with the animals they tried to save.

Sept. 1, 1898: MORRISTOWN, NJ – A morning fire spread from the stables of the West End Hotel to the Sire Brothers' sale and exchange stables on Speedwell Avenue. Twenty horses were rescued with much difficulty. Firemen put up a great fight and kept the fire from extending across a narrow driveway and igniting the hotel itself.

Sept. 4, 1898: NEW YORK CITY – A fierce blaze raced through a five-story brick building on 124th Street in Harlem. As the first engine arrived flames were pouring from three floors of the building. Four alarms were transmitted in rapid success ion. Within 20 minutes of the initial alarm, the top three floors of the building collapsed, nearly burying Engine 35 and Engineer Walter Jones. In all, 18 engines, four ladders and two fireboats battled the blaze for 90 minutes.

Sept. 9, 1898: WILLIAMSPORT, PA – The Grand View Hotel at Highland Lake was destroyed by a fire believed to be incendiary in origin. All of the contents with the exception of the silverware and a piano were consumed.

Sept. 9, 1898: NEWPORT, RI – One of the largest and well-known hotels on the Atlantic coast, the Ocean House, burned to the ground during an afternoon fire. The flames were first seen on the fourth floor of the dining room wing of the 200-by-2 00-foot wooden structure. An alarm was sounded, followed almost immediately by a general alarm that brought the entire fire department. Within minutes, one of the most fashionable streets in America, Bellevue Avenue, was filled with steam engines adding t heir own puffs of smoke to the dense clouds rolling from the blazing structure.

Sept. 11, 1898: NEW WESTMINSTER, British Columbia – Fanned by a fierce wind, a fire that was started by sparks from a passing steamship falling on dry grass grew into a fire storm involving 10 streets of blazing buildings. Reportedly, a firema n fell from a roof and was killed. Nearly every business in the former capital of the province was destroyed.

Sept. 15, 1898: BROOKLYN, NY – Dense smoke was pumping from a sawdust pit in a factory on Box Street as firemen arrived. Ladder 6 raised a ladder to the roof, then firemen scrambled up and began venting. As additional alarms were being transmi tted, members of Engine 30 began playing their stream onto the burning piles of sawdust. The water cooled the fire, but was also smelting the sawdust, which pushed the walls out and caused a collapse. Ladder 6 was crushed in the street, but all the fireme n walked away unharmed.

Sept. 20, 1898: TOLEDO, OH – Eight workmen were burned to death instantly and eight others suffered burns that probably proved to be fatal when a dust explosion and fire occurred in a seven-story factory. More than 20 men were at work when the explosion occurred. One man was blown through a window and across the yard. Arriving firemen were barred from laddering the structure on one side due to the closeness of the river. Wave after wave of firemen braved the intense heat to search for injured workers. Sadly added to the toll of dead and severely injured workmen were the three children of the plant's superintendent, who were visiting their father at the time of the blast.

CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION: The Cranbury, NJ, Volunteer Fire Company was established on Sept. 13, 1898. Original equipment included two hand-pulled hand pumpers that were supplied by bucket brigades until 1905, when hydrants were installed. The first motorize d apparatus, a new 1919 American LaFrance chemical engine, was put in action in 1920. The company still displays an original hand pumper and hose cart.

TIME CAPSULE
Sept 29, 1927: Tornado Sweeps St. Louis

Just after 1 P.M., a tornado struck southwestern St. Louis and was followed almost immediately by a pounding rain storm. The tornado, with winds in excess of 90 mph, left a path of destruction as it tore through the city. The funnel cloud swirled down and began tearing roofs from buildings and toppling chimneys. Trees were uprooted and every sort of debris was added to the gray-black dust. Two- and three-story dwellings, homes, rooming houses, schools and churches were all damaged by the twister.

A quiet calm was left in the wake of the storm until moments later, when the heavy rain began falling. While making rescue work difficult, the rain did aid the firemen by dousing many small fires started by downed wires.

The twister moved in on Central High School, filled with approximately 1,500 students. The great winds drove the tower on top of the school through the roof and through concrete floors. Arriving firemen and police worked frantically to save trapped studen ts. The ruins of the school were dug through piece by piece and after two days six bodies had been recovered.

Hard hit was the corner of Prairie and Page avenues, where three stores and homes collapsed and caught fire. Firemen dug through the flaming rubble searching for any living people trapped inside. Six lives were lost in the collapse.

With power, fire alarm and telephone wires down across the city, a call was put out over the radio for all off-duty firemen to return to work. Chief Alt set up patrols to check for fires; private autos were used to augment these patrols. Ten engines and f ive truck companies were left in the section of the city not damaged by the storm, while the remaining 46 engines and 18 truck companies answered more than 40 alarms in the damaged areas.

Firemen operated for days digging through collapsed buildings, helping with the cleanup and providing morale support to devastated civilians.