100 Years Ago

Jan. 1, 2009
ERIE, PA: Jan. 1, 1909 - Every one of the 1,500 seats in the Park Opera House was filled when a fire was discovered during a production of "Nick of Time." Fireman Abraham Louch, who was assigned to the theater, noticed smoke coming from the floor of the gallery. He transmitted the alarm and immediately made his way to the rear of the stage. "Keep the show going!" he called to the actors as he stepped to the center of the stage. Louch told the audience there was a fire next door and that they should file out of the theater.

ERIE, PA: Jan. 1, 1909 - Every one of the 1,500 seats in the Park Opera House was filled when a fire was discovered during a production of "Nick of Time." Fireman Abraham Louch, who was assigned to the theater, noticed smoke coming from the floor of the gallery. He transmitted the alarm and immediately made his way to the rear of the stage. "Keep the show going!" he called to the actors as he stepped to the center of the stage. Louch told the audience there was a fire next door and that they should file out of the theater. Most of the audience was outside when smoke finally banked down into the auditorium. Arriving fire companies rescued several people over ladders and the few remaining inside were led to safety. The entire audience was saved due to the actions of Fireman Louch.

BALTIMORE, MD: Jan. 1, 1909 - Pier 1 of the Atlantic Coast Line, located in the suburb of Canton, caught fire and spread to seven railcars. The entire contents of the building and the railcars were imported goods being held in bond awaiting customs inspection. The flames destroyed the entire store of more than 30,000 packages.

SKOWHEGAN, ME: Jan. 1, 1909 - A serious fire situation developed as flames tore through the business district. Five tenements on Water Street were incinerated and two business blocks were destroyed. Three more blocks suffered serious damage as firemen struggled for five hours to gain control. Two homes were blown up to make a firebreak and mutual aid from Fairfield and Waterville was needed to stop the conflagration.

BROOKLYN, NY: Jan. 1, 1909 - The public loved to start bonfires to celebrate the 4th of July, Election Day and, of course, the New Year. Revelers in East New York set fire to some grass in a vacant lot that quickly spread to the lumberyard next door. Flames leaped from the burning wood to a nearby residence. Firemen worked frantically to stop the spreading waves of fire. A number of people were also injured in unrelated accidental shootings as handguns and rifles were discharged in celebration, with tragic results.

KENT, ENGLAND: Jan. 4, 1909 - A fire at the country home of Huntley Walker, a well-known racing motorist and collector, destroyed at least 14 valuable motorcars. The most notable of those lost was the Darracq Model 120 driven by French driver Louis Wagner to win the Vanderbilt Cup in 1906. That race was held on the streets of Nassau County, Long Island, for three years until a car killed a spectator in 1906.

CHICAGO, IL: Jan. 6, 1909 - A spectacular fire at the stockyards destroyed a large part of the fertilizing plant of Darling Chemicals. The blaze was battled for hours and every fireman in the city was called to the scene. Faced with a dangerous fire and below-zero temperatures, they struggled to gain the upper hand. Explosions then tore through the structure, toppling walls and injuring many firemen. As the fire was brought under control, the area became coated in a thick shell of ice from the water spray. This made overhauling the fire area and taking up hoses and gear a very dangerous operation as well.

SION, SWITZERLAND: Jan. 10, 1909 - The failure of pillars in an underground crypt caused the total collapse of an ancient church filled with people attending religious services. A panic ensued as several of those who escaped the ruins ran through the village raising the cry of earthquake. Local firemen arrived at the scene and began the dangerous task of rescue and recovery from the collapsed house of worship. In all, 40 people lost their lives and 60 were injured. Nearly all the members of the congregation were in the church at the time.

TOPEKA, KS: Jan. 14, 1909 - An early-morning fire raced through the Copeland Hotel, trapping many guests. As fire companies rolled to the scene, a guest, State Senator J.W. Stewart, woke up and realized the danger facing all the guests. Aided by a local newspaper editor, Stewart made several amazing rescues. First, he took a mattress and dropped it out the window to the roof of the adjoining building two stories below. Then, one by one, he lowered guests out of the window at arms' length and swung them, like a trapeze artist, out from the building and across to the roof next door. Stewart saved the lives of three people in this fashion. Firemen rescued all but one of the other guests.

TOLEDO, OH: Jan. 19, 1909 - Flames that started in the basement of the Brown, Eager and Hull Book Co. at 10 P.M. swept the interior of the four-story building and worked their way throughout the structure. The fire caused a near panic in the Arcade Theatre immediately to the rear of the fire building, but it was evacuated with no problems. The fire extended to the Hudson Dry Goods Co. and soon that structure was engulfed in flames. The entire fire department was called to the scene and was put to work. Many firemen had narrow escapes when, 45 minutes after the initial alarm, the entire book building collapsed at once.

CHICAGO, IL: Jan. 20, 1909 - Workers hired to build a giant freshwater tunnel feeding the city were living in a two-story wooden structure built on a concrete foundation resting on the bottom of Lake Michigan. As they were getting ready to change shifts, a huge explosion and fire decimated their living quarters. Trapped by flames and wreckage, and surrounded by water filled with huge cakes of ice, the surviving men struggled to send for help and assist each other under the most horrible conditions. Fireboats and tugboats descended on the blazing island and began controlling the fire, rescuing the injured and collecting the dead. At least 53 men died in the explosion and fire and only 39 were rescued. Many others were still missing, believed to possibly be trapped in the pressurized tunnel or thrown into the freezing water.

PAUL HASHAGEN, a Firehouse® contributing editor, is a retired FDNY firefighter who was assigned to Rescue Company 1 in Manhattan. He is also an ex-chief of the Freeport, NY, Fire Department. Hashagen is the author of FDNY 1865-2000: Millennium Book, a history of the New York City Fire Department, and other fire service history books.

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