ROSLYN, NY: Feb. 3, 1909 - The new chemical wagon responded to an alarm of fire at the Castallucio family home. An extension ladder was run up to the roof, where smoke and flames were coming out. A hole was made for the hose and it was operated, dousing the fire below. As the fire sputtered out, howls rose from inside the house. Thinking people were being burned, the hose pressure was increased and with it the level of howls increased. A fireman on the roof made his way onto the top floor and found some of the extinguishing agent showering two infants in their beds. The children were promptly removed and calmed with sticks of lemon candy.
ALBANY, NY: Feb. 3, 1909 - During a debate, smoke began to pour into the Senate Chambers and the fire department was called. They found an advanced fire raging among a large quantity of packing boxes and other flammable materials. Leaking gas was discovered and the main was shut off, but not before it began to affect the fire teams moving in to battle the flames. One by one, men were overcome and dragged to safety by their exhausted comrades. In all, a dozen firemen were treated at a nearby doctor's office or taken to a hospital. Despite the difficult conditions, the fire was promptly extinguished.
NEWCASTLE, PA: Feb. 3, 1909 - A late-night fire in a Sharpsville Rail Road train destroyed the lone passenger coach among the many freight cars. The coach, the same one that carried President Abraham Lincoln to Washington, had been covered with sheet iron to make it bulletproof. Unfortunately, it was not fireproof and was a total loss.
MILWAUKEE, WI: Feb. 13, 1909 - Five firemen were killed and a dozen injured by a collapsing wall while battling a fire at the Johns Manville Manufacturing Co. plant at 225 Clybourne St. Firemen were operating hoselines from the roof of a piano factory next door when without warning the rear wall of the fire building failed, toppling tons of bricks and beams that smashed through the roof of the piano factory. The dead were Assistant Chief James G. Gunning, Lieutenant N.J. Whaley, and Firemen James Burke, John Kraft and Joseph Bilinski.
LOCKPORT, NY: Feb. 13, 1909 - Flames raced with lightning speed through the plant of the Boston & Lockport Lock Co. and the structure was soon fully involved. Firemen pressed hoses as close as possible to slow the spread of the fire to neighboring buildings. Fireman J. Reid was killed when a stone wall collapsed on him. Several other firemen were slightly injured.
DAYTONA, FL: Feb. 14, 1909 - Just before daylight, a clerk discovered smoke in a rear hallway of the Hotel Claredon and called the fire department. Hotel personnel roused all the sleeping guests, who escaped in their nightclothes. The hotel fire squad was joined by the local department and brought several streams of water to play on the flames. In a short time, the fire appeared to be extinguished when the wind shifted and fanned the fire into new life. Flaming embers were carried by the strong breeze and ignited a long row of cottages. Driven back by the wall of flames, firemen watched as the building filled with flames and the rear wall collapsed in a flaming pile. The hotel and 10 cottages were lost.
BROOKLYN, NY: Feb. 15, 1909 - Flames engulfed the canning department of the Standard Oil Co.'s Platt Oil Works on Kent Avenue. The two-story building was separated from the others due to the volatile nature of its contents: naptha, benzene and various oils. For 2½ hours, three alarms' worth of men and apparatus battled the dangerous fire. As the flames were nearly extinguished, the front wall collapsed on the members of Ladder 108 and Battalion Chief Michael Graham. Five firemen were injured and the chief died several hours later from his injuries.
WAKEFIELD, MA: Feb. 21, 1909 - A spectacular fire destroyed the First Congregational Church, one of the finest structures in town. The blaze started in the basement, apparently from defective wiring, before services began. Before the fire apparatus arrived, a major explosion drove flames throughout the structure and firemen had to scramble to protect the exposures. Several firemen were injured battling the intense flames.
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.
