100 Years Ago
TOPEKA, KS: Feb. 1, 1908 -- The short-circuit of electrical wiring leading to the clock tower was blamed for a fire that destroyed the Rock Island Railway Station. The fire raced through the attic during the early morning hours and only some company records could be saved from the flames.
ROME, NY: Feb. 2, 1908 -- Battling fierce flames and blizzard conditions, firemen struggled to contain a fire that originated in the F.E. Bacon & Co. department store and spread quickly to adjoining structures. Mutual aid responded to the fire from Syracuse and Utica. For five hours, in temperatures approaching zero, firemen worked against freezing hydrants and crumbling buildings.
BUCKHANNON, WV: Feb. 2, 1908 -- An early-morning fire in the Morrison Hotel was fought for many hours and finally brought under control with help from fire companies from nearby Weston. The post office, four other buildings and a home were also lost to the flames.
NEW YORK CITY: Feb. 4, 1908 -- A difficult fire was battled in a five-story brick-and-iron building on Worth Street in the heart of Manhattan's dry-goods district. The alarm was transmitted just after 4 P.M. and units were quickly making a push into the heavy smoke. Without warning, a major collapse occurred, taking 15 firemen down into a tangle of broken timbers, twisted steel, extreme heat and heavy smoke. Rescue work began in earnest and man after man was freed from the debris and carried seriously injured to nearby hospitals. Firemen Thomas Eglinton of Ladder 10 and John McConnell of Engine 4 were killed. The rescue work and firefighting continued for more than 30 hours in sub-freezing weather.
NEW YORK CITY: Feb. 14, 1908 -- Ten days after losing two firemen on Worth Street, the FDNY was sent reeling as one of the most popular and effective fire officers on the job was killed in the line of duty. Deputy Chief Charles Washington Kruger, known by all the firemen under his command as "Big-Hearted Charlie," had served the department for 36 years. While battling a stubborn blaze at 217 Canal St. in Manhattan, the chief entered the cellar of an adjoining building to locate a possible spot to breach a wall and direct a stream into the fire building. In the dense carbon monoxide-laced smoke, Kruger slipped through a trap door in the floor and fell into the sub-cellar filled with more than six feet of water. The chief's aide found the opening and with the help of several other firemen held the semi-conscious chief above water until they too began to be overcome from the smoke and gases. They reached down and attempted to tie a rope around the trapped man. The chief looked up and whispered, "I'm going, boys." Before the rope could be tied, the chief slipped from their grip and disappeared into the black water. Fresh firemen took the place of their comrades who were driven from the area and pulled the lifeless fire officer from the water and removed him to the street. Resuscitation efforts were fruitless and the 57-year-old chief was pronounced dead.
WHARTON, NJ: Feb. 18, 1908 -- The explosion of more than 1,500 pounds of dynamite about to be shipped, and other explosives stored nearby, blew the eight General Explosives factory buildings into splinters. Five men working inside at the time were atomized. The explosive force uprooted trees, broke every window in town and shattered the windows of a train a quarter-mile away, injuring 20 passengers.
HASTINGS-ON-THE-HUDSON, NY: Feb. 19, 1908 -- Fire destroyed the former home of Admiral David Farragut, the first full admiral in the U.S. Navy and famed for his order, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" The blaze apparently started in the basement of the colonial-style, three-story wooden structure and spread upwards through the walls. Firemen rescued the current occupants, a woman and her two children, from the second-floor windows with ladders.
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.