March 1, 1906: BROOKLYN, NY - Shortly after 10 A.M., fire broke out in the rear of the one-story wood-frame building of the Dewey Street Dyeing Co. on Fulton Avenue. All of the workers had evacuated as the first-due engine stretched in. As the nozzle team made their move, the flames ignited a barrel of naphtha that quickly exploded. Seven firemen were injured, one with serious burns.
March 2, 1906: PHILADELPHIA - Fire in the artillery building of the Frankford Arsenal endangered the lives of firemen as they battled the flames. Pressing up the stairs to the third floor, they were faced with suffocating smoke and flying missiles as stores of cartridges, shell fuses and other ammunition cooked off. Driven back at first, they again pressed forward flat on their stomachs and with no breathing protection extinguished the fire.
March 2, 1906: MERIDIAN, MS - A powerful tornado tore through the business district of the town at around 6:30 in the evening. Moving in from the south, it moved up Front Street and headed north for about 20 horrifying minutes. The storm destroyed $5 million in property and took the lives of more than 30 people. Rescue work and firefighting went on into the night as the numerous collapsed structures were searched despite the darkness and a pouring rain.
March 4, 1906: NEW YORK CITY - A spectacular four-alarm fire that began in a trolley car spread throughout the huge car barns at the foot of 42nd Street at Eleventh Avenue in Manhattan. Firemen pressed in, but were compelled to protect exposures as well as trying to reach the seat of the fire. Flames spread rapidly, forcing a defensive attack. Falling walls injured several firemen, but none seriously. Six days later, another fire, only blocks away, destroyed the car barn belonging to the Metropolitan Railway Co.
March 8, 1906: NEW YORK CITY - A section of the famed Fraunces's Tavern in Manhattan took fire during the night. Fire was burning deep within the cellar of the building where George Washington had bid his generals goodbye at the end of the Revolutionary War. Two kittens named George and Martha were rescued, but could not be revived. The stubborn flames were finally reached and extinguished.
March 10, 1906: NEWARK, NJ - A midnight fire in the Kensington Hotel at Park and Mulberry streets caused much excitement for the 50 sleeping guests. Firemen fought the fire in the basement and rescued an unconscious man from the second floor.
March 14, 1906: BIDDEFORD, ME - Seventeen patients at Trull Hospital on May Street were removed from the building as firemen battled a fire on the two upper floors. As the flames were being battled, an operation in progress on a lower floor continued beneath umbrellas.
March 16, 1906: CAMDEN, NJ - Three firemen were killed and nine others seriously injured during a fire in the old Sixth Regiment Armory at Bridge and West streets. The boiler room fire spread quickly to all parts of the structure. Without warning, the roof collapsed, killing Firemen Hillman, Jobes and Shields. A general alarm was transmitted for manpower to extinguish the flames and remove those trapped under the collapse.
March 18, 1906: HAVERMILL, MA - The lives of 150 boys and girls were imperiled as a fire swept through the Havermill Manual Training School. Most of the students evacuated due to well-practiced fire drills. Several students were forced to jump from upper windows. One 15 year-old boy returned into the blaze and rescued an unconscious teacher.
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.
