Sept. 3, 1904: MEMPHIS, TN – A fire originated in a grocery store on Front Street, in the heart of the wholesale district, and soon created a mass of flames. At the height of the blaze, the building collapsed and damaged the adjoining structure. Firefighters were able to hold the flames to the original store.
Sept. 15, 1904: HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA – A fierce southwest gale drove a wall of flames through the waterfront business district of the city. The blaze had burned for several hours, despite the valiant efforts of the fire department, when a change in the wind sent the fire toward the piers and wharves. Commercial buildings and warehouses were also soon ablaze. Beleaguered firefighters called the navy for help. Teams of demolition experts began to level buildings with dynamite, creating a firebreak.
Sept. 19, 1904: HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA – Just four days after a near conflagration along the waterfront, another serious fire broke out a quarter-mile north of the location of the earlier blaze. Flames fed by large quantities of pitch, tar and ship’s stores drove back firemen who had moved in to protect stored powder and chemicals in a nearby warehouse. A number of explosions ensued, spreading the flames further. After several hours, firemen stopped the flames, but not before six wooden structures and a stone warehouse and stone office building were in ruins.
Sept. 19, 1904: MACEDONIA, PA – A late-night fire that destroyed a home was apparently set to cover a double homicide. A woman and her niece were found dead after the fire was knocked down. An oil can was found near the bodies and a trail of blood was discovered near the doorstep. Authorities immediately began an investigation.
Sept. 24, 1904: DAWSON, AK – A fire broke out in the kitchen of the Cecil Hotel at Queen and Second streets, then swept down both sides of Queen Street. Firefighters were forced to pull down several structures to create a firebreak and halt the marching flames.
Sept. 25, 1904: PROVIDENCE, RI – The entire fire department responded to a major blaze that tore through the North End. Flames spread from the Silver Springs Bleachery to the Corliss Steam Engine Company and Darlings Hat Shop. Exhausted firemen then faced another firefront as the Harris Lumber Yards ignited.
Time Capsule
SEPT. 4, 1904 – 14 PEOPLE KILLED IN MANHATTAN TENEMENT FIRE
At 2:45 in the afternoon, flames were spotted on the third floor of the five-story tenement at 164 Attorney St. in Manhattan and the alarm of “Fire!” was raised. Within minutes, Ladder 18 was rolling in as the flames began to shoot up through the interior stairs toward the roof. Inside, men, women and many children were driven by the dense smoke and increasing heat conditions to the front and rear fire escapes, only to find the ladders connecting the balconies at each floor had been removed by contractors working on building alterations.
Seeing numerous people trapped inside, firemen quickly laddered the building and began a concerted life-saving effort. One fireman in particular, Michael Stevens of Ladder 18, began an amazing series of rescues. Stevens took the aerial ladder to the third story, vaulted over the railing and muscled his way from landing to landing without benefit of a ladder. Stevens plucked an unconscious child from the fifth floor and dropped her to a fireman on the fourth floor, who in turn dropped her to a fireman on the aerial. Three different times, Stevens plunged into the thick smoke and returned with unconscious children in his arms. In the rear, firemen began a similar series of rescues. Numerous trapped people were saved when a large section of the rear fire escape collapsed, severely injuring Fireman John Adamosky of Engine 11.
In all, the lives of 14 people were lost and numerous others were injured, but despite the tremendous handicaps they faced, firefighters rescued scores of trapped occupants. For his daring multiple rescues, Stevens was awarded the FDNY’s highest award for heroism, the James Gordon Bennett Medal.
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.
