Rekindles: June 2004

June 4, 1904: PEORIA, IL – A major explosion tore through the 11-story warehouse of the Corning Distillery, the second largest in the world, during the afternoon, collapsing the structure and setting fire to the building and its contents – thousands of barrels of whisky. The ruins of the building immediately caught fire and spread, driven by high winds to adjoining structures. Rivers of blazing whisky flowed toward large barns and nearby stockyards. Firemen arrived to find several structures on fire, a collapse with more than a dozen men trapped beneath blazing rubble and major exposure problems. The heroic firefighters battled the flames, dug out trapped workers and protected exposed property. Despite their efforts, 10 lives were lost in the collapse, a dozen barns burned to the ground and more than 3,000 head of cattle perished.

June 5, 1904: CRESKILL, NJ – The Manhattan Piano Co.’s factory on the west slope of the Palisades was destroyed by a raging fire during the early-morning hours. Firemen struggled to contain the blaze as tanks of oils and varnishes exploded during their fire attack. They continued the dangerous battle until the last of the flames were quenched.

June 8, 1904: CHICAGO, IL – Forty-five fire companies battled a raging fire in the seven-story South Canal Street building known as Machinery Hall. The structure housed several large machine shops, and the fire proved to be difficult to contain. The building was located in a largely commercial area of the city. The good work of firefighters held the blaze to the original structure.

June 11, 1904: CHICAGO, IL – Four men were killed by an explosion at a huge sewer construction site along 39th Street. Three workmen and a city engineer were entering the tunnel with a gas torch when the explosion occurred. Sewer gas and possibly trapped vapors from a petroleum leak fed the blast and the ensuing fire. The flames were so fierce it was two hours before a rescue could be attempted.

June 24, 1904: ST. LOUIS, MO – A fire apparently started by an electric light consumed the “House of Hoohoo” at the World’s Fair grounds. The wooden structure, built for the exhibition, was under the control of the local board of the Order of Hoohoo. The blaze consumed the building and touched off a stampede of elephants and camels from an adjoining exhibit.

June 29, 1904: NEW YORK CITY – A smoky, three-alarm sub-cellar fire in Manhattan knocked out or injured more than 80 firemen during the late-night hours. A dozen of New York’s Bravest were hospitalized for smoke inhalation, including Battalion Chief William Guerin of the 5th Battalion. For more than two hours, the stubborn blaze was battled as team after team inched hoselines through dense smoke until the seat of the blaze was reached.

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.