Dec. 3, 1900: CHICAGO - A boiler explosion within a two-story powerhouse of the Chicago and Northwestern Rail Road took the lives of five employees and injured more than a dozen. The blast, which occurred just after 5 P.M., leveled the powerhouse and damaged a passing train. The 10-ton boiler itself rocketed through the rear two cars, one a Pullman sleeping car, tearing off the car's roof. The explosion plunged the station into darkness as responding firemen arrived. The injured were rushed to area hospitals, many with critical injuries. Train traffic was severely hampered until repairs could be made.
Dec. 4, 1900: NEW YORK CITY - A fire broke out at about 3:45 P.M. in a trolley car powerhouse located on the Brooklyn-Queens border (half of the building was in Brooklyn and the other half in Queens). Ten engines from Brooklyn and the entire volunteer department of Newtown responded. Within 10 minutes, the entire structure was in flames. Firemen battled to control the fire for more than an hour.
Dec. 9, 1900: STILES, WI - Flames broke out in the Anson Eldred Company's large stock burner. Strong winds fanned the flames and sent embers streaming into the air. Several adjacent private homes were soon in flames.
Dec. 9, 1900: CANTON, OH - The plant of the Cleveland and Canton Bridge Company was destroyed by an early-morning fire. Tramps sleeping near the kilns were believed to be responsible for the blaze.
Dec. 12, 1900: NEW YORK CITY - A mother and two children were rescued from a smoky fire at 271 49th St. in Brooklyn The first-arriving unit, Engine 101, secured a water supply and began to stretch when the mother began to frantically for help from an upper-story window. Fireman Albert Lyon, seeing that the first-due truck company would be delayed, grabbed a long wooden ladder from a nearby carpenter's shop and raised it to the distraught woman. Forced to stand on the topmost rung, he removed the family from the fire building. One fireman was overcome by the dense smoke.
Dec. 12, 1900: GOLINZA, PA - Three children left alone were killed as flames tore through their home. It is believed that an overpressurization of a gas line caused the fire, which burned with tremendous intensity.
Dec. 13, 1900: WEBSTER, MA - The town's worst fire in 25 years occurred when the Tracy Block, a three-story structure and the largest building in town, was swept by fire. Several young women had narrow escapes from inside the fire building. Two of them were forced to jump, with clothes ablaze, from a second-story window. They fell into an awning below and were then removed to the street.
Time Capsule
DEC. 14, 1900 - DUNKIRK, NY: SCHOOL FIRE TRAPS STUDENTS
Seven people perished during an early-morning blaze at the Fredonia State Normal and Training School. Seventy-five young women were sleeping inside the structure when the fire broke out. The fire started in the janitor's room and spread quickly.
It was believed that heavy wire screens nailed across the windows leading to the fire escapes blocked the way of several students as they attempted to flee the burning structure. The entire building was destroyed.
Compiled by PAUL HASHAGEN
