Dec. 3, 1902: PATERSON, NJ – Two repairmen using an acetylene torch were working on a gas generator in the rear of a liquor store when an explosion occurred. The walls were shattered, the ceiling fell and the rear room caught fire. Responding firemen doused the flames and as they were taking up their hose, a second, even more powerful explosion rocked the store. Several firemen were injured and this blaze was also extinguished.
Dec. 4, 1902: LONDON – A blaze broke out in the fitter’s shop at Dumbarten Ship Yard. Strong winds fed the flames and caused extreme exposure problems for the fire brigade. One noteworthy exposure was Shamrock III, an America’s Cup yacht owned by Sir Thomas Lipton (of tea fame). Firemen struggled successfully to protect the ship and several others from the rain of flaming embers.
Dec. 4, 1902: CHICAGO – An early-morning fire took the lives of 14 guests in the crowded Lincoln Hotel at 176 Madison St. A discarded cigar ignited a carpet and the fire spread quickly to wall coverings. Thick smoke pushed throughout the structure, trapping numerous occupants. Several jumped from rear windows, some perished in their rooms and others were overcome in the halls. Firemen pushed into the suffocating smoke in search of the fire, which was extinguished quickly once found.
Dec. 5, 1902: STILLWATER, MN – At 3 A.M., a fire broke out under the stage at the Grand Opera House and spread with lightning speed. Flames consumed the theater and jumped to a clothing store, shoe store and grocery store before being brought under control.
Dec. 6, 1902: PHILADELPHIA – An early-morning fire aboard the steamship Saxon, berthed at the foot of Pine Street, took the life of Fireman William Seville, who went into the hold to fight the flames. A call to leave the ship was sent, but before Seville could reach the deck, the ship took a violent lurch that caught the fireman in a rush of water trapped below deck. Three other firemen were taken to the hospital with smoke inhalation.
Dec. 8, 1902: COLGATE, WI – A family was trapped by smoke and fire in their apartments above a general store. Awakened by smoke, the father called for his family to jump from the second-floor windows. In their desperate attempt to escape one child, an 8-year-old, was left behind and was killed by the flames. The father fell to his death while trying to slide down a post. A 3-year-old fell down a flight of steps and was critically injured.
Dec. 8, 1902: ATLANTA – A block of buildings was destroyed by fire that started in a Whitehall Street furniture store. The flames spread to the Norcross Building at the corner of Marietta and Peachtree streets, then to a large drug warehouse, a liquor store and the Williams Hotel. The radiant heat was so great that windows in the Peter’s Building broke a half-block away.
Time Capsule
DEC. 26, 1902: BROOKLYN, NY – SIX FIREMEN BURIED BY COLLAPSE
Firemen arrived to face an advanced fire at Arbuckles’ Brooklyn Cooperage (barrel makers). The wall of fire was so great that flames from the Plymouth Street building illuminated the streets across the river in Manhattan.
While battling the flames in the huge building, members were operating a water tower when the front walls came crashing down. Firemen scrambled and dug by hand through the flaming debris to free their imprisoned brothers as the fire spread to adjoining buildings. One by one, the buried firemen were uncovered and carried from the debris. Two firemen were rushed in critical condition to the hospital. Battalion Chief Thomas Coppinger of Battalion 23 (now Battalion 33), Lieutenant William Jeffrey of Engine 126 (now Engine 226) and Fireman Michael O’Toole of Ladder 55 (now 105) perished in the blaze.
Paul Hashagen, a Firehouse® contributing editor, is an FDNY firefighter 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.
