If there was a significant fire or emergency that occurred 100 years ago in your department, or your department's 100th anniversary is coming up, please drop us a line for possible inclusion in "Rekindles" in an upcoming issue.
Aug. 2, 1896: BOSTON, MA The Boston Transcript reported the death of Nehemiah S. Bean, the "venerable" manufacturer, of Manchester, NH. The newspaper stated that "probably no man had been more honorably or more prominently associated with the manufacture of steam fire engines than Mr. Bean." Although Bean was far from the first builder of steam fire engines, he was famous for creating an advanced version of the steamer that overcame many of the problems associated with earlier models.
Aug. 2, 1896: WACO, TX A brick block that included a livery stable, feed store, machinery company and buggy company burned. A number of horses were also killed. The flames were held to the block area.
Aug. 4, 1896: PHILADELPHIA, PA The main building of the Baugh & Sons Co., a large phosphate and fertilizer works, were set ablaze as a large vat of grease boiled over. Considerable stock and expensive grinding machinery were destroyed. Firemen were able to contain the flames to building of origin.
Aug. 4, 1896: SAULT STE. MARIE, MI With a major heat wave gripping most of the nation, areas near this city were suffering devastating forest fires. Train service was suspended due to dense smoke, and many farmers lost their homes to the flames.
Aug. 6, 1896: TRENTON, NJ An overheated kiln at the Trenton Fire Clay and Porcelain Works started a blaze that destroyed the structure. A wall fell on a group of firemen who were quickly dug out by their comrades. Fireman Charles Wood was killed and Fireman Alexander Grogan was removed in critical condition.
Aug. 7, 1896: KANSAS CITY, MO An explosion rocked the Swift & Co. meat-packing plant while plant firemen battled a small fire in the facility. The blast started a roaring fire and sent the men sprawling; one of them was buried in a massive pile of bacon and hams and died from his injuries. The fire departments of both Kansas Cities were called to the scene.
Aug. 7, 1896: NIAGARA FALLS, NY The Park Theater was destroyed during an early-morning fire believed to have started in one of the dressing rooms after a boxing exhibition. Flames quickly spread to two adjoining buildings but damage to those buildings was little due to the quick work of the firemen. The theater had been heavily damaged in a fire the year before and had been rebuilt.
Aug. 11, 1896: NEW YORK, NY The fireboat Zophar Mills operated at two major early-morning fires on the Hudson River waterfront. The first fire started on a wooden steamer docked at the pier at West 46th Street. Flames spread o the cargo and soon threatened the pier itself. The steamer was towed to mid-river as the Zophar Mills arrived and directed its powerful streams to control the blaze. A short time later, fire was discovered among canal boats docked at a pier at West 34th Street. The fire spread to the pier elevator and other canal boats before the fireboat and land units could gain the upper hand.
Aug. 13, 1896: SHELTER ISLAND, NY The Manhanset House hotel was threatened by a fire that broke out in the laundry room and began spreading. Firemen from Greenport, Long Island, opposite Shelter Island, responded with their apparatus on the ferryboat Menantic and contained the blaze after a difficult battle.
Aug. 19, 1896: COLUMBUS, GA A dry goods company suffered a serious fire that spread through three stories of the four-story building. Flames also spread to a drug store and tailor shop before being brought under control.
Aug. 26, 1896: ONTONAGON, MI A small fire in the swamp south of town was fanned by winds and soon began to extend from building to building. The fire burned all of the structures in the village of 2,000 people, except for 12 dwellings at the east end of town.
MILESTONE The Oriskany Falls, NY, Volunteer Fire Department, established in June 1871, celebrates its 125th anniversary this year.
TIME CAPSULE
HENRY S. PARMELEE GAINS PATENT FOR AUTOMATIC FIRE SPRINKLER HEAD
On Aug. 11, 1874, a patent was issued for one of the most important and innovative tools devised to battle fire: the automatic fire sprinkler head. The inventor, Henry S. Parmelee of New Haven, CT, installed his new sprinkler system across the ceiling of his piano warehouse. Along the pipe at intervals were placed sprinkler heads that would spray water downward onto a developing fire. The water was kept in check by a lead plug that melted as the heat from a fire increased at ceiling level.
A patent had been granted to Major A. Stewart Harrison of the First Engineer Volunteers in London, England, 10 years earlier but that version of the sprinkler never caught on. Parmelee, who had been worried about the high cost of insuring his warehouse, developed a working relationship with Frederick Grinnell, who operated the Providence Steam and Gas Pipe Co. Parmelee and Grinnell began protecting the cotton mills of New England with their sprinklers and from these origins the company has evolved into the largest sprinkler installation company in the world.
A major improvement in the sprinkler was made with the separation of the actuating device from contact with the waterway, thus eliminating the cooling effect of the water had on the fusible plug. Hundreds of individual automatic sprinkler designs have been made since the original, allowing widespread use of the fire protection systems. In the late 1970s, cost factors and esthetic designs made the residential automatic fire sprinkler more popular. Some sections of the country now mandate all new residential structures to include sprinklers.
Installations of new automatic fire sprinkler systems is nearing 30 million a year, and about 20 percent of those are residential. And you can trace the pipe directly back to Parmelee, Grinnell and Harrison.
Paul Hashagen
Compiled by Paul Hashagen
