Sept. 6, 1902: HARTFORD, CT - A fire believed to have been electrical in origin seriously damaged the Hartford Foundry Company. Many valuable patterns were destroyed and more than 150 people were left without work for two weeks.
Sept. 6. 1902: DURAND, MI - A carelessly discarded match set fire to the oil-soaked floor of a railroad car and spread quickly. Within minutes, 30 cars and the huge shed that housed them were ablaze. Mutual aid fire companies responded from Owosso and helped extinguish the fire.
Sept. 6, 1902: CINCINNATI - A plant of the Independent Brewing Company at Canal and Walnut streets was destroyed by fire. Collapsing walls seriously injured Firemen Charles Jennings and Charles Hollis.
Sept. 6, 1902: NEW YORK CITY - A dropped cigar ignited a rubbish fire in the grandstand of the Polo Grounds during the fourth inning of a game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Giants. Two firemen detailed to the game from Ladder 23 responded to the fire and extinguished the fire to the cheers of the spectators.
Sept. 7, 1902: BOGOTA, NJ - The Campell Wallpaper Company's mill caught fire and burned during the night. The huge complex, which was destroyed, employed more than 600 workers.
Sept. 8, 1902: NEW YORK CITY - An explosion rocked an eight-story building at Wooster and Bleecker streets in Manhattan. Despite a heavy smoke condition, an orderly evacuation of 350 people began immediately. A smart manager avoided a problem by getting terrified workers to begin singing "The Star Spangled Banner." Firemen then began a tough battle with a burning benzene tank in the basement.
Sept. 12, 1902: BEAUMONT, TX - During the late afternoon, a defective lantern caused an explosion inside a huge oil tank. Flames then spread toward other structures and the oil field itself. Four wells, 15 tanks, 30 derricks and several pumping plants were burned out.
Sept. 12, 1902: PORTLAND, OR - Forest fires burned over the Cascade and Coast mountain ranges from British Columbia to the California line. Millions of feet of lumber, numerous homes, barns and livestock were consumed by the expanding fire front. Several small towns and lumber mills were cut off by the flames.
Sept. 17, 1902: ASBURY PARK, NJ - The summer cottage of a Manhattan businessman, at the corner of Ocean and Cedar streets, caught fire due to an overheated furnace. Flames crept through the first floor while a woman and her two children slept on the second floor. The family's dog began to bark and scratch at the closed bedroom door, awakening the family and allowing their safe escape.
Sept. 17, 1902: TARRYTOWN, NY - The huge home of John D. Rockefeller, located on a hill 600 feet above the Hudson River, was a mass of flames as an electrical fire spread unnoticed and unchecked in the walls. Arriving firemen could do little except to help salvage items from the blazing structure. Although the building was destroyed, the salvage efforts saved many valuable objects.
Sept. 19, 1902: GREENWICH, CT - A late-night fire swept through a stable filled with many valuable horses. Neighbors raced to the blaze in a desperate attempt to save the eight thoroughbreds trapped inside. Extreme heat hampered their efforts and only one pony was rescued. At the same time in New York City, six horses perished in a stable fire. Several firemen had a narrow escape as a huge door crashed closed, trapping them inside. Quick axe work soon splintered the door, freeing the men. Sixty horses were rescued by firemen.
Sept. 19, 1902: BROOKLYN, NY - Burning embers from a fire in a large planing mill in Greenpoint set four frame tenements ablaze several blocks away. Flames were through the roof as firemen rolled up. Tenants were fleeing the burning structures in their nightclothes as those still trapped inside pressed toward the front windows. Firemen dashed beneath a second-floor window with a life net as a mothers holding their children cried for help. One by one, the children, then the mothers were caught in the net. Firemen battled both fires until daybreak.
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.
