Baltimore, Maryland Fire
February 7-8, 1904
THE STORY OF THE BURNING OF BALTIMORE
All the world was startled on Sunday, February
7, 1904, just 39 days after the Iroquois theater
horror, by another sickening visitation of the
fire fiend. This time the devouring element fell
upon the city of Baltimore and all but effaced
it from the map. Millions upon millions in
property were swept away, old established firms
annihilated and miles of streets occupied by
business houses laid waste. Fortunately this
disaster was accompanied by no loss of life.
Twenty-seven hours elapsed before the
conflagration was checked. Fire fighters hurried
to the scene from a number of near by cities and
aided the local fire department in subduing the
flames. Strangely enough it was a coal yard that
broke the onward sweep of the sea of fire and
enabled the firemen to bring the fire under
control. Even then it burned for days, feeding
on the debris and wreckage that marked its early
progress. The greatest danger past troops and
police relieved the firemen who sought rest
exhausted and maddened by the terrible ordeal
through which they had passed.
History affords no parallel of the conditions
in fire-swept Baltimore on the following Tuesday
when its people awoke to the mighty task of
reconstruction looming up before them. After
having suffered a loss estimated at $125,000,000
a cry of rejoicing went up among them because of
the absence of casualties. Not a life was lost
in the avalanche of flame and only one person
was seriously injured—
Jacob Inglefritz, a volunteer fireman
from York, Pa. While the hospitals were full to
overflowing the injuries sustained were of a
minor nature. A strange comparison with the
Iroquois theater fire of a month before! In that
instance 600 met death and a host were seriously
injured in a fire of fifteen minutes’ duration
confined to one building that suffered
insignificant damage. Here in a fire that swept
for days over the business heart of a great city
not a life was lost.
Such is the strange operation of providence.
As fire and water have ever been recognized
as the most potent agencies of death and
destruction it will readily appear that seared,
scorched Baltimore was fortunate indeed in the
absence of casualties. On the calm of a restful
Sabbath, marred only by the presence of a high
wind, the consuming storm broke upon the doomed
city. To that wind and the presence of hundreds
of old fashioned highly inflammable structures
nestling among the sky scrapers may be
attributed the indescribably rapid spread of the
flames.
The start of the fire was in the basement of
Hurst &
Co.’s wholesale dry goods house. After burning
for about ten minutes there was a loud report
from the interior of the building as the
gasoline tank used for the engine in the
building exploded. Instantly the immense
structure collapsed, sending destruction to
adjacent buildings in all directions and causing
the fire to be beyond control of the firemen.
Spreading throughout the wholesale section, the
fire burned out every wholesale house of note in
the city, swept along through the Baltimore and
Fayette street retail sections, destroyed all
the prominent office buildings, leveled banks
and brokerage offices, as well as the Chamber of
Commerce and Stock Exchange, in the financial
section, then sped on through the wholesale and
export trade sections centering about Exchange
place. It finally stopped at Jones falls, a
creek that runs through Baltimore, but swept
along the creek to the lumber district and the
docks.
As soon as the threatening character of the fire
was realized appeals were sent broadcast for
help and desperate measures were adopted to
prevent the spread of the flames. To gain that
end huge buildings were leveled through the
agency of dynamite. Eleven fire engines and
crews were hurried from New York by a fast
special train and they joined in the battle
early and fought like demons until exhausted.
Philadelphia, Wilmington, Washington, Frederick,
Md., Westminster, Md., and York, Pa., each sent
brave contingents of men with an equipment of
apparatus to reinforce the desperate firemen of
Baltimore.
The first attempt at dynamiting was in the
large building of
Armstrong, Cator & Co., but it failed
to collapse and attention was turned to the
building at the southwest corner of Charles and
German streets, where six charges of dynamite,
each charge containing 100 pounds, were
exploded. The tremendous force of the explosion
tore out the massive granite columns that
supported the building and left it with
apparently almost no support, but the walls
failed to collapse and stood until the flames
had crossed Charles street and were eating into
the block between Charles and Light streets.
Meantime the fire had been communicated to
the row of buildings on South Charles street,
between German and Lombard streets, and all
those places, occupied principally by wholesale
produce and grain dealers, were in flames.
Before midnight the Carrollton hotel was in
flames and the fire was sweeping toward Calvert
street with irresistible fury.
It was a terrible Sunday afternoon and night!
People forgot their usual devotions at church to
pack their most valued possessions ready for
flight. Men of wealth left their families and
firesides to join in the work of suppressing the
flames. Women prepared to flee with their
valuables before the wave of fire they
momentarily expected to roll down upon them.
Wealth and employment were disappearing under
the advance of the fiery element and gloom, fear
and dark forebodings settled down upon the
doomed municipality. But there was neither sleep
nor rest for man, woman or child.
Firemen working on the south side had
succeeded in checking the flames at Lombard
street and, as the wind was blowing from the
northwest, there was no danger of it spreading
farther in that direction. The western limit had
also been reached at Howard street and the
danger was confined to the east and north.
The progress of the flames toward the north
had in the meantime been so rapid as to be
simply appalling. From structure to structure
they flew, licking up the massive buildings as
if they were composed of paper. In the block
between German and Baltimore streets they flew
along and almost before it could be realized the
buildings along Baltimore street were blazing
from roof to basement.
For a time it was hoped the fire could be
kept from crossing the north side of Baltimore
street and the firemen made a desperate effort
to prevent it. The effort was useless, however,
and soon the tall, narrow building of Mullin’s
hotel began to dart out tongues of flame and the
remainder of the buildings between Sharp and
Liberty streets were ablaze and the fire was
marching north. The flames flew rapidly from
place to place and soon the entire south side of
Fayette street was in their grasp. Down Fayette
to Charles they swept and in a short space of
time the building occupied by
Putts & Co.
was doomed. Seeing that nothing could save it,
it was decided to destroy the building with
dynamite in the hope of preventing the fire from
crossing Charles street. The explosion was
successful in accomplishing the object as the
entire corner collapsed instantly. This had,
apparently, no effect upon the progress of the
fire, for almost before the sound of the falling
walls had died away the building on the east
side of Charles street began to blaze, and it
was evident the block between Charles and St.
Paul streets were doomed.
continued
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