AROUND THE FIRE SERVICE–1890-1899
Excerpts from Fire & Water
Among the notable fires of the decade were those in Milwaukee, Chicago, and New York City.
MILWAUKEE SWEPT BY FIRE, OCTOBER 28, 1892
A fire broke out in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at the Union Oil Company on East Water Street at dusk. The fire was kept to one block until 7 p.m., when it leapt the street and advanced toward Lake Michigan, six blocks away. It spread from building to building, and firemen vainly attempted to halt the fire by dynamiting buildings in its path.
When the fire started, most of the city`s engines were at fires elsewhere in the city. It was 20 minutes after the first oil barrel exploded that the first engine pulled up to the fire and 45 minutes before there was a force believed to be sufficient to hold the fire in check. By the time firemen reached the fire, oil barrels were exploding in rapid succession. A fire tugboat, usually docked a block away from the oil company, at the time of the fire was more than a mile away. By the time it arrived, the fire had already spread to a wholesale liquor store adjoining the oil company to the south.
The fire ignited the tar roof of a new seven-story furniture factory on the north side of Buffalo Street, but firemen were unable to reach the fire on the roof. Within 15 minutes, the entire building was ablaze. Fifteen minutes later, the building`s walls collapsed, burying three fire engines stationed at a fire cistern in front of the structure.
The fire`s reflection in the sky could be seen from as far away as Chicago, from the Auditorium Tower.
Before the fire was subdued, 27 blocks of warehouses and dwellings, an area a mile long and half a mile wide, was destroyed. The estimated loss was almost $6,000,000.
Chicago, Oshkosh, Racine, and other fire departments sent assisstance. Initial reports said only five people were believed to have perished in the fire.
12 CHICAGO FIREMEN DIE IN FIRE AT 1893 WORLD`S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION
A dozen Chicago firemen and four others died in a fire at the cold storage warehouse at the 1893 World`s Fair. The warehouse was 150 feet by 255 feet in area with towers at each corner and a 191-foot central tower enclosing an iron chimney, where the fire started. The chimney was connected to the building`s furnaces and also vented ammonia fumes from the ice machines.
The tower was built of pine scantling, lathing, and staff, and a cepola rose five to six feet above the top of the chimney. Originally, the chimney was to extend to the top of the tower, and the woodwork was to be protected by asbestos, but this was not done. Already, the chimney had set fire to the building two times previously, but nothing was done to remedy the situation.
The fire first appeared near the top of the stack, about a hundred feet above the roof. Sparks from the chimney set fire to the cupola above it; burning pieces from the cupola dropped be-tween the chimney and the surrounding tower, igniting it and the building itself. Firemen from the Columbian Fire Department ascended to the roof and then had to build their own ladder to the fire at the top by nailing pieces of wood to the tower as they climbed. There were no ladders available or long enough to reach the fire.
The firemen arrived at the first balcony, 161 feet from the ground and 70 feet above the building roof, where there was a two-foot-wide ledge. The men carried rope up for hoisting hose, but there was a delay before the firemen on the roof could send up the first hose, which first had to be raised to the roof. As the first lead of hose was being raised, a flame burned through the tower sheathing below the balcony where the firemen were, and soon the entire tower was aflame. While the firemen soon had the nozzle in their hands, the engines below could not pump water to that height.
One man escaped by sliding down the hoseline through the tower`s flames to the roof. However, before another could do so, the hose burned in two. The firemen dropped a rope down to the roof, but it was too short and was soon in flames, as was a second rope.
The remaining firemen, led by Captain James Fitzpatrick, made their way to the north side of the cupola, where there was less fire. One by one they jumped to the roof below, which was already afire at the tower`s base. Fitzpatrick remained with another man who refused to jump, but Fitzpatrick would not leave while a man under his command remained.
Finally, as the tower began to collapse, the captain leapt and landed far enough away to avoid being burned by the fire. He was lowered by ropes to the ground still alive but died from his injuries before he could be taken to the hospital.
Just as Fitzpatrick jumped, the tower fell, crashing through the roof, taking with it the bodies of some of those who has leapt to the roof before. One fireman landed on the bodies of three who had jumped before him and escaped with a sprained ankle.
Later, John B. Skinner, the president of the Cold Storage Company, which operated the facility at the World`s Fair, said that employees at the building had warned firemen that there was fire under the tower before they climbed up it and begged them not to go up. He also said that Edmund Murphy, chief of the Columbian Fire Department, ordered the men up the tower, but Murphy said Captain Fitzpatrick must have given the order; he [Murphy] did not do so. Fitzpatrick died in the fire.
Everyone acknowledged that sending firemen up the tower while it was on fire below was a serious error. Daniel H. Burnham, director of works of the fair, the president and the secretary and treasurer of the Cold Storage Company, and the chief of the Columbian Fire Department were held to await the action of the coroner`s grand jury investigation into the deaths of 16 people at the fire.
THE WINDSOR HOTEL FIRE, MARCH 17, 1899
The disastrous Windsor Hotel fire in New York City occurred on St. Patrick`s Day in 1899. The fire started around 3 p.m. in the eight-story hotel, located between 563 and 577 Fifth Avenue and between 46th and 47th Streets. The alarm was not sent until 3:14 p.m. The delay was attributed to excitement and attempts to save lives, in an official fire department report. Nine people jumped to their deaths from hotel windows be-fore the department arrived.
Engine 65 arrived two minutes after the alarm was given, and there was fire in the basement and on all floors on the 46th Street side. Three engines operated at the 46th Street side and carried hoselines to the third floor, remaining there until the fire became too intense. The department rescued 26 people from the hotel.
After a fifth alarm, there were 24 engines, six hook and ladder companies, and three aerial extension ladders. Part of the front wall at the Fifth Avenue side soon fell in, owing to the weight of a 100,000-gallon water tank on the roof. Forty-five minutes after the alarm the 46th Street wall collapsed and 10 minutes later the 47th Street wall fell.
An official fire department report noted, “There is nothing to be wondered at in the rapidity with which the fire spread, when the fact is borne in mind that there were corridors on each floor of the hotel which extended through all three wings without any division wall. Buildings of this class are known in the Department as `quick burners.` The rapidity with which the fire in them will spread is beyond the comprehension of all, except those who have actual experience in fighting them.” The hotel was a complete wreck by 5 p.m. Ninety-two people died in the fire.
LOOKING TOWARD THE FUTURE
In the 1890s fire service concerns included firefighting water supply needs, the adoption of a national standard coupling, high-rise buildings, and the application of civil service rules. Despite these concerns, the future was eagerly anticipated:
“Yet we must not fail to look ahead at what we may be able to accomplish by the aid of electricity, when its force can be applied to the steam or as a propeller for other rolling stock. There is no doubt that in the near future some means for storing electricity for the use of fire apparatus will be perfected, and then its application for fire department work will be only a question of a very short time.”
FIREFIGHTING WATER SUPPLY NEEDS
An 1892 article discussed determining the firefighting water supply needs for a city.
“How many standard fire streams should the water-works of a given city be able to supply all at one time:
This is a hard question to answer definitely and that it is unsatisfactory to formulate a rule based on population or area or valuation alone is evident when we consider how the fire hazard varies with:
1. The compactness with which the city is built, the presence or absence of broad streets lined with shade trees which furnish in summer excellent fire screens.
2. The presence or absence of centres of special hazard, such as wood-working factories, lumber yards, oil works, etc., surrounded closely by compact rows of wooden structures.
4. The prevalent structural material, whether wood or brick.
5. Situation upon the shores of a body of water so that streams from steam fire en-gines can conveniently take the place of hydrant streams from the water-works.
6. Most potent of all in controlling the decision is the question of cost and of the inability to meet the additional expense which the furnishing of each additional stream entails.
7. A burning business block fifty feet square by three stories high demands just as many fire streams to extinguish it and to protect the buildings each side of it when it happens to stand in a village of 2500 inhabitants, as when it stands in a city of twenty times that population, but the larger city can provide the greater number of streams without feeling so severely the burden of the expense.
The question, therefore, comes down to getting as near ten streams for a fire district with close-lying valuable buildings having 10,000 inhabitants or less, or as near thirty streams for a city of 100,000 inhabitants as can be had without burdensome expense.”
A National Standard Coupling
A survey of 1,519 departments revealed that four sizes of couplings were in service: 6, 7, 712, and 8 threads to the inch. The outside diameter of couplings (male part to top of threads) varied from three inches to 314 inches. A National Association of Fire Engineers committee was studying the adoption of a standard thread and diameter for 212-inch and larger couplings in 1891. Fire & Water commented in August: “The at-tention to the firemen in general and the committee in particular is called to the advantages that would be de-rived toward settling this much-vexed question of standard couplings if 712 threads to the inch should be de-clared the standard …. The fact that we desire to impress upon the committee is this, that in case they should report in favor of adopting 712 threads to the inch every fire department now using 7 or 8 thread couplings (diameter corresponding with the adopted standard) could adopt the 712 swivel part of coupling will readily connect with the 7 or 8 thread male, yet if we attempt to connect the 7 or 8 thread swivel to the 712 male we are doomed to disappointment, for this combination will not connect for more than one, or probably, two threads, and to provide for a serviceable connection, when it is required to connect the 7 or 8 thread swivel coupling to the 712 male, it will be necessary to use an adapter, or, as it more commonly is called, a `reducer,` until such time when new hose is purchased for the fire department, when the adopted standard coupling can be provided for, and the change is made complete without incurring but very little trouble and expense.”
Note: L. P. Webber, Boston; Hugh Bonner, New York; D. J. Swenie, Chicago; John Lindsay, St. Louis; and G.C. Hale, Kansas City were members of the National Association of Fire Engineers committee to report on the adoption of a “standard” thread and diameter for 212-inch and larger sized couplings.
CIVIL SERVICE, August 1, 1896
Fire & Water expressed these concerns regarding applying civil service rules to the fire service. “Should firemen be amenable to civil service rules? That depends. If the object of these civil service rules is to secure a set of men of superior physical powers, good moral character, and fair average intelligence and education, and, having thus secured them, to place them beyond the possibility of removal except for cause, whatever political party may be in power, then by all means let us have civil service rules and examinations in our fire departments. But if these rules and examinations are intended to shut out all men of that stamp and to substitute for them learned pundits, filled with a knowledge that puffs up and so renders them viewy, unpractical, opinionated, and not frequently insubordinate, then let us have naught to do with such civil service rules and regulations. Much less let the fact that firemen of this or that department, who have approved themselves in the hour of need and over and over again quit themselves like men when dangerous work had to be undertaken, have not passed such an examination, be urged as an excuse by this or that partisan office-bearer to oust good men in favor of others of a different political stripe, whose examination papers and answers may be juggled over and cooked for partisan purposes. In such cases the so-called civil service regulations are dishonest and unjust.”
NEW YORK CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT 1892 BUDGET
“The sum of $2,296,282 has been allowed to the New York Fire Commissioners for the expenses of the fire department for the year 1892. The commissioners had asked for $2,677,997, of which $265,000 was for new engine houses; but this item was cut down to $88,000, while, instead of the desired $468,000 for new apparatus and repairs, but $374,000 were allowed, and a wished-for addition of $100,000 to the pay roll was reduced to $40,000.”–October 31, 1891.
FIFTEENTH BIRTHDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1892
Staff: “Col. Clifford Thomson, editor in chief and founder of the paper … maintains editorial supervision and directs its policy …. Arthur L. J. Smith, identified with the journal from its inception in an editorial and business capacity, is still actively connected with the paper …. Peter Milne, editor of the water department, a hydraulic engineer, has a long connection with the Brooklyn water-works and other systems … sub-editor B. J. Fredericks, is an all round journalist and graduate of the Metropolitan press …. F. W. Shepperd, head of the business department, is a manager of progressive ideas, original methods and ever on the alert for the best things to favor the clientele of the paper … G. W. Burnham, cashier of the Technics Publishing Company, is in charge of the financial end of the paper …. F.A. Lent, statistician, compiles the publication Fire Protection and Water Supply …. Miss Emma Stewart is in charge of the bureau of correspondence, aided by an efficient corps of writers …. G. W. Palmer is superintendent of the mechanical department and responsible for the issue of the paper …. In celebrating this, our fifteenth birthday, we do not lose sight of the fact that there remains much to be done for us, and we promise our friends that the best efforts of this corps of workers will be combined to continue the production of the best paper devoted to the interests of fire protection and water supply.” n
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This improved 1891 La France fire engine featured a lighter, more powerful pump.
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THE FIRE DEPARTMENT OF THE FUTURE
This illustration accompanied an article on concerns regarding the fire department and high-rise buildings. “We now have a 24-story city and a four-story fire department, ” one observer noted.
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This Gamewell visual indicator and gong from 1891 was part of a fire alarm system and automatically displayed the box number of an incoming alarm.
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An American city fire scene, 1891.
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This water pressure regulator was used to test automatic sprinkler heads at an insurance company`s testing facility in 1891.
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The Buffalo (NY) Fire Department signal room, 1891.
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THE HIGBEE COUPLER
“Messrs. E. B. Preston & Co., of Chicago have secured control of the Higbee coupler, which works with a new thread. The claim … is that it will not cross, bind or foul in making connections, that it frees itself from dirt or other obstructions, and that it is adapted to all threads now in use and will not conflict with their working. It can be adjusted instantly in the dark.”
“BLUNDERS OF FIREPROOFING,”
L. R. Tinsley, Dec. 10, 1892
“The fire records of our country show this astonishing and instructive anomaly:
a. Fireproof buildings are not fireproof.
b. Underwriters give low rates on these buildings, while fire and fire chiefs prove that they should be considered as high rates.
c. The underwriters declare blocks having several of these buildings located in them as a low risk; fire chiefs denounce such blocks as fire menaces, and extra hazardous….”
FIRE & WATER, Sept. 19, 1896
High-Rise Building Construction
“Chief Bonner [New York] emphasizes the contention of his brother chiefs, who, at the recent international convention at Salt Lake City, insisted that buildings exceeding a certain height must not look to the fire department for help, but must provide there own means of fire protection. Chief Bonner fixes 125 feet as the limit that the New York fire department can pretend to touch.”
A Look into the Future
“Fire Brigades,” JULY 25, 1896
“Some day possibly at least every isolated factory will have its own fire brigade and apparatus. Had the Peter Cooper glue works at upper Weehawken on the Hudson River been so furnished, its total destruction last week might have been prevented, as was that of the American Cotton Oil Company`s property in its adjoining Wilcox Lard Refinery. For the protection of these works a private fire brigade was organized about three years ago and placed under the charge of Edward Byram, an old New York fireman and member of the New York Fire Patrol. There is installed on the premises a very large underwriter fire pump, and there is in addition a first-class Clapp & Jones steam engine, with a complete equipment of ladders, hooks, axes, and other appliances, in the use of all of which, as well as of several thousand feet of hose, nearly 100 men have been thor-oughly drilled.”
MODERN FIRE APPARATUS
OCTOBER 24, 1896
“….The aerial hook and ladder truck is another valuable acquisition to the modern methods of fire fighting. In this device are combined strength and the most rapid means of reaching fires in high buildings. It is besides a life saver, and, in fact, a completely equip-ped fire department in itself, since it carries almost every known appliance to work independently when it reaches the scene of the fire.”
