On the evening of November 9, 1872, a fire broke out on Summer Street in Boston. The fire, known as the Boston Fire of 1872, was extinguished about 12 hours later, when hundreds of buildings in a 65-acre area of downtown Boston had been destroyed.
The Boston Fire of 1872
The fire occurred in a building on the corner of Summer and Kingston Streets, which stored dry goods for a nearby retail store. Cloth boxes are highly flammable, but it is the structure of the building that allows the fire to spread so quickly. The fire rushed toward the wooden elevator shaft in the center of the building, and soon every floor of the building was on fire. The fire quickly spread from rooftops to nearby buildings, and about half an hour later, firefighters who rushed to the scene realized it was beyond their capabilities. By 8 p.m., all 21 fire trucks in the city were occupied by the blaze.
Despite the best efforts of the firefighters, by midnight the fire had widened to five blocks. A few hours later, it reached the waterfront, destroyed the docks, docks, and ships docked there, and then swept across Boston's financial district and the entire downtown area. When the fire was finally extinguished, 13 people, including two firefighters, died. In total, the fire destroyed 776 buildings and caused $1.436 billion in damage, making it one of the most costly fires in U.S. history.
What was the cause of the Boston Fires of 1872?
The ignition and spread of the Boston Fire of 1872 was a perfect storm. At the time, boston had few building codes, and they were not enforced. This meant that buildings were often made of flammable materials, built at close distances, and taller than firefighting equipment at the time. Goods stored in the attic of the warehouse are not considered taxable inventory, so the warehouse owner loads as much of the goods into the attic and the eaves of the building as much as possible, increasing the risk of fire in hard-to-reach places.
In addition, Boston's streets are narrow, turns are sharp, and bulky fire trucks are difficult to drive. To make matters worse, the entire northeastern United States was mired in a horse flu outbreak that left the fire department short of horsepower and firefighters had to drag their equipment through the streets.
In 1852, the city had the foresight to implement a fire alarm system, but the effect was a bit too good. False alarms became a problem, so boxes were locked and keys were given to only a few trustworthy citizens in each community. Unfortunately, during the Boston Fire of 1872, many keyholders were nowhere to be found. Thankfully, cities have made tremendous strides in building construction practices, firefighting technology and alarm systems over the next few decades.