The Great Chicago Fire of 1871
BackGround
Despite holding up well to the forces of an earthquake, ballon framed buildings have a greater weakness that they cannot combat, fire. Considering that Chicago was constructed using quite a bit of ballon frame construction, especially within the downtown area, it was only a matter of time before a disaster were to strike.
Despite many buildings being made from ballon framed wood, many also had floors lined with wrought iron, which was known to be fireproof. This dispelled many worries that the inhabitants of Chicago had. Even if a building were to catch on fire surely the components that were made from iron would be resistant enough to keep the structure standing.
While many theories exist on just how the fire actually started the most agreed upon origin is that on October 8th, 1871, a woman by the name of Catherine O'Leary went out to her barn to milk her cow, Naomi, in the middle of the night. Ms. O'Leary had taken a kerosene lantern with her into the barn which Naomi accidentally kicked over. The lantern fell into a heap of dry straw and exploded into flames. The fire then spread throughout the city for two days, destroying building after building. Efforts were made by Chicagoans to stop the fire by using dynamite to explode buildings to create firebreaks. This did nothing to actually stop the fire and really only made things worse.
Standing at the corner of Wabash and Washington, Chicago 1871
The Tribune Building
What Was Lost
Deaths: 300
Property Damage: 20,000 buildings destroyed, $200,000,000 in damages.
Looking towards the Chicago River
Courthouse and City Hall
What was learned
- As obvious as it may seem, wood does burn quite well. Having an entire downtown area constructed from it was just an accident waiting to happen. Even though wrought iron was known to be fire proof, it unfortunately can lose its strength as the temperatures rise, thereby failing in the process.
-What was found is that flooring and roofing framed with wrought iron was a bad idea, as the heat from the fire would cause both systems to give out
-Today Chicago's downtown area is constructed from steel, which has been tested to keep up its strength even when exposed to high amounts of heat.
States and Madison Streets
Clark and Adams Streets
Courthouse and City Hall
Significance
- This disaster lead to Chicago creating its own building code for itself. Finally buildings would have to adhere to a set of strict regulations to prevent something like this from happening again.
- Modern skyscrapers were just starting to become a new staple. Certain architects who began to design using steel skeletal frames used Chicago as a chance to start over. A chance to experiment with new materials and build taller than ever before. This group would become known as the Chicago School.
The Ruins of Chicago, 1871
The Great Baltimore fire of 1904
Burnt district on Baltimore Street east of Hopkins Place
Background
On February 7, 1904, a pedestrian carelessly threw away a lit cigar or cigarette onto the city sidewalk in front of the John Hurst & Company Building on Redwood street. The lit end made its way through a crack in the sidewalk, which lead directly into the basement of the John Hurst Building. It landed on open boxes filled with blankets and other flammable merchandise, and the fire took off instantly. Eventually the roof of the build exploded sending flames and embers in every direction, some landing on nearby roofs. This was how the fire managed to spread so quickly.
Not only did every firefighter in the city have to contend with the immense flames but the wind as well. After hours of trying to contain the fire not their own, the fire chief of Baltimore called for support from Washington D.C. When they arrived they were horrified to discover that the hose to hydrant connection were different in Baltimore than they were in D.C. In order to think fast they decided to attach the loose connection as best as they could and wrap a sheet around the connection to tighten it.
Another method that the firefighters tried just like the Chicagoans thirty years prior, was resorting to using dynamite to blow up buildings in the fires path. This like, that attempt was also unsuccessful. Over twenty-four hours later, the firefighters took a last stand by pumping water from a nearby falls. almost forty fire engines and hundreds of firefighters manage to create a wall of water in an attempt to save the eastern side of Baltimore. By 3 pm on that Monday the fire was finally put out.
View east on Baltimore Street from its Intersection with Liberty Street
Burnt district south of roof of Calvert Building
what was lost
Deaths: 2
Damages: 1,526 buildings, 20 banks, 2,500 businesses, leaving 35,000 without jobs.
Burnt district northwest of South and Baltimore Streets
View northwest from South Street at rubble between Water and German Streets
what was learned
- When it was discovered that there was an incompatibility between Washington D.C. fires hoses and Baltimore fire hydrants, there was a call to make firefighting equipment standardized nationwide.
-Demolition of buildings does not guarantee that the fire is going to be stalled. With a great majority of the buildings that the firefighters attempted to demolish, the structure of some of the buildings was still left standing.
- In terms of city planning, to stop the spread of fire from building to building, the streets were widened, to allow for possible embers to miss their mark. As well, electrical lines that originally were suspended from poles were now to be run underground.
Burnt district near Liberty and German Streets, west of Hanover Street
Burnt district on Liberty Street northeast of Lombard Street
Fire fighters spring water on buildings at Germany and Liberty Streets
significance
- The Great Baltimore Fire lead to to the creation of a number of different building codes specific to different regions of the United States. In Illinois, the Building Code Officials & Code Administrations created the BOCA Code. In California, the International Conference of Building Officials created the Uniform Building Code. Finally in Alabama, the Southern Building Code Congress International created the Standard Building Code
- All three of these codes eventually formed into one standard code, that would be utilized by the entire nation. This would become known as the International Building Code, which is still in use today.
Burnt district south of roof of Calvert Building
Fire fighters spraying water on unknown building ablaze in Baltimore