Residents Remember the 170 Killed in Pa. Opera House Blaze

It's been just over 107 years since the devastating Rhoads Opera House fire killed 170 people in Boyertown.

But on a dismal Sunday afternoon, with freezing rain pouring from the sky, 15 people headed to Fairview Cemetery in the borough to pay tribute to the victims, placing a wreath at the grave marker for the 25 victims who could not be identified in the fire.

The event featured stories from descendants of the victims, a song in German and a prayer from a pastor.

Margaret Harner of the Boyertown Area Historical Society said there was an agreement for the families of the 25 unidentified victims - 17 women and eight men - that their graves would be untouched after the 1908 burial ceremony.

"They knew who the 25 were, but they didn't know which they were," said Harner, a descendant of several victims. "Nobody wanted to dig up any of the graves afterwards for further identification, and they rest here forever. They've been at peace for the last 107 years."

On Jan. 13, 1908, a gas leak and fallen kerosene lamp ignited the fatal fire at the theater at Philadelphia Avenue and Washington Street. Harner said the burial ceremony for the victims drew 15,000 people from all over. They took the train, the trolley, horse-and-buggy and bicycles to get there.

Connie Gilbert of Douglass Township, Berks County, attended the event Sunday and said she often thinks of Esther Erb, who died in the fire at age 12 and would have been Gilbert's great aunt.

"You just never forget it," Gilbert said. "I have the only picture of her hanging in my family room. I think of her almost every day when I look at that picture. You think about what her life would have been like."

The fire led to safety legislation in 1909 about fire escapes, accessibility and marking of exits, center aisles and the prohibition of combustible or explosive oil as lighting, among other changes.

"There was a lasting benefit with the fire safety laws that were passed," Harner said.

The Rev. Dan Burris, associate pastor of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, closed the ceremony with a prayer for the victims.

The newspaper reports after the fire said the tragic event would be remembered for months and years to come.

That still holds true, Harner said.

"As a descendant of eight of the victims, and with my family that is gathered here with us, we will guarantee that it has been generations and it has not been forgotten," she said.

Contact Matthew Nojiri: 610-371-5062 or [email protected].

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