July 1, 1905: CAMDEN, NJ – A serious fire in the Shriner & Sons mills apparently was an arson for profit. The company’s owner was arrested and charged with the arson fire as well as conspiracy on a possible life insurance fraud on his brother. The owner was also implicated in several other fires involving his properties in previous years.
July 1, 1905: BROOKLYN, NY – Three people died and two were seriously injured in a fire in a four-story tenement house on Devoe Street in the Williamsburg section. The old wood-frame building had no fire escapes and left the tenants with no means of escape when the stairs filled with smoke and flame. Responding firemen were hampered in their interior attack when the burning wooden stairs collapsed shortly after their arrival. Several occupants escaped by jumping from windows.
July 2, 1905: TRENTON, NJ – An incendiary fire caused considerable damage to a large six-story dry goods and furniture warehouse across the street from a post office. Valiant work by firemen held the fire, which for a time threatened the entire downtown district, to the building of origin. Kerosene was spilled over the carpeted areas and oily footprints were found at the scene. Fire marshals and police continued the investigation.
July 3, 1905: BIRMINGHAM, AL – A serious fire in the wholesale district of the city proved to be fatal to two firemen as they battled the blaze on Morris Street. Firemen G.B. Spruell and E. Huffman were killed and four other firemen were injured during the fire.
July 3, 1905: ROME, ITALY – A serious fire occurred in an auto repair garage after tanks of naphtha and benzene exploded. The fire quickly extended to the adjoining structure, a modern hotel, and reports indicated several people lost their lives during the blaze.
July 4, 1905: BOSTON – Mischievous boys setting off fireworks ignited the famous old Brook Farm house in West Roxbury. The vacant building had housed Ralph Waldo Emerson and other famous writers 60 years earlier.
July 4, 1905: NEW YORK CITY – When Ladder 5 answered an alarm at 17 Laight St. in Manhattan, Captain Galvin found two young men throwing water into a blazing apartment. As the firemen pressed in and extinguished the flames, the burned body of the tenant was located. When the two young men were searched for after the fire, they had disappeared. Fire marshals were investigating.
July 6, 1905: NASHVILLE, TN – A huge wholesale grocery company was destroyed by fire with a loss of more than $150,000. This was the third serious fire in Nashville in 10 days, with the combined total of losses approaching $750,000.
July 8, 1905: NEW YORK CITY – Forty firemen were injured, two critically, as they battled a stubborn fire in a piano factory on the corner of 13th and Hudson streets in Manhattan. Eight firemen were caught in a backdraft as they moved in on the smoky blaze. Two of the men were temporarily separated from the others by the explosion. They were rescued by their comrades and taken to St. Vincent’s Hospital in critical condition.
July 16, 1905: CHICAGO – Professor George Washington Hough, a noted astronomer, was twice overcome by smoke as he attempted to reenter the burning Dearborn Observatory at Northwestern University. He broke free from firemen and plunged into the smoke in an attempt to save records he had amassed on the planet Jupiter. The records were not damaged.
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION: The Netcong, NJ. Fire Department celebrated its 100th anniversary on June 11, 2005, with a parade and other festivities. The history behind the fire department’s organization dates back to Nov. 16, 1903, when a disastrous wintertime fire started in the basement of the Thayer Pharmacy at 47-49 Main St., and quickly spread to an entire block. The fire was so severe that sparks flew into the neighboring town of Stanhope and started several fires there. Without an organized fire department in place, Netcong residents formed a crude bucket brigade, but they were no match for the flames, which soon destroyed most of Main Street. The town soon began efforts that resulted in the organization of the Netcong Fire Department in 1905. Today, the department operates out of two stations – Netcong Fire Company 1 and Hilltop Fire Company 2 – with six pieces of front-line apparatus and about 100 volunteer members. (Thanks to Captain Shawn Bates for furnishing this information.)
Paul Hashagen, a Firehouse® contributing editor, is a retired FDNY firefighter who was assigned to Rescue Company 1 in Manhattan. He is also an ex-chief of the Freeport, NY, Fire Department. Hashagen is the author of FDNY 1865-2000: Millennium Book, a history of the New York City Fire Department, and other fire service history books.
