The Great Boston Fire Of 1872: One Of The Biggest Fires In US History

JAKARTA - Today, November 9, more than a century ago or in 1872, almost half of Boston, United States (US) flushed. Hundreds of buildings in the business district were engulfed in flames. The fire was one of the largest and most destructive in US history.

As the Boston Public Library explains, the fire started in the basement of a building on Kingston Streets and Summer Streets around 19:00. The alarm then went off at 7:24 pm.

The fire quickly spread because many of the roofs were made of mansard wood. Plus the small alleyways also make it easier for fires to spread from one building to another.

The rooster was getting out of control when the firefighters struggled to tame him. The water pressure from the fire hose was unable to boost the water to spray the roof of the building. Plus, the horse flu epidemic made firefighters pull their tools manually.

As the flames continued to burn, the streets became crowded with onlookers, looters and merchants trying to save their belongings. This atmosphere certainly makes it difficult for firefighters to do their job.

Trouble starts to ease when a team of firefighters from the state of New England comes to help. In addition, the Kearsarge steam engine from Portsmouth, New Hampshire was instrumental in saving the Old South Meeting House, Boston's largest building.

The new fire could be put out the next day. However, Boston's commercial district that stretches from Washington Street to Boston Harbor and between Summer Streets and Milk Streets has turned to ashes.

Boston City Fire Engineer John Damrell in his speech called the fire that took place as the most violent fire demon attack in the history of the city. How not, the Boston Fire Historical Society noted, the fire destroyed 776 buildings on 65 hectares and caused losses of around 73.5 million US dollars or more than 1.5 billion dollars today.

Meanwhile, for the number of victims who died, no one knows exactly how many. However, it is estimated that around thirty people died including eleven firefighters.

After the fire, a commission was appointed to investigate the causes and management of the fires. The direct cause of the fires was never found, but the commission compiled a detailed report highlighting the factors that made the fires catastrophic. As many buildings were insured, work to rebuild the area began quickly.

Boston learned from the disaster and rebuilt a larger commercial district according to the new building code. In addition, the city approved an increase in funds to expand the fire department. The big changes are expected to make Boston never again experience severe fires.

John Damrell, the then chief fire engineer, left the fire department in 1874. He then founded the National Association of Fire Engineers (now the Association of Heads of International Firefighters) to campaign for national building safety codes. In 1877, he was appointed commissioner of Boston's first building.