. A history of the earthquake and fire in San Francisco; an account of the disaster of April 18, 1906 and its immediate results. Photo by Uciiiner On the Edge of the Burned District JI6 A STUDY OF THE FIRE early part of 1906 but two per cent, of the citysbuildings were fireproof. When the disaster of April18. 1906. came it found much of the old city await-ing it. A search for the actual causes of the starting ofthe many fires that arose after the earthquake takesus back to the underlying facts of filled land andpoor construction. Those, we have seen, were themain causes of the throwing down of
. A history of the earthquake and fire in San Francisco; an account of the disaster of April 18, 1906 and its immediate results. Photo by Uciiiner On the Edge of the Burned District JI6 A STUDY OF THE FIRE early part of 1906 but two per cent, of the citysbuildings were fireproof. When the disaster of April18. 1906. came it found much of the old city await-ing it. A search for the actual causes of the starting ofthe many fires that arose after the earthquake takesus back to the underlying facts of filled land andpoor construction. Those, we have seen, were themain causes of the throwing down of both brick andframe structures by the temblor. And among thefires that at once arose the fiercest were those thatstarted in the fallen hotels and collapsed shackssouth of Market, and those that sprang up on thefilled land near the ferry. Fallen electric wires hada part in some of the fires; but in parts of the citywhere houses were not shaken down they did littledamage. Whatever the real cause of the outbreak of thefires, their spread certainly resulted from the number. Fireproof Safes Photo by Aitken A STUDY OF THE FIRE 219 of them that had sprung up, among unsubstantialwooden structures, in the area of made land andpoor construction. The fire got its start in flimsyold wooden buildings, that should have been clearedaway long ago. For years the Fire Department hadbeen fighting fires there, always with the fear ofa conflagration, but always with success—for then ithad water and could concentrate itself against onefoe. But when dozens of fires burst out at once onApril 18 conditions were different. In other partsof the city—in the Mission and Western Addition,for instance—a scant supply of water from mainsand sewers sufficed to put out the fires; but along thewater-front they became uncontrollable, althoughthe inexhaustible waters of the bay were at the rookeries in which the fires startedbecame huge kindling piles for the large buildingsnearby. Mission street,
Size: 2127px × 1175px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidhistoryofear, bookyear1906
