NFPA Journal - Fall 2021 - 66

A 'Splendid
and Terrible
Sight'
A map showing the spread of the fire over the course of about 22 hours. Firefighting crews from across New England rushed to Boston
to battle the fire, in some cases transporting fire engines to the city by train. Facing page, calamitous headlines from a local newspaper.
The common term for this kind of
fire is conflagration or firestorm or fire
that creates its own wind, becoming a
small hurricane of sparks and smoke.
But let's use the term that the politicians,
pundits, and reporters used so
lavishly and liberally in November of
1872: the " Fire Fiend. "
From November 9 to 11, 1872, the
Fire Fiend ruled Boston. Igniting in
a building at the corner of Kingston
and Summer streets, fire rampaged
through the city, scorching nearly
65 acres and obliterating 776 buildings.
A quickly overwhelmed Boston
firefighting force called for help, and
companies from surrounding communities,
as well as from Connecticut,
Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and
Maine, rushed in, bringing in fire
engines by train as needed. The Fire
Fiend took out warehouses, factories,
stores, and apartments. It destroyed
the Trinity Church and two newspaper
offices. It nearly destroyed the Old
66 | NFPA JOURNAL * FALL 2021
South Meeting House and burned to
within three blocks of City Hall. It left
thousands homeless or out of work,
and it left others financially ruined.
The assessed value of the destroyed
properties was nearly $13.5 million,
and personal property loss totaled $60
million-losses equal to about $1.6 billion
today. It remains one of the most
expensive fires per acre in American
history.
At least 11 firefighters and one
former firefighter died fighting the
blaze. The total number of deaths is
difficult to determine, which was not
uncommon in large fires of the 19th
century, but likely totaled 20 to 25.
That the toll was not higher is surprising,
given not only the extent of
This excerpt is reproduced here with the
permission of Globe Pequot Press Inc., ©2022.
For more information about the book and
Globe Pequot Press, and to pre-order copies
of The Great Boston Fire: An Inferno That
Nearly Incinerated the City, visit the publisher
at globepequot.com.
the destruction but also the crowds of
people who thronged the fiery streets
to retrieve property or watch the mesmerizing
Fiend rising over the skyline.
Bostonians witnessed their city burn
with horrified awe. In her diary, Little
Women author Louisa May Alcott
described the fire as a " very splendid
and terrible sight. " Oliver Wendell
Holmes, Sr., the poet and physician,
saw the fire " dissolve the great high
buildings which seem to melt away in
it. " Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison,
himself a fire buff, found it " a sad, wonderful,
and fascinating sight to see the
ruins from Washington street, extending
from Summer to Milk streets, thus
sweeping broadly to the water. "
The Fire Fiend was finally halted by
an effort involving firefighters from
across New England. Boston reeled
and the nation mourned as headlines
around the country blared the news.
Perhaps the most telling of all declarations
was this: " SECOND CHICAGO. "
PREVIOUS: FRANK LESLIE'S WEEKLY, NOV. 23, 1872. ABOVE, USED HERE WITH PERMISSION,
COURTESY OF BRUCE TWICKLER, DOCEMA, BOSTON1872.DOCEMA.COM/INDEX.HTML.

http://BOSTON1872.DOCEMA.COM/index.html http://www.globepequot.com

NFPA Journal - Fall 2021

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