Outline
“Salem’s great fire” is the fire tragedy that occurred in 1914, destroying a large portion of the beautiful city of Salem and caused much damage. Salem is a city that is located in Massachusetts and before 25th June, 1914, business was as normal until a very fierce fire broke out in a leather factory that was located in that city. The fire left thousands of Salem’s inhabitants’ helpless as some lost their property while others lost their lives. Buildings were also brought down as well as other infrastructure that was in the city. Various organizations and individuals from neighboring cities came to Salem’s rescue and the city started to function again after so many struggles to rebuild it.
Introduction
“Salem fire” is a historic fire that occurred in a city known as Salem which burnt down a very big portion of the city. This fire caused much damage to the city which ranged from loss of lives of its inhabitants to property and buildings. Salem’s fire starting point was a storehouse in a leather factory where celluloid and chemicals that were highly flammable were stored. It was figured out that, the fire was caused by heat from the sun which was too much that, it caused chemicals in the storehouse to explode setting the whole factory ablaze. The fire from the factory spread to other parts of the city; eventually setting a very big portion of the city on fire. However, experts have argued that, the fire could have been stopped if only the factory had the modern equipment that is used to suppress fire such as sprinklers, which the leather factory had not put in place. (Alice, 2008)
Coverage of Damage Caused By the Fire
Salem city covers a five thousand, one hundred acre piece of land. This city had about five thousand, eight hundred and twenty six buildings, which together with the land had a value of about thirty seven million, two hundred and fifty thousands dollars. The number of people that inhabited the city was forty eight thousand. The great fire that burnt the city of Salem caused a lot of damage, where two hundred and fifty three acres of the portion occupied by the city were burnt down. The number of buildings that were destroyed by this great fire was one thousand, three hundred and seventy six. The damage caused loss that had a value of approximately fifteen million dollars. This amount was largely compensated for, where about eleven million seven hundred and forty four thousands was settled by the insurance. About twenty thousands of the population inhabiting the city had their homes burnt down by the fire, whereas, tens of thousands of people were left jobless. This was a substantial loss for Salem since the condition of the damage required new buildings, which were to be constructed under new planning regulations of the city. (Alice, 2008)
The fire spread from the streets of Boston, to Pine streets; both at the North and South of the city and also burnt down the highland that was situated near a high school which was neighboring a hospital in Boston. The hospital was only threatened since it was near a bridge which prevented it from being destroyed by the fire. It is argued that, the fire could have stopped at this point but it was not possible due to the high temperatures that were experienced in the city during the actual day of this horrible incident. There were also very strong winds that blew flames of fire all the way to a Street called Leach. At this juncture, a church known as Saint Joseph was burnt down together with the fire station of Mill Hill. However, the fierce fire spared part of the city which was later used to house those inhabitants of Salem that had been left homeless. (Fredrick, 2007)
Efforts Employed To Put Out “Salem Fire”
Though a number of firefighters from various companies came to respond to the situation, they still found it hard to stop the fire. Some people argue that, the situation could have been easier for the firefighters were it not for the limited water supply in Salem which was not enough to help to extinguish the fierce fire. Among the cities that responded to the fire through their fire departments include Boston, Beverly, Manchester, Reading, Somerville, and Revere. A telephone company in Boston was also involved in the operations that were directed to putting off ‘Salem fire’. This is because of the role it played by providing a means through which information was passed across the city and the neighboring cities calling for help. There were still other people who wanted information about the extent to which the fire had destroyed in order to take precautionary measures, which were made possible by the telephone company.
The company’s employees responded very quickly to a point that, some employees who had gone off duty tried their best to resume operations in their offices, in order to ensure there was smooth communication in different directions at that emergency time. However, the fire did not spare telephone lines because; out of the many telephone lines that were previously in use, a third was burnt down. This included cables connecting the city of Salem with Metropolitan district as well as Boston. Due to the damage that was caused to telephone lines, other types of telephones that were special were provided to assist in relief work. This was a practice that was directed to rescue the survivors of the fierce fire and also save some property. Over sixty special telephones lines were installed to connect relief workers from their different stations, which necessitated communication between them. (Albert, 2007)
Pathetic Incidents of the Salem Fire
Among the incidents that occurred as a result of the fire, some were very pathetic especially those that concerned loss of lives. For example, an aged couple was caught up in the fire which made them run away leaving all their property behind to be destroyed by the fire. This couple was John Long who was aged sixty five together with his wife who was sixty years when the fire incident took place. The couple was rescued and taken to a place where some of the inhabitants of Salem who were also affected by the fire were given refuge; from where they were to receive relief to sustain them, before they would resume back to their normal life. However, the situation for this couple was quite pathetic since they had lost everything and had to start again in their old age.
The couple had lived in the street of Peabody which had been burnt down completely by the fire. John had been out to offer help in the neighboring street of Lafayette when he was informed that his street had also caught fire. He rushed to his apartment only to find his wife devastated in their kitchen since their house was already on fire. However, he managed to carry her and walked through the room to the already burning stairway up to a safer place in the street, from where they were picked and taken to the rescue site. The day that followed the fire incident found them sitting outside the rescue site waiting for their first meal since the time they were rescued meaning that, the aged couple had slept hungry. (Albert, 2007)
Another pathetic incident was of a woman whose home had been completely destroyed and had also lost contact with her family as she ran for her life. In her condition, she had tried to put up a temporary home somewhere behind buildings of a high school which was not safe for her at all. She was lightly clothed and was depending on other people who had also been left homeless to be provided with clothes. However, the police were contacted and informed of her situation and they took her to the hospital of Peabody to be taken care of. Another incident occurred in a hospital where Mrs. Fonchin who lived in the street of Congress had been admitted. This woman had lost her possessions and had gone to be operated due to injuries she had sustained as she run for safety. Mrs. Fonchin had also lost her baby who was only eight months, but since she could not speak English, it was hard for her to ask the hospital attendants to help her find the baby. All that the woman could do was cry until an interpreter told the attendants the reason as to why she was crying and was assured that they would help her get the baby back. After searching for some time Mrs. Fonchin’s baby was found at a Babies’ Hospital and was later reunited with her mother. (Hamilton, 2008)
Relief Work
The damage that was caused by Salem’s fire resulted to a big loss for a large number of people and since most of them had been left with nothing of their own, assistance was sought from various well wishers in form of relief. The media engaged itself in a task by urging well wishers to give assistance and a committee to control the relief was established. Relief was supposed to be collected at Salem’s armory from where it was to be distributed to other rescue sites. Woodrow Wilson who was American President at that time ordered the federal government to help in the rescue mission. There were several other Governors who availed themselves in order to give assistance that would be needed; among them being Governors Barry and Walsh. Others like the baking company offered bread while another company from Boston provided coffee for breakfast.
This was just the beginning as more relief in form of clothing, food as well as other basic necessities flooded in Salem from its neighboring cities. Among the committees formed to control assistance and relief for those affected by the fire was a very important committee that was comprised of health officers; who ensured that medical assistance was offered to fire victims. Some of the health related cases included maternity cases, contagious diseases, accidents, sick babies and surgical cases. Individual societies and churches were not left out as they began their own programs to provide relief funds to assist victims who identified with them. This practice registered high levels of effectiveness as they would reach individual families and ensure they were helped. Several firemen were injured as they tried to put off the fire, while the association of firemen collected contributions from other fire departments to assist members who had sustained injuries during the rescue mission. (Alexander, 1986)
More relief and assistance were provided by Red Cross led by Mabel, who was their leader as well as Earnest; the director. All nurses affiliated to the society of Red Cross were deployed in various hospitals where fire victims had been taken to give medical care. Red Cross also assisted in the opening of the station that supplied milk to children who had lost their parents; most of whom had been taken to the hospital for the babies. Enough milk was prepared to cater for other children who were in rescue sites together with their mothers. Funds were provided to the hospital that catered for young children, since more children were being taken in which raised their budget far beyond its normal expenditure. (Curt, 2008)
Rebuilding Salem
Salem would be defined by the tragedy of the fire that destroyed the once beautiful city, turning it into wreckage. The historical tragedy marked a very big difference between Salem that was there before 1914’s fire, which is completely different from the one that came afterward. However, one would not dare start an argument on the situation of Salem during the material day of the tragedy, which brought to an end Salem’s old phase and started a completely new phase. This is because, the evidence was very clear for everyone to see the damage, where many buildings were brought down and thousands of Salem’s inhabitants were left homeless as others lost their lives. Therefore, the fire that destroyed Salem is important in the examination of the extent of destruction to property as well as lives saved from the tragic incident and in the examination of Salem’s reconstruction.
Among the areas that were given priority in the mission of rebuilding Salem was the system that supplied the city with water; where larger and thicker pipes that would hold more pressure were fixed. Another area was the construction of buildings to house victims of “Salem’s fire”. Mr. Sullivan, who was one of the members of a committee that was planning on the rebuilding mission of Salem, proposed the construction of wooden buildings which were to be covered with incombustible material and metal gutters as a precautionary measure in future. Due to the fact that there is no one city that can be built on a single day, Salem took a number of years to get to its current state. However, even with new buildings that were put up to replace those that had been destroyed, the picture of damage that was caused by Salem’s historic fire of the 1914 will never be forgotten. This is because; its effects are still felt by even the generation that came after, as its mention makes them mourn their ancestors who lost their lives as well as those that lost their property to the fierce fire. (Houghton, 2008)
Conclusion
The extent of damage caused by “Salem’s fire” cannot pass without recognition, since it left the once beautiful and industrious city in ruins. One would argue that, the fire was partly caused by ignorance of the fact that, excessive heat from the sun would cause inflammable materials to explode and result to the fierce fire. If fire departments had educated workers of the leather factory from which the fire started on precautionary measures of storing highly flammable materials, the fire would not have occurred. Another area that can be criticized concerning Salem’s fire is the fact that, such a big company that dealt with flammable materials did not have equipment that would help them put off the fire in case it erupted in the factory. This would be taken to be a high level of irresponsibility for both the workers and managers of the company. However, what happened cannot be reversed and looking from the positive side of the whole matter, it left Salem as well as others who witnessed the tragedy wiser. This is because; people learnt about the importance of taking precautionary measures in their industries as well as residential places in order to prevent such incidents from occurring and to manage such accidents in case they took place. (Alice, 2008)
Work Cited
Curt, Johnson: Who’s Who in U.S: University of Michigan, (2008) pp67-69.
Faxon, Fredrick: Bulletin of bibliography and dramatic index: Boson Book Co., (2007) pp12-15.
Keyssar, Alexander: Out of work; the first century of unemployment in Massachusetts: Cambridge University press, (1986) pp44-48.
Mifflin, Houghton. Massachusetts; a guide to its places and people: University of Virginia, (2008) pp18-22.
Newton, Albert: Leading men and women of the state of Massachusetts; A.N Marquis, Traub Hamilton. The American literary: P.Traub, (2007) pp23-25.
Waters, Alice: The diary of William Bentley, D.D.’ pastor of the East Church, Salem, Massachusetts: Essex Institute, (2008) pp35-38.