Big Apple History . Early New York . New York Burns!


	Brooklynites watch the fire of 1835

Around 9:30 P.M. on December 16, 1835, a watchman named Hayes was making his rounds. It was bitterly cold and windy. As he approached the corner of Exchange and Pearl Streets, he smelled smoke.

He called his fellow watchmen. Together, they broke open the door of a five-story warehouse and were greeted by a wall of flame. Within 15 minutes, more than 50 downtown buildings were burning. The Great Fire raged for two days. It was finally put out after desperate firemen blew up buildings to create a fire block.

Now it was time to assess damages and find out what had caused the fire. Investigators decided that gas escaping from a broken line had ignited coals in a stove. Luckily, because few people lived downtown, the fire caused just two deaths. Property damage, however, was extensive and amounted to approximately 25 million dollars, enough to build three Erie Canals!

Who was at fault? The firemen blamed the weather. Wells, hoses, even the East River had been frozen solid making water scarce. Many city residents, however, blamed the volunteer fire companies. They were unprofessional and disorganized, though full of pride in representing their neighborhoods and playing their part in keeping the city safe. Some werenÕt much better than gangs, even occasionally fighting rival companies instead of fires!


	New York firefighters in about 1900

Even after the Great Fire, change came slowly. First, new equipment like steam engines and an alarm telegraph were introduced. Finally, in 1865, the city established its first professional force, the Metropolitan Fire Department.

Top illustration: "Heights on the Same Evening as Fire," 1835, courtesy of the Collection of the New-York Historical Society.

Illustration at bottom: photo by A. Dreyfous, courtesy of Roger Whitehouse and the Museum of the City of New York.