F- Great Seattle Fire

The historical fire was started by an assistant in a woodworking shop at Front Street who heated a glue that boiled over and caught fire. This spread to the floors which quickly spread and soon the entire block was on fire. The fire lasted from 2:15 PM to 3:00 AM. 120 acres and 25 city blocks were destroyed, along with one million rats being killed. $20,000 was raised after the fire to rebuild the the town. Since all of the buildings in the town were wood, the streets burned quickly. Also all of the fire hydrants were made of wood, so they were of no use to the firemen. Wood buildings were banned during the rebuild, and brick was used instead. One thing that was saved during the fire were the files and books that belonged to the Seattle Times.

 Crutchfield, James A. It Happened in Washington. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot, 1999. Print.