The Great Seattle Fire was a fire that destroyed the entire central business district of Seattle , Washington , on June 6, 1889. The conflagration lasted for less than a day, burning through the afternoon and into the night, during the same summer as the Great Spokane Fire and the Great Ellensburg Fire . Seattle quickly rebuilt using brick buildings that sat 20 feet (6.1 m) above the original street level. Its population swelled during reconstruction, becoming the largest city in the newly admitted state of Washington.
27-470: In the fall of 1851, the Denny Party arrived at Alki Point in what is now the state of Washington . After spending a miserable winter on the western shores of Elliott Bay , the party relocated to the eastern shores and established the settlement that would become Seattle. Early Seattle was dominated by the logging industry. The combination of a safe bay and an abundance of coniferous trees made Seattle
54-548: A cabinet shop located at the corner of 1st Avenue and Madison Street. The flames spread rapidly and the small volunteer department was unable to slow the fire with the town's small water systems. By the time the fire was extinguished, 64 acres (26 ha) of homes and businesses had been destroyed. On January 5, 1995, the Mary Pang's Food Products warehouse burned in the International District. Four firefighters died when
81-547: A good place to create a town. The Denny Party arrived in Portland, Oregon on August 22, 1851. Arthur Denny was ill and Mary Ann was about to give birth so the party convalesced in Portland. On September 2, Mary gave birth to a son, Rolland H. Denny. John Low and David Denny headed north to scout the possibilities. Along the way they were joined by Leander "Lee" Terry. In newly founded Olympia, Washington , they met Michael Simmons ,
108-477: A wagon party headed by Arthur A. Denny left Cherry Grove, Illinois and headed west. The party included Arthur Denny's father John Denny , his stepmother, two of his older brothers who ultimately settled in the Willamette Valley of Oregon , his younger brother David Denny , his wife, Mary Ann Boren, Mary's younger sister Louisa, and their brother Carson Boren . Mary Ann Denny and was pregnant throughout
135-493: Is complete) Marine Unit 80 (Reserve Marine Unit) Engine 85 (Reserve Engine) Engine 84 (Reserve Engine) Medic 10 Medic 80 (Reserve Medic Unit) (Reserve Medic Unit) Battalion Chief 3 (EMS Battalion Chief) Fire Marshal 5 (MAR5) Safety Chief 2 (SAFT2) Mobile Integrated Health Unit 1 (H1) Mobile Integrated Health Unit 99 (H99) On June 6, 1889, the Great Seattle Fire broke out in
162-521: Is contracted with American Medical Response for basic life support transport. As of April 2021 the department operates out of 34 fire stations spread across the city. Aid 4 (Staffed Part Time) Fireboat Chief Seattle (FB3) Fireboat Leschi (FB4) Fireboat 2 Rescue Boat 5 Aid 10 Air Unit 10 (AIR10) Energy Response Unit 1 (ENERGY1) Power/CO 2 Unit 25 (P25) Rehabilitation Unit 1 (REHAB1) Metropolitan Medical Strike Team (Temporary Station- Interim location until new station
189-494: The Duwamish River to the present site of Puyallup , before settling on an island in the mudflats near the east shore of Elliott Bay , now the site of Pioneer Square . For the next three years Alki Point and Elliott Bay sites competed as rival townsites. Charlie Terry bought out his brother's and Low's Alki holdings, and led this community. Arthur Denny settled at Elliott Bay and, along with his rival D.S. "Doc" Maynard , led
216-543: The City of Seattle on April 11, 1884. On June 6, 1889, the Great Seattle Fire broke out and destroyed over 64 acres (26 ha) of the city. Insurance investigators charged the city with not having adequately trained firefighters to provide protection for the residents. As a result, the Seattle Fire Department was officially established on October 17, 1889, as a paid professional department. The Seattle Fire Department
243-532: The Denny Party left Portland on the schooner Exact , bound for Puget Sound and Haida Gwaii . The Exact carried a number of settlers bound for Puget Sound in addition to the Denny Party, including Daniel Bigelow who settled in Olympia. After a difficult passage, particularly hard on the still-ill Denny, they arrived at Alki on November 13, where David greeted them with the words, "I wish you hadn't come." Denny
270-403: The city of Seattle , Washington , United States. The department is responsible for an area of 142.5 square miles (369 km ), including 193 miles (311 km) of waterfront, with a population of 713,700. There is a total of 1,065 employees with 981 uniformed personnel and 84 civilian employees. The Seattle Fire Department got its start as a volunteer fire department that was taken over by
297-461: The city's rodent problems. A new building ordinance resulted in a downtown of brick and stone buildings, rather than wood. In the year following the fire Seattle's population actually grew by nearly 20,000 to 40,000 inhabitants from the influx of people helping to recreate the city. Supplies and funds came from all over the West Coast to support the relief effort. The population increase made Seattle
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#1733055882020324-449: The cleanup process. Over 1 million rodents were killed. Total losses were estimated at nearly $ 20 million ($ 678 million in 2023 dollars). Among the businesses affected were: Despite the magnitude of destruction, the rebuilding effort began quickly. Rather than starting over somewhere else, Seattle's citizens decided to rebuild. Seattle rebuilt from the ashes quickly, and the fire killed many rats and other vermin , thereby eliminating
351-480: The combustible loading. At approximately 2:20 p.m. on June 6, 1889, an accidentally overheated glue pot in a carpentry shop started the most destructive fire in the history of Seattle. The next day, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer , operating out of temporary facilities in the wake of the fire, reported incorrectly that the incident began in "Jim McGough's paint shop, under Smith's boot and shoe store, at
378-609: The corner of Front and Madison streets, in what was known as the Denny block"; a correction two weeks later said that it "actually started in the Clairmont and Company cabinet shop, below McGough's shop in the basement of the Pontius building", but the original error was often repeated, including in Murray Morgan 's bestselling Seattle history book Skid Road (1951). John Back, a 24-year-old Swede,
405-512: The development of Seattle. Terry and Low could not attract settlers to their townsite and people facetiously began calling the smaller village "New York Alki" or "New York bye and bye" in Chinook Jargon . The Birthplace of Seattle Monument at Alki Beach is inscribed with the names of all members of the Denny Party. Seattle Fire Department The Seattle Fire Department provides fire protection and emergency medical services to
432-452: The entire block. A nearby liquor store exploded, and the alcohol fueled the flames. The fire quickly spread north to the Kenyon block and the nearby Madison and Griffith blocks. Wooden boardwalks carried the flames across streets to ignite other blocks. A combination of ill-preparedness and unfortunate circumstances contributed to the great fire. Seattle's water supply was insufficient in fighting
459-400: The entire business district, four of the city's wharves , and its railroad terminals. The fire would be called the most destructive fire in the history of Seattle. Despite the massive destruction of property, few to no deaths occurred. Some claim a young boy named James Goin was killed in the blaze although no reliable records have been found from that time. However, there were fatalities during
486-428: The giant inferno. Fire hydrants were sparsely located on every other street, usually connected to small pipes. There were so many hydrants in use during the fire that the water pressure was too weak to fight such a massive blaze. Seattle was also operated by a volunteer fire department , which was competent but inadequate in extinguishing the fire. By the morning of June 7, the fire had burned 25 city blocks, including
513-590: The journey and Mary Ann's sister Louisa Boren ultimately married David Denny in 1861. On July 6, 1851, the party battled Native Americans at American Falls , Idaho on the Snake River , but escaped unharmed. The following day they met John Low, and he joined the party. Late in July 1851 they reached the Burnt River in eastern Oregon where they encountered a man named Brock who suggested to Denny that Puget Sound would be
540-520: The largest city in Washington, making it a leading contender in becoming the terminus of the Great Northern Railway . Seattle made many improvements in response to the fire. The Seattle Fire Department was officially established four months later to replace a volunteer organization with a paid force containing new firehouses and a new chief. The city took control of the water supply, increasing
567-477: The number of hydrants and adding larger pipes. The advent of brick buildings to downtown Seattle was one of the many architectural improvements the city made in the wake of the fire. New city ordinances set standards for the thickness of walls and required "division walls" between buildings. These changes became principal features of post-fire construction and are still visible in Seattle's Pioneer Square district today,
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#1733055882020594-611: The perfect location for shipping lumber to California. In 1852, Henry Yesler began construction of the first steam-powered mill in the Pacific Northwest. Because of the easy access to lumber, nearly every building was constructed of the affordable, but combustible timber. Additionally, because the area was at or below sea level, the fledgling town was a frequent victim of massive floods, requiring buildings to be built on wooden stilts. The town also used hollowed out scrap logs propped up on wooden braces as sewer and water pipes, increasing
621-566: The present-day location of the fire. At Pioneer Square , guided tours are also available to paying customers. Also at this location, visitors can tour the Seattle Underground , where they can visit the original street level (now basement level) of buildings and storefronts that were built after the fire. Denny Party The Denny Party was a group of American pioneers credited with founding Seattle , Washington . They settled at Alki Point on November 13, 1851. On April 10, 1851,
648-502: The unfinished cabin. David Denny hurt his leg and was unable to complete the roof of the cabin. In Portland, Arthur Denny recruited Illinois farmer William Nathaniel Bell and his wife, and, by coincidence, Charlie Terry, Leander's younger brother. The Terry brothers, from Waterville, New York , had come west as part of the California Gold Rush , but had not liked the rough and tumble of San Francisco . On November 5, 1851,
675-440: The wealthy founder of Tumwater . He guided them to Alki to scout as a possible site for a settlement. On September 28, 1851, at Alki, Terry and Low began building a cabin with help from the local Native Americans, and then staked claims to the land. They decided to name their new village New York. Low returned to Portland to alert the others, Terry looked for a froe to make redcedar shake shingles, and David Denny stayed on in
702-434: Was bitterly disappointed that Low and Lee Terry had already staked the relevant claims for Alki. However, he had no choice but to pitch in, finish the cabin and settle in for the winter. Denny convinced Bell and Boren that they needed to scout a different location. Once the worst of winter cleared, Denny and other party members explored as far as Commencement Bay (now the site of Tacoma ), Port Orchard , Smith Cove , and up
729-436: Was heating the glue over a gasoline fire when it boiled over, igniting the wood chips and turpentine covering the floor. Back attempted to douse the fire with water which only served to spread the fire further. The fire department arrived by 2:45, but by that time the area was so smokey that the source of the fire could not be determined. Fed by the shop's timber and an unusually dry summer, the blaze erupted and shortly devoured
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