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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 5 |
| 1877 | 4 |
| 1878 | 3 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1882 | 2 |
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1884 | 3 |
| 1885 | 4 |
| 1886 | 2 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 16 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 3 |
| 1892 | 3 |
| 1893 | 4 |
| 1894 | 4 |
| 1895 | 6 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1903 | 2 |
| 1904 | 4 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1908 | 3 |
| 1909 | 4 |
| 1914 | 2 |
| 1924 | 1 |
82 stories matching conflagr
- The Great Yakima Avenue Conflagration
A devastating blaze sweeps through the business district, leveled by fire and saved only by the grit of citizens and a stand of shade trees.
- A Near Miss for Kennewick’s Warehouse District
A passing locomotive sparked a blaze in the sagebrush that nearly razed the town's lumber yards and warehouses.
- The Desecration of Paradise Valley
Superintendent Schwagerl sounds the alarm on tourists burning ancient trees for fun and the unchecked slaughter of wildlife in the new mountain reserve.
- The Mayor's Midnight Pyre
When smallpox struck an Indigenous chief in 1877, the mayor of a nascent Seattle turned to fire to stop the contagion.
- Fire Strikes the Ballard Waterfront
A spectacular blaze at the Stimson Mill Company's dry houses threatens the entire Ballard lumber complex before firefighters bring it under control.
- Seattle’s Quest for Reliable Water
How a local reservoir project aims to secure a steady water supply for a growing city.
- The Unwelcome Swarm
As Seattle prepares for a railroad boom in 1880, the Chief of Police struggles to contain a surge in vagrancy and arson.
- The Harassment of Mrs. Robinson
A vulnerable woman in Seattle is subjected to a months-long campaign of targeted abuse, culminating in an arson attempt that nearly burned down a local hotel.
- Spokane’s Ashes Hold a Lesson for Yakima
After a massive fire devastated Spokane, the Herald argues that wide streets and low-rise architecture are the only true defense against the region's high winds.
- The Charred Remains of a Pioneer: A Tragic Fire on Commercial Street
In the early days of Seattle, fire was the city's greatest enemy. On October 6, 1876, a blaze swept through the heart of the business district, claiming the life of a man named Hilder and destroying property near Jamison & Prescott.
- The Great Seattle Fire of 1889: Surviving the Flames
While the city turned to ash, local business owners turned to their safes to see what remained of their livelihood.
- Fire Scare in Oroville Lumber Yard
A mid-town conflagration at the Mitchell Lumber Yard prompts urgent calls for a modern municipal water system.
- The Fire That Never Came: Seattle’s Barely-Staffed Engine Company
In 1878, the city finally bought a hand engine for fire protection, but with only ten men to crew it, officials warned that a real blaze would leave the town helpless.
- The Great Everett Fire Scare of 1909
Eight suspicious fires in one night set the city into a panic, sparking rumors of professional arsonists.
- The Seattle Fire That Almost Burned the Town
An incendiary blaze at the old Coffee and Elbow Saloon nearly consumed downtown Seattle in a narrow escape that left hundreds of men standing by with buckets.
- After the Great Fire of 1889: Rebuilding a City from the Ashes
While Seattle recovers from a devastating conflagration, a citywide debate pits public safety and urban planning against private interests over the future layout of the business district.
- The Fire That Saved Us: A Call for a Second Steamer
A Seattle resident writes to the Post-Intelligencer arguing that the recent downtown blaze proves the city’s single fire engine is no longer enough—and demands an immediate duplicate.
- The Great Seattle Sawmill Fire
A spark from a passing train ignites a massive blaze in the Seattle lumber district, consuming millions of feet of lumber and threatening to incinerate the city's waterfront.
- After the Great Fire: Seattle Extends a Hand to Ellensburg
Fresh from the ashes of its own catastrophic blaze, Seattle offers sympathy and aid to a sister city devastated by fire.
- The Seattle Baker Who Stopped a Midnight Inferno
A quick-thinking baker at the Queen City Bakery spotted smoke rising from the Denny Block, narrowly averting a major downtown catastrophe.
- Springdale Burned. The Reformer Didn’t Miss an Issue.
A fire swept away Springdale’s entire business district and wiped out its newspaper office. Editor Burrows still published an account of the blaze and promised a new press.
- The Phoenix of the Pacific: Seattle Three Years After the Great Fire
Reflecting on the 1889 conflagration, the city celebrates its rapid transformation from a pile of smoldering ruins into a booming commercial metropolis.
- Saving the Archives from the Great Fire
Recalling the 1889 Great Seattle Fire, an employee recounts his desperate race to save the newspaper's historical files from the flames.
- The Kaniksu’s 1908 Fire Season: 40 Blazes, $3,569 Spent, and a Warning in the Young Timber
Federal rangers and local crews kept the Kaniksu National Forest from another Alispel-scale conflagration, but the season still burned 700 acres and cost an estimated $15,000 in damaged reproduction.
- Factory Fire Narrowly Avoids Catastrophe
A two-hour battle against a lumber kiln fire on Puyallup Avenue threatened to spark a larger blaze in the industrial district.