Fire Devastates Downtown Stanwood
A late-night blaze destroys two city blocks, leaving the community to battle the flames with a bucket brigade after water supply infrastructure fails.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
A fire broke out in Stanwood last night, which destroyed five stores on one side of the street and three on the other. It was discovered at 9 o'clock in the Stanwood restaurant and quickly extended to John Armstrong's saloon and the Armstrong hall. It also consumed Smith's hardware store, Hancock's confectionery, a butcher shop, and a millinery store, almost entirely destroying also the church and a blacksmith's shop. A line of hose was stretched from the steamer Merwin, but it was not long enough. More hose was obtained in the town, but it was of a different size, and nothing could be done but to form a bucket brigade and pass water from the river. In about two hours its progress was checked. There were three two-story buildings. A burning timber fell across the telegraph wires, breaking them down and cutting off all communication with the outside.
“nothing could be done but to form a bucket brigade and pass water from the river.”
Stanwood’s vulnerability to fire in the 1890s, where mismatched hose couplings and reliance on bucket brigades could mean the loss of an entire business district, highlights the transition to modern municipal firefighting standards. Today, while Stanwood remains a vibrant town, the reliance on volunteer efforts and basic river-water access is a stark contrast to the sophisticated regional fire districts that protect modern Snohomish County.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.