After the Fire: Rebuilding a Mill
O.W. Stetson discusses the cyclical reality of sawmill fires in early Seattle and the persistent struggle for fire safety in the local timber industry.
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O. W. Stetson, of Montesano, president of the Stetson Manufacturing Company, whose plant was burned a few days ago, is at the Occidental, having come to the city to see his partners about the rebuilding of the mill. 'I think we shall rebuild,' said he. 'This is the fourth fire we have had in Seattle or Montesano in the last four years. We had a large mill here burnt before the great fire, and had just rebuilt when the great fire burnt us out again. In the following year our block of buildings on Commercial street was burned, and this fire makes the fourth. There is only one way to prevent sawmill fires surely, and that is by having automatic sprinklers; they can only be used where you have a constant water pressure from a public supply.'
“There is only one way to prevent sawmill fires surely, and that is by having automatic sprinklers.”
Stetson’s frustration with infrastructure—specifically the need for reliable water pressure for fire suppression—remains a core civic challenge for Seattle as it balances density with public utility reliability. His account documents the volatile nature of the early timber-dominated economy where capital investment could vanish in a single night.
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