A Lamp, a Kitchen, and a Lake Union Fire
A domestic accident leaves a family homeless after a runaway kitchen lamp destroys a house on the shores of Lake Union.
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 one-and-a-half-story frame house located at the corner of Franklin and Lake avenues, near the east shore of Lake Union, owned by John P. Kide, was burned last night between the hours of 8 and 9 o'clock. Mr. Kide was cutting kindling in the kitchen when he accidentally knocked the lamp over. It hit the leg of the stove, and in a moment the oil was spreading over the floor in one mass of flames. There was little water at hand, so his efforts to extinguish the fire were of no avail. A telephone alarm was sent in to fire headquarters from the Seattle steam laundry, four blocks away, and although the fire apparatus responded as quickly as the muddy streets would allow, the only piece to reach the scene was chemical engine No. 1. That would never have reached the scene had it not been for four horses. The house burned to the ground, but a part of the household goods were saved. The insurance on the house was $500, perhaps more than sufficient to cover the loss.
“A telephone alarm was sent in... and although the fire apparatus responded as quickly as the muddy streets would allow, the only piece to reach the scene was chemical engine No. 1.”
This report highlights the precarious nature of 1890s fire safety in a city still struggling to pave its streets or extend modern fire suppression to its developing outskirts. Today, the Lake Union area is a dense tech and residential hub, a far cry from the unpaved, fire-vulnerable landscape of 1893.
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