Fire Sweeps Through Opium Den and Saloon District
A negligent stove in a Washington Street opium den sparks a conflagration that consumes seven buildings in the heart of Seattle.
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.
At about 2 o'clock last night, a fire broke out in a small building on the south side of Washington street, occupied as a Chinese opium den. A red-hot stove, which the stupefied inmates of the building did not attend to in a proper manner, was the cause of the fire, which caught in the rafters of the building. An alarm was quickly given, and in a short time the Hook & Ladder Company put in an appearance, quickly followed by engines Nos. 1 and 2. Some delay was experienced in getting water on the flames, but both engines finally got to work, pumping water from the bay at the foot of Washington street. The fire was carried, by a slight wind blowing from the east, to the building adjoining it, and thence passed quickly along the small row of intervening buildings to the El Dorado Saloon building, on the corner of Washington and Second streets. This quickly fell a prey to the devouring flames, as did also the next two buildings. The third building from the corner was pulled down by the Hook and Ladder boys, and the gap thus made was the final stopping place of the conflagration. In all, seven buildings were burned and one pulled down.
“This quickly fell a prey to the devouring flames, as did also the next two buildings.”
This fire occurred in the heart of what was then a primary commercial and lodging district near the waterfront, an area that would be transformed by the massive regrading projects of the following decades. Today, the intersection of Washington and Second lies in the heart of Pioneer Square, a district preserved for its historical architecture—much of which was rebuilt in stone and brick immediately following the Great Seattle Fire of 1889.
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