A Near-Miss Conflagration in Old Seattle
A pre-dawn fire in a Commercial Street smokehouse nearly levels a city block, sparking a call for urban reform.
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.
Yesterday, Chief of Police Nelson visited the jail about daylight, and while unlocking the door, noticed an unusually hot fire burning in the little house just across the alley. Smoke and fire were emanating from the cracks of the building, indicating a conflagration was about to commence. He rushed into the meat market, in the rear of which the smokehouse is situated, and gave the alarm. He and the clerk of the establishment, procuring a bucket of water each, soon extinguished the flames. It appears a fire had been started in the smokehouse some time before daylight with a quantity of old wood piled over it to create smoke. This wood was drier than expected, resulting in a hot fire. This caused grease to drop from the hams over the fire, increasing the combustion, which in a few minutes more would have enveloped the smokehouse and probably the entire block of buildings on Commercial Street between Mill and Washington. Mr. Nelson arrived just in the nick of time to save our city from such a destructive conflagration. This is the second time a potentially destructive fire has been averted by a timely discovery, but where is the assurance we will always be so fortunate? It behooves our citizens and authorities to give this matter attention and do everything in their power to prevent a repetition of the Portland conflagration here. Something should be done to rid the business centre of the city of Chinese wash-houses, and the smokehouse in question should be immediately removed by those who use it to a place where it will not endanger such valuable property.
“The only safe guard against the danger with which we are threatened, is to 'lock the stable before the horse is stolen,' as it will be of little use to talk about precautions after the business portion of our city has been consumed by fire.”
In 1877, Seattle's density and wood-frame architecture made every kitchen fire a existential threat to the city, mirroring today's anxiety over urban density, fire safety, and the vulnerability of historic commercial districts. The editorial also serves as a blunt reminder of the era's pervasive, state-sanctioned anti-Chinese sentiment, which often colored local debates about zoning and 'civic improvement.'
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