Fire Destroys Denny-Fuhrman Home
A two-story residence burns to the ground after Seattle fire crews are thwarted by deep mud and steep hills.
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 two-story residence, owned by John C. Ward, located at the corner of Indigo and Angie streets, in the Denny-Fuhrman addition, caught fire yesterday afternoon at 3:30 o'clock and burned to the ground. Mrs. Ward discovered the flames in the roof of the building near the chimney and, her husband being away from home, she called in her neighbors and succeeded in saving all of the furniture. The fire department was summoned by telephone, and hose company No. 4 and truck No. 1 responded. On account of the deep mud and heavy grades the truck could not reach the scene of the fire, and the building was in ashes by the time the hose wagon, covered with mud and the horses almost ready to drop from exhaustion, arrived.
“On account of the deep mud and heavy grades the truck could not reach the scene of the fire.”
This incident highlights the physical challenges of early Seattle, where rapid development outpaced infrastructure. Today, the Denny-Fuhrman area—better known as Eastlake/North Capitol Hill—has long been paved, but the story serves as a reminder of the difficult terrain that shaped the city's early expansion.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.