A Spark on the Roof: Fire at Rothschild & Co. Spurs a Petition Against Fireworks
Quick action saved a downtown Port Townsend store from burning, and the close call prompted residents to demand a ban on fireworks within town limits.
Last Monday night, between the hours of ten and eleven o'clock, a fire was discovered on the roof of Rothschild & Co.'s store, but fortunately in time to prevent its spreading. It appears to have been occasioned by a bad chimney, in consequence of a spark, the combustible material from which caught upon it. The fire was extinguished by Mr. Fitzpatrick and others. It is but proper to add in this connection that a petition for the prohibition of fireworks within the town limits was circulated through the town the next day, which was numerously signed, and no doubt in consequence of that action will be taken by the town authorities.
“A petition for the prohibition of fireworks within the town limits was circulated through the town the next day, which was numerously signed.”
Wooden commercial blocks made fire a constant civic worry in 1876, when a single chimney spark could threaten a whole downtown. The petition against fireworks is an early version of the fire-safety ordinances that still shape Port Townsend's historic district.
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