The Narrow Escape of Tacoma
A painting shop blaze threatened to raze a downtown block, but a fast-acting fire department and a bit of luck spared the city from a worse catastrophe.
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.
Tacoma, Aug 29—A fire, even more intense than that of Tacoma's big fire, broke out at 10 o'clock this morning at the Railroad street site. In Johnson & Robert's paint shop, one of the painters was boiling oil in a pot in the rear of the building, near the paint and oil shed, when the pot boiled over, spilling oil, which in turn set fire to the building. Before an alarm could be given, the entire side of the building was in flames. The structure, which was known as the Denver block, was made of the most inflammable material, and before the firemen could respond to the alarm, the fire had spread to the adjoining buildings. It was fully half an hour before the engines arrived, but it was through no fault of the firemen, as the horses were out exercised, and after they were brought to the engine station, some trouble was experienced in getting them started. However, after arrival on the scene, the engines rendered invaluable service. The buildings from the fire were completely destroyed. In the Denver building, which occupied the rear side of the Denver block, besides the regular boarders were several sick persons, among them being Rev. Mr. Totaw, who was broken in the recent Feild and Railroad accident. It was with difficulty that the injured man was removed. A pitiable sight was that of a far-sick woman, pale as death and in a fainting condition, being carried down Ninth street on a stretcher in the hands of friends. The fire was under control at 12 o'clock, and it was not until some time after that hour that the owners of property in the vicinity of Railroad and C streets breathed at all easy.
“It was with difficulty that the injured man was removed. A pitiable sight was that of a far-sick woman, pale as death and in a fainting condition, being carried down Ninth street on a stretcher.”
In 1889, Tacoma's downtown infrastructure was so flimsy that a single spilled pot of oil could threaten a whole city block. Today, while building codes have drastically improved fire safety, the anxiety of losing a neighborhood to a single incident feels all too familiar in the context of urban displacement and density debates.
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