John P. Howe, New York City's heroic Battalion Chief, retired onDecember 13, 1913.

That was slightly over 100 years ago, after he had served for 25years in the fire department that—before and after September 11,2001—is world-famous. However, it was the acts of heroism by Howeand his crews that created that fame, reports Paul Hashagen, acontributing editor of Firehouse Magazine (Cygnus Publ.)in the December, 2013, issue.

Hashagen often writes the “Rekindles” column in which hedescribes fires from 100 years earlier. For example, reportsHashagen, in a Pearl Street tenement fire in 1894, Howe rescued 14people within 15 minutes. Again in 1897, he and a fellow firemanmade a daring rescue from a burning building on Lexington Avenue,climbing out one window to rescue men in a room above as smoke andflames shot out that window. Hashagen's article, “FDNY BattalionChief John Howe: A Fireman's Fireman,” tells of heroics that putHowe in the hospital. But his summary of Howe's involvement in theBaltimore fire in 1904 helps explain the fame of the New York CityFire Department (FDNY).

A Call in the Night

“It was at 1:40 a.m. on February 8, 1904 [a Monday] when thetelephone next to Howe's bed rang. The call was from the actingchief of the department, Charles Kruger. 'Is that you, Howe?'Kruger asked.” Howe acknowledged that it was, and Kruger explainedthe call: “Howe, you are ordered to proceed at once with thecompanies and apparatus that I designate to Baltimore.”

“'What's that? Baltimore? Where?” Howe rubbed the sleep from hiseyes,” writes Hashagen. Assistance to other towns was not uncommon;however, Baltimore was nearly 200 miles away. Aid had already beendispatched from Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia, as well ascloser towns.

Baltimore was burning down, and every bit of aid was needed. Afew minutes after 6:30 that morning, Mayor George B. McClellantelegrammed the mayor of Baltimore that “Nine fire engines and onehook and ladder company shipped to you on 6:34 o'clock train thismorning in charge of battalion chief.” That chief was Howe, and thespecial train carried the fire equipment, including, says Hashagen,“seven gleaming steam fire engines, several hose tenders and a hook-and-ladder truck, all lashed down securely,” this afterbeing transported across the Hudson River on a Liberty Street ferryto the rail station.

“Two cars were filled with 35 horses. Twocoaches were for Howe and his 85 men and ten New York Citynewspaper reporters. Several other companies followed later onanother train.”

The Heart of Baltimore Burned

The fire, according to other reports and the BaltimoreSun, had begun at 10:50 Sunday morning, February 7, 1904, inthe basement of the John E. Hurst & Co. building, a dry goodsfirm, in the business district, apparently due to a discardedburning cigarette. The fire burned east and south, whipped by aFebruary wind, quickly spreading from building to building andthrough largely frame residential tenements.

By Monday morning, the Baltimore Sun headline read,“Twenty Four Blocks Burned in Heart of Baltimore.”

At the end of the day, however, that number had increasedto 80, with the Sun reporting that the fire had extended“as far south as the wharves and piers” of the Harbor Basin on ofthe Patapsco River. Even the Sun's own building was in thefire's path. Amazingly, no lives were lost in the fire, anothertribute to the city's own and assisting fire departments.

By the time the fire was extinguished around 5 p.m. on theMonday after it began, 1,526 buildings or other structures had beendestroyed, with more than 2,500 businesses lost forever.

Some 1,231 firemen, assisted by 2,500 members of the NationalGuard, were involved in either trying to extinguish theblaze or rescue people from the flames.

One problem initially encountered was non-standardized fireequipment, where fire hose fittings on assisting fire apparati fromother cities did not fit Baltimore's hydrants.

This was still the horse and steam pumper era, and rapid early20th century urban growth had not included good fireprotection. The Baltimore fire was the worst urban disaster sincethe 1871 Chicago Fire, but it was not as severe as the 1906 SanFrancisco Earthquake fire. For more information about those,read “ATale of Two Cities: America's Greatest Disaster,” whichappeared in the April, 2006 issue of Claims Magazine.

Money to Rebuild

Hashagen tells how Howe and his New York firemen “won theadmiration and respect of not only the citizens and politicians,but also the Baltimore firefighters and the other cities thatresponded and operated in Baltimore, including Philadelphia,Annapolis, Chester, York and Washington, D.C.”

“The exhausted New Yorkers, who had been awake and operating formore than 48 hours, finally boarded a train for the trip home,” hewrites. “Sadly, one FDNY member, Engineer Mark Kelly [of SteamerEngine 16], contracted pneumonia and later died. Howe also becamevery ill after the Baltimore fire, but refused to get sick.”

As with most major fires, much was learned about firefightingand prevention. The city of Baltimore quickly set about rebuildingits downtown commercial area into what it is today, and manyinsurance companies were involved, often paying their policy limitson the hundreds of claims. The city itself sold its shares in theWestern Maryland Railroad to help finance the rebuilding.

Losses in 1904 dollars were around $150 million, of which $32million was insured. One insurer, the Baltimore Equitable Society,founded in 1794, was located in the Eutaw Savings Bank Building.The company, still in business today, reported that 455 ofits insureds were affected by the fire, and all claims werepaid in full. Within just a few years, the city's main businesssection was restored and functioning, thanks to the help of otherfire departments, including those of the FDNY.