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

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

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

A Call in the Night

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

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

Baltimore was burning down, and every bit of aid was needed. A few minutes after 6:30 that morning, Mayor George B. McClellan telegrammed the mayor of Baltimore that “Nine fire engines and one hook and ladder company shipped to you on 6:34 o'clock train this morning in charge of battalion chief.” That chief was Howe, and the special 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 after being transported across the Hudson River on a Liberty Street ferry to the rail station.

“Two cars were filled with 35 horses. Two coaches were for Howe and his 85 men and ten New York City newspaper reporters. Several other companies followed later on another train.”

The Heart of Baltimore Burned

The fire, according to other reports and the Baltimore Sun, had begun at 10:50 Sunday morning, February 7, 1904, in the basement of the John E. Hurst & Co. building, a dry goods firm, in the business district, apparently due to a discarded burning cigarette. The fire burned east and south, whipped by a February wind, quickly spreading from building to building and through 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 increased to 80, with the Sun reporting that the fire had extended “as far south as the wharves and piers” of the Harbor Basin on of the Patapsco River. Even the Sun's own building was in the fire's path. Amazingly, no lives were lost in the fire, another tribute to the city's own and assisting fire departments.

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

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

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

This was still the horse and steam pumper era, and rapid early 20th century urban growth had not included good fire protection. The Baltimore fire was the worst urban disaster since the 1871 Chicago Fire, but it was not as severe as the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake fire. For more information about those, read “A Tale of Two Cities: America's Greatest Disaster,” which appeared in the April, 2006 issue of Claims Magazine.

Money to Rebuild

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

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

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

Losses in 1904 dollars were around $150 million, of which $32 million 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 of its insureds were affected by the fire, and all claims were paid in full. Within just a few years, the city's main business section was restored and functioning, thanks to the help of other fire departments, including those of the FDNY.

Special Reports /

Historic Loss Series: The Great 1904 Fire of Baltimore

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