Martin Street Conflagration - Nov. 6, 1915

Summary

Version 1.0 - April 9, 2017

• Raleigh Fire Department as career department is three years old.
• Has about 24 fully-paid men.
• Three fire stations.
• Three hose companies.
• Two chemical/hose trucks.
• One triple combination chemical/hose/pump truck.
• One reserve steam engine, motor-pulled.
• One hook and ladder wagon, motor-pulled.
   
• November 6, 1915.
• Saturday morning.
• Fire reported at 6:05 a.m.
• Started on third floor of 118-120 W. Martin Street, printing company.
• Destroyed five building, damaged many others.
• Four firemen and one civilian injured.
   
• Hose streams sprayed from street, and roofs of nearby buildings.
• Uzzell building walls collapsed, further spreading fire.
• Most damage occurred within two hours.
• Approximately 45,720 square-feet among six main burned buildings.
• Over $300,000 loss.
   
• Destroyed:
  • 118-120 W. Martin Street - E.M. Uzzell and Company, printers
  • 114-116 W. Martin Street - News & Observer
  • 122 W. Martin Street - Wake Shoe Company
  • 124 W. Martin Street - Crystal Theatre - Motion pictures
  • 219 1/3 S. McDowell Street - Storage warehouse
• Heavily damaged by fire:
  • 126 W. Martin Street - O'Quinn & Company; Baptist Book Store
• Some fire damage:
  • Martin and McDowell streets - The Raleigh Apartments
• Plus other small fires at other buildings.
   
• Heavily damaged by water and smoke:
  • 112 W. Martin Street - H. S. Storr Company
• Some water damage:
  • 113-121 W. Martin Street - Hotel Wright
• Plus water damage, or broken/melted windows on other buildings.

Stories 

• Fire Chief Charles Farmer and second firefighter attempted interior attack at Uzzell Biulding, entering the building, and reaching the second floor, when "trembling walls warned them to retreat."
• Former Fire Chief Sherwood Brockwell and firefighter took a line to the top of the two-story News & Observer building next door. They were pushed to a far corner by flames leaping from the third-floor window of the fire building, and escaped by a raised ladder.
• Brockwell and several firemen later took to the top of the Bland Hotel, with two hose lines raised by ropes.
   
• Uzzell building collapsed, and debris struck two buildings on the west side, including the two-story Crystal Theater where two firemen were manning a line of hose. The debris collapsed the roof and the firemen and debris fell two stories to the bottom. They self-extricated themselves, and were taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
• The collapsing walls allowed the fire to spread, and the heat started fires on the rear exterior of the Raleigh Apartments building at the corner of McDowell and Martin streets. Firemen placed a hose stream between the apartment building and the fire, while apartment residents extinguished small fires started inside rooms.
   
• Fire spread from the Crystal Theatre an adjoining one-story brick building at 126 W. Martin Street, occupied by O'Quinn & Company and the Baptist Book Store. The building was seriously damaged.
• Fire also spread from the Uzzell building to a one-story brick warehouse in the rear, used for storage by the Raleigh Apartments. The warehouse was destroyed.
   
• On the opposite side of Martin Street, windows melted and cracked on the buildings across the street, including Model Laundry, Uzzle Undertakers, the Dillon Supply Company, and Wright's Hotel. The hotel had its own fire hose system, and two lines were used to protect the main building and the annex building. Timbers under the water tower on the roof also caught fire, but were extinguished. Every room in the hotel was occupied, and all guests "packed their baggage and got out."
   

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