Summary
The Baltimore conflagration of February 7, 1904 consumed 80 city blocks in the principle business section, causing an estimated loss of $50 million. A discarded cigarette may have started the fire by igniting cotton stored in the basement of a warehouse. This then set-off two explosions that destroyed the warehouse and spread the flames. Firefighters dynamited structures in order to create fire breaks to block the fires spread but this failed. Some 50 firefighters were injured of which one died some days later.
The fire drew some 1231 firefighters from multiple fire companies from the surrounding communities. However they were severely hampered in their efforts by the fact that some of their hoses did not fit the Baltimore hydrant connections.
Change in standards: As a result of this experience the NBFU and NFPA adopted in 1905 a standard diameter and number of threads per inch for hose couplings and fire hydrants.
Read more about this fire online including eyewitness accounts:
- Major U.S. Cities Using National Standard Fire Hydrants, One Century After the Great Baltimore Fire - NIST
- Great Baltimore Fire of 1904 - Maryland Digital Cultural Heritage
- Great Baltimore Fire - Maryland Fire Museum
- Aftermath of the Great Baltimore Fire– Enoch Pratt Free Library Photo Collection
- The Baltimore Conflagration - Report of the Committee on Fire-Restrictive Construction - NFPA
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