Two area
cities in late
1800s fought
major fires
together
By W. T.
Block
First
published in
Beaumont
Enterprise on
Saturday
October 9,
1999.
If
some part of
Beaumont or
Orange is
still
fire-prone
today, each
community was
a tinderbox of
hazards in
1880, only
awaiting a
spark and a
strong wind to
destroy it. As
a result, each
city came to
depend on the
other for help
to fight the
worst fires.
Hence
each town’s
switch engine
and a flat car
were kept in
readiness to
carry the fire
engine and
fire fighters
to the other’s
assistance.
The worst fire
hazards in
each town were
the huge piles
of slabs,
waste wood,
shavings, and
sawdust that
were piled on
every vacant
lot.
The
worst fires in
Beaumont prior
to 1880 were
the Ross and
Alexander
sawmill fire
in 1857 and
the Pipkin and
Haltom sawmill
in 1873.
Orange’s fire
record after
1870 was much
worse.
Alexander
Gilmer lost 5
large sawmills
at Orange to
fire in 30
years’ time,
and David
Wingate lost 3
large mills
between 1880
and 1901.
Because
sawmills were
so fire-prone,
no company
could afford
to insure for
more than 25%
of value.
Hence the
larger mills
usually
installed
expensive
sprinkler
systems
throughout
their plants.
Although
Beaumont had
been
incorporated
twice before
the Civil War,
the first
permanent
incorporation
did not occur
until Aug.,
1881, when
John C. Craig
was elected
mayor. In
Sept., 1884,
the first fire
engine house
was built, and
Galveston
Daily News of
Sept. 15,
1884, reported
that:
“...The
cornerstone of
the new engine
house was laid
yesterday by
the fire
department...
The Wiess Hook
and Ladder Co.
and the
Beamont Fire
Co... paraded
the principal
streets... The
parade by the
firemen, fully
equipped, was
the first of
its kind ever
seen in
Beaumont...”
Two
bad fires of
October 1883,
probably
accounted for
the building
of the new
engine house
and purchase
of the first
fire engine.
On Oct. 4,
1883, fire
destroyed the
Star and
Crescent
Saloon, the
Kennedy House,
and some
neighboring
apartments.
The Orange
fire fighters
arrived within
40 minutes
after
receiving a
telegram.
A
week later on
Oct. 10th, a
big slab pile
caught fire,
threatening to
engulf the
entire
Beaumont
Lumber Co.
sawmill
property. The
News of Oct.
11, 1883 added
that:
“...Our
sister city,
Orange, was
again appealed
to for help,
and they
responded with
remarkable
alacrity, thus
cementing
between the
two cities a
bond of union,
and virtually
making out of
them one fire
department...”
In
June, 1884,
the Beaumont
Iron Works was
totally
destroyed by
fire at night,
and the fire
companies
could only
water down
adjacent
buildings,
pumping all
water out of
Neches River.
On July 30,
1889, Chief
Ogden and the
fire
department
were on the
ground in 15
minutes after
Beaumont
Lumber Co. dry
kiln caught
fire. The
conflagration
became such a
cauldron of
heat that 4
Beaumont
firemen were
badly
prostrated by
heat and
smoke.
Between
1881 and 1901
the Beaumont
fire fighters
responded to 3
Wingate
sawmill and 2
Gilmer sawmill
fires in
Orange, and in
essence
returned the
favors that
had been
bestowed on
Beaumont by
the Orange
fire fighters.
The record
time to Orange
for the
Beaumont fire
companies was
38 minutes.
The
writer
believes that
Beaumont’s
worst downtown
fire occurred
on Apr. 17,
1897, when 14
business
houses were
totally
destroyed.
Several
others,
including
Mothner
Brothers, S.
Sternberg, and
E. Deutser’s
dry goods
firms on
Crockett
Street, were
badly damaged,
and the loss,
if measured in
today’s
currency,
would probably
equal
$3,000,000.
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