ENGINE 21 FIREHOUSE 238 E 40TH STREET MIDTOWN EAST MANHATTAN DIVISION 3, BATTALION 8 “THE 21 CLUB”
VOLUNTEER ERA – PRE-FDNY
1854 - JENNINGS CLOTHING STORE FIRE - 11 LODDS
Hose 53 lost 3 firefighters -LODDs - Michael Flynn, Dan MacKay, Alexander MacKay at the WT Jennings and Company Clothing Store fire at 231 Broadway on April 25, 1854.
New York City Fire Museum
April 25, 2013 · New York, NY ·
4/25/1854 - Jennings Building Fire and Collapse: Said to be the worst day in the history of the New York City's volunteer Fire Department, the W. T. Jennings Clothing Store on Broadway catches fire and quickly spreads to the adjoining two buildings. Eleven firemen are killed in the basement of the building when a partition wall collapses, bringing down most of the first floor and a safe.
History in the Making 4/25: In Memory of a Horrible Fire
Above: A dramatic depiction of a fire which took place 160 years ago today.
W. T. Jennings was a fine gentleman’s clothing store located at 231 Broadway, on the site of today’s Woolworth Building. A tremendous fire took the building on the evening of April 25, 1854, causing thousands of dollars in damage and destroying the “hair-dye and wig establishment” next door.
In the image above, you can see the volunteer fire fighters manning a pump at the very edge of City Hall Park. The Astor House would have been one block to the south.
Eleven men were eventually killed in this horrible blaze, the worst fire-related accident since the Great Explosion of 1845 (which killed 30 people). It was later discovered that the fire was started by teenager thieves who were subsequently sent to Sing Sing Prison. However the architect and builders of the structure were censured in a later hearing for creating a so-called fire “death-trap.” Jennings eventually opened another location at 566 Broadway (at Spring Street). Below: headline from the NYT.
History in the Making 4/25: In Memory of a Horrible Fire - The Bowery Boys: New York City History (boweryboyshistory.com)
NEWSPAPER FIRE ACCOUNTS
LOOTERS
FUNERAL AND FAMILY SUPPORT FOR VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS
VOLUNTEER ERA – PRE-FDNY
1854 - JENNINGS CLOTHING STORE FIRE - 11 LODDS
Hose 53 lost 3 firefighters -LODDs - Michael Flynn, Dan MacKay, Alexander MacKay at the WT Jennings and Company Clothing Store fire at 231 Broadway on April 25, 1854.
New York City Fire Museum
April 25, 2013 · New York, NY ·
4/25/1854 - Jennings Building Fire and Collapse: Said to be the worst day in the history of the New York City's volunteer Fire Department, the W. T. Jennings Clothing Store on Broadway catches fire and quickly spreads to the adjoining two buildings. Eleven firemen are killed in the basement of the building when a partition wall collapses, bringing down most of the first floor and a safe.
History in the Making 4/25: In Memory of a Horrible Fire
Above: A dramatic depiction of a fire which took place 160 years ago today.
W. T. Jennings was a fine gentleman’s clothing store located at 231 Broadway, on the site of today’s Woolworth Building. A tremendous fire took the building on the evening of April 25, 1854, causing thousands of dollars in damage and destroying the “hair-dye and wig establishment” next door.
In the image above, you can see the volunteer fire fighters manning a pump at the very edge of City Hall Park. The Astor House would have been one block to the south.
Eleven men were eventually killed in this horrible blaze, the worst fire-related accident since the Great Explosion of 1845 (which killed 30 people). It was later discovered that the fire was started by teenager thieves who were subsequently sent to Sing Sing Prison. However the architect and builders of the structure were censured in a later hearing for creating a so-called fire “death-trap.” Jennings eventually opened another location at 566 Broadway (at Spring Street). Below: headline from the NYT.
History in the Making 4/25: In Memory of a Horrible Fire - The Bowery Boys: New York City History (boweryboyshistory.com)
NEWSPAPER FIRE ACCOUNTS
LOOTERS
FUNERAL AND FAMILY SUPPORT FOR VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS
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