TIMELINE OF MAJOR CHELSEA FIRES

1834	Chelsea's first recorded fire  In 1834, Mr. Hanscomb built a wheel-wright shop on Park Street, Chelsea Square. {All buildings on this section of Park Street from Williams to Winnisimmet Street, were moved in later years, to widen Chelsea Square}. Mr. Hanscomb's building was the first building in the Ferry Village to burn. The wind was blowing strong from the northwest on the morning of the fire. The building and contents were so combustible that it burned rapidly. The wind carried sparks and embers over most of the Village. Chelsea did not posses an engine at that time, but Engine #15 and crew came over from Boston and proceeded to put the fire out.
1843	Selfridge Shipyard on Marginal Street opposite Shawmut Street contained a large ship house on the property beyond which the ship building took place. Mr. Selfridge had built the steam ferry "Bellingham" in 1836. Mr. Selfridge retired from shipbuilding in 1841. The large ship house was then used by Stephen Sibley as a laundry. Late in 1843 an alarm of fire sounded for the laundry. Engine #l responded immediately, while trying to get into operation it was found the engine was frozen. Before they could get Engine #l working, Boston Engine #15, located near the East Boston Ferry arrived and got the first water stream on the fire.
1848	After the destruction of Stephen Sibley's laundry in 1843, Mr. Sibley bought the building. The upper floor was made into a hall while the rest of the building was used for a laundry with a paper stationery company in the basement. Early one morning in 1848 fire struck again. With a gale force wind from the northeast, the building was soon fullly involved in flames. Many homes were threatened when rolls of burning paper were carried in the high wind over a huge portion of the Village landing on roofs and on the Naval Hospital grounds. Some people, blocks away from the fire, began moving their furniture out of their home, preparing to evacuate. Had the wind shifted more inland Chelsea's first conflagration would have occurred at a much earlier point in history.
1849	About two o'clock on a Sunday morning late in 1849, the Engine #l house caught fire. The house burned rapidly and the fire gained great headway before being discovered. The engine and the house were heavily damaged. The town voted to build a new house with a new Engine #l next to the Park Street School (location of Police Station}. The burned remains of the old Engine #l were dug out of the ruins and repaired at a cost of $679.75 and placed in a leased house.
1866	A building, formerly the St. Lukes Church, on Broadway completely destroyed by fire.
1882	On May 31, 1882, at 4:55 P.M. Sparks from a cupalo furnace caused a fire at Hodge's Foundry resulting in the loss of two large wooden buildings on the property of C. A. Campbell and caused damage to two buildings on Front Street and nine buildings on Medford Street. The following list of buildings were damaged: A wooden building on the wharf owned by C. A. Campbell as a storehouse A wooden building on the wharf owned by C. A. Campbell occupied by Sturgis Chaddock as storehouse A dwelling on Front Street owned and occupied by Sturgis Chaddock as a brick factory. A dwelling at No. 26 Front Street owned by Sylvester Edwards and occupied by Thomas Brown. A brick dewlling at 24 Front Street owned by Thomas Holderness and occupied by Frederick Emmons. A brick dwelling at 32 Medford Street owned and occupied by Gustavus V. Salisbury and Charles H. Stowe. A brick dwelling at 34 Medford Street owned by Sophia G. Knight and occupied by Mrs. Jeremiah Hunt. A brick dwelling at 36 Medford Street owned by Mrs. Emily T. Baker and occupied by Michael J. Sullivan. A brick dwelling at 38 Medford Street owned and occupied by Sarah C. Hackett. A dwelling at 40 Medford Street owned by Lyman G. Smith and occupied by Graham fortis. A brick dwelling at 42 and 44 Medford Street owned by the Trustees of the Home for Little Wanderers and occupied by Frank Chase and Henry Templeton. A brick dwelling at 46 Medford Street owned and occupied by Mrs. Elmira Hamilton. A brick dwelling at 48 Medford Street owned by Mrs. Sarah P. Briggs and occupied by R. H. Knight. A dwelling at 71 Chestnut Street owned and occupied by Joseph Maggi. There were a number of incipient fires in the vicinity of Medford Street and Broadway due to flying embers from this fire on Campbell's Wharf. On November 12, 1882, while fighting a naptha fire in the Charles Rogers Extracting Company on Eastern Avenue, an explosion occurred seriously burning nine firefighters and injuring many others with slight burns.
1884	On July 3, 1884 a fire occurred in the Revere Rubber Mill main building on Eastern Avenue. The main building and a four story brick and a two story brick storehouse were completely destroyed. - Loss of $434,000.00 In late July of 1884 buildings at the corner of Maple and Auburn Streets caught fire. The fire spread to a number of dwellings and destroyed the large coal shed of the Chelsea Gas Company.
1886	On Friday, December 10, 1886 at 4:20 A.M. a fire in a three story brick building at 9 Congress Avenue, owned by the Thomas Cunningham heirs and occupied by Mr. Tarbox as a bakery was caused by a kettle of fat boiling over. Peter Brennan, an employee, received severe burns which proved fatal.
1890	Magee Furnace Company fire - Loss of $18,116.00 On April 17, 1890 at 10:05 P.M. an unknown explosion set fire simultaneously to three floors of a four story wooden building used as a grain elevator at the foot of Gerrish Avenue. The fire spread to a one story wooden building used as a foundry by the United States Foundry Company and a two story building used for the storage of patterns. The fire ignited a one story brick building owned by A.A.White and Company as a varnish store house and a two and one half story stable at the foot of Gerrish Avenue owned by a Mrs. Alice H. Davis. Total loss was $30,185.00.
1893	On August 10, 1893 at 5:41 P.M. box 4 was sounded for a fire at Cook's Farm in several one and one half story stables on Washington Avenue near the Everett line. These buildings consisted of several barns, all connected and filled with hay. This fire was outside the water supply with the nearest hydrant over 3000 feet away. At this fire, driver Grover and engineman Brown of engine 3 and spare driver Perkins of the chemical engine were severly burned. The horses of engine 3 were injured so badly that one was sold for $55.00 and the other killed. The cause of the fire was unknown with damages of $23,485.00.
1894	On May 9, 1894 at 10:16 A.M.box 13 was sounded for the A. L. Haskell & Son Mattress Factory at the corner of Marginal and Shurtleff Streets. The fire was in a three story wooden building and was caused by sparks from a picking machine. The fire extended to a two and one half story wooden dwelling at 94 Marginal Street owned by William Pratt and occupied by J. Peterson. The fire also extended to two other buildings with slight damage. Damage from this fire was $11,321.30. On June 30, 1894 at 9:06 A.M. box 4 at the corner of Sagamore and Cheever Street was sounded for a fire at the Mount Washington Spring Company. A two and one half story wooden building located on Washington Avenue, near Cook Avenue, used for the manufacture of tonics. Cause of the fire was unknown. Loss of $13,900.00.
1897	On October 1, 1897 at 3:45 P.M., two persons were severly burned by an explosion of naptha gas at 311 Broadway. The windows of the building were blown out and the building set on fire.
1902	On May 13, 1902 at 10:45 P.M. Box 36 was sounded for a fire at the Bond Block at the corner of Broadway and Parker Street. The fire had started in the wooden stable in the rear which and extended to six other buildings. A second alarm was sounded and assistance responed from Everett and Revere. The fire was confined to the buildings burning at the time of the alarm, although fifteen other buildings were damaged from sparks from the original fire. The loss by this fire was $35,036.60. Leonard C. Lewis was arrested and confessed to setting the fire to the stable. He was convicted and sent to Concord Reformatory for a long term. On June 9, 1902 at 12:01 A.M. a serious fire occured in the wooden buildings on Front Street occupied by Dennis A. O'Brien and Company, roofers. This fire spread rapidly to the wooden sheds of George D. Emery Company, helped by the explosion of a barrel of gasoline in the yard. Assistance was asked from Boston which responed promptly with two engines. The loss by this fire was $10,491.82. The fire was of incendiary origin.
1904	On January 9, 1904 at 8:45 P.M. box 43 was sounded for a fire at 14 Franklin Avenue. The Magee house, owned by Harris Soloman, on Franklin Avenue caught fire. Cause unknown. Loss of $9,600.00. On June 25, 1904 at 7:04 P.M. The Planting Mill of Thomas Appleton on Marginal Street was struck by lightning and caught fire. Loss of $5,400.00. (Box 19 and Box 12) On July 5, 1904, late Tuesday afternoon, a huge fire at the Mystic Wharf in Charlestown attracted as much attention from Chelsea people as though the fire had been in the city and vast crowds journeyed to the bridge to watch the spectacular blaze. Chief Spencer of the Chelsea fire department drove to Charlestown and offered the services of his department to Chief Cheswell of Boston. The latter asked the Chelsea chief to look out for the heavy wooden underpinning of the elevated bridge that crosses the Mystic River. The heat from the fire had already set these timbers smoking and there was a grave danger that this expensive structure would be destroyed. Two lines of hose were laid the entire length of the bridge from the Chelsea side to the burning elevator. By steadily keeping at it, in the face of almost overpowering heat, they managed to keep the heavy timbers of the bridge intack thus saving the Chelsea North Bridge. On September 16, 1904 box 26 was sounded for a fire at the Williams School on Walnut Street. The school suffered a serious fire resulting in the loss of $11,185.00. The first alarm was received at 11:45 P.M.. The cause of the fire was undetermined. On November 27, 1904 at 6:59 A.M. box 51 was sounded for the Vavoline Oil Works at the foot of Cottage Street. Cause of the fire was unknown. Loss of $3,500.00
1905	On Thursday, January 12, 1905 at 12:04 A.M. the Chelsea Fire Department received an alarm of fire from box 18. The first arriving apparatus found a smoke clogged square and found the Academy of Music fully involved in a mass of flames. The fire had gained such extensive headway before being discovered that it was impossible to save the building. A second alarm was sounded at 12:08 A.M. followed by the mutual aid call 698. There was no fire break in that part of the square and Cross Street did not exist at the time. All stores and buildings in that exposure became threatened by the fire. The businesses in the Academy building and the Academy itself were completely destroyed. The hotel to the left of the fire building received received minimal damage thanks to the strenuous efforts of the firefighters. A dwelling and a business on Division Street and a dwelling on Park Street also received exposure damage. The fire loss was the greatest in Chelsea's history since the Revere Rubber Milll fire in 1884. Mount Bellingham Methodist Church destroyed by fire on September 25, 1905
1906	On September 27, 1906 box 46 was sounded for a fire in the Prattville Car Barns on Washington Avenue owned by the Boston & Northern Street Railroad. A fire alarm box was located within seventy-five feet and a combination company within 200 yards of this building. Due to the delay in giving the alarm, the entire interior of the building was in flames by the time the fire department arrived. Two employees, on duty inside the building, tried to extinguish the fire in its early stages, and failing this turned their attention to saving some of the cars, neglecting to give an alarm to the fire department. Two cars near the front entrance were saved but the loss to the building and contents was estimated at $204.481.00
1908	January 22, 1908 box 28 was sounded for a serious fire on Auburn Street which destroyed or damaged thirteen buildings. It was one of the largest fires that had occurred in Chelsea's closely built west side up to this time. At one point the fire seemed to threaten the destruction of all the buildings within a radius of half a mile due to flying embers and a strong south west wind. With the assistance of East Boston, Everett and Charlestown, however, the blaze was confined to a much smaller area. The fire jumped Auburn Street and damaged a two story tenement house owned by Louis Astravosky. The firemen made a determined stand at this house and this marked the northern extremity of the fire. Beyond it were several rag shops and had they caught fire the whole section between Auburn and Second Streets would have been doomed. The firemen of Hose No. 3 made a heroic stand at this point remaining until their hands were burned by the intense heat and they were forced to abandon their hose. Meanwhile the fire jumped eastward across Maple Street and set fire to the residence of John Lawlor. From Lawlor's house the fire spread to the Auburn Street block of small tenements. An eighth of a mile away the home of Rosie Flynn caught fire from flying embers, but was quickly put out. During the progress of the fire several houses in the neighborhood caught fire from sparks but were put out by residents and neighbors with pails of water and garden hoses. CONFLAGRATION: The First Great Chelsea Fire - April 12, 1908. 2,822 buildings destroyed. On the morning of September 21, 1908, sparks from a locomotive ignited a rear building of the Atwood and McManus Box Company on Everett Avenue at Vale Street. By the time the fire alarm was sounded at 8:00 A.M., the wind had whipped the fire into a mass of flames throughout the building. Upon the arrival of the fire department a second alarm was sounded from box 28, followed by a call for mutual aid at 8:06 A.M. Before being brought under control, the fire had destroyed all the buildings of the Atwood and McManus plant, the Pope and Cottle Lumber Yard, the Union Metal Company, the Steel Shank Company, a bottling company, a two story dwelling and freight cars belonging to the Boston and Maine Railroad. A number of dwellings received less damage due to flying sparks and embers. Damage to the Atwood and McManus Company estimated at $414,000.00. On December 21, 1908 at 9:47 P.M. the valuable mahogany mills of George D. Emery at 1 Broadway, were destroyed by fire. (Box 8) Loss of $84,200.00. Cause unknown.
1911	Three major fires were recorded for 1911 with a culuminative damage of $50,000.00. Thomas Appleton Company, George D. Emery Company and the Colonial Bed Company.
1914	On Saturday morning, December 26, 1914 at 8:23 A.M. an alarm of fire was received from box 26. Upon arrival the fire department found massive fire and smoke issuing from the Pope and Cottle Lumber Company yard at 140 Carter Street. A second alarm was immediately sounded. The fire was spreading with immense speed creating the fear of another conflagration. The fire department remained at the scene all day and all night enduring zero degree temperatures and severe inclement weather. On Sunday morning, Chief Hudson sounded the special call bringing in all call firefighters to give a much needed relief to the permanent men. Pope and Cottle experienced a huge fire loss, but recovered and remained in business for another thirty five years.
1918	On May 10, 1918 at 11:54 P.M. Box 28 was sounded for a fire in the rag shop of David Feinberg and Company at 240 Second Street. The fire was caused by rubber heating in a barrel which spread to rubbish in the yard. At 3:40 A.M. a second fire broke out at box 28 for a rag shop at 112 Auburn Street occupied by Jacob Bargar. A second alarm was sounded when this fire spread to the rag shop of Rosenberg Brothers at 209 Maple Street. The cause of this fire was undetermined.
1919	On January 11, 1919 at 12:21 A.M. a two alarm fire broke out in the foundry building of the Griffin Wheel Company on 33 Gerrish Avenue. Damage to the building was $80,235.17 with a loss to the contents of $89,748.17. The cause of the fire was unknown. On January 20, 1919 at 11:20 P.M. box 212 was sounded for a fire in a cane factory at 191 Williams Street. The building was owned by Shapiro Brothers and occupied by the Southwest Cane Company. A second alarm was sounded at 11:22 P.M. The cause of the fire was unknown with a loss to the building and contents of $81,000.00. On February 23, 1919 at 4:41 A.M. box 241 was sounded for a factory fire at the New Boston Business Company at 166 Elm Street. The factory building was owned by the Chelsea Foundry Company. A second and third alarm were quickly sounded at 4:43 and 4:44 A.M. due to the intensity of the fire. The cause was unknown with a loss to the building of $56,650.00. On March 19, 1919 at 3:59 A.M. a three alarm fire broke out at the mercantile establishment owned and occupied by James Bloomberg at 19 Everett Avenue. Box 13 was sounded with exposure damage to the businesses of M. Murray and Company, S. Wasser, Messing & Blake, Morris Stone and Margolin & Freeman. The cause of the fire was unknown. On July 7, 1919 at 1:18 A.M. a box 24 was sounded for a fire in the stable at 248 Arlington Street, owned by Harry Fickman and occupied by the Bay State Smelting Company. A second alarm was sounded at 1:26 A.M. Also damaged due to exposure were the Somerset Club and residences of P. J. Farrel, Harry Tamansky and Harry Bostonian. The cause of the fire was unknown.
1926	In September of 1926 a general alarm fire broke out in the old Magee Furnace Company building on Marginal Street. The building was unoccupied except for the first floor which was the office of the Beacon Waste and Supply Company. The building was owned by the Texacco Oil Company. The interior of the walls were soaked with oil and when the firefighters arrived the building was a roaring furnace. The fire was so intense that four homes across the street at 90, 92, 96 and 98 Marginal Street were blistered by the heat. Additional problems were created by the collapsing walls which were a menace to the firefighters.
1952	On May 12, 1952 a fire broke out at the Chelsea Armory on Broadway and Armory Street. The two story brick building was headquarters of the 772nd Anti-Aircraft Automatic Weapons Gun Batalion of the Massachusetts National Guard. The fire was first noticed by telephone operator Martha Lathrop who notified the fire department. The first alarm was sounded at 9:20 P.M. As the firefighters arrived there was a loud hot-air explosion and clouds of heavy black smoke and flames poured out of the doors and windows. Chief Charles G. Voke ordered a second, third and fourth alarm in rapid succession summoning aid from Everett, Boston, Revere and Winthrop. The blaze started in the basement and caught on to closets and the beams. .22 calibre ammunition began exploding from the heat of the blaze. Holes were broken through the drill floor with axes so firefighters could direct the water lines into heart of the fire. The fire was brought under control at 11:30 P.M. and finally extinguished in the early morning hours. Seventeen firefighters were hospitalized, Joseph Hurley, James G. Better, John O'Connor, John Keohane and William J. Buckley of Ladder 2, Morris Margolis and Edward Arsenault of Engine 2, Lt. William Capistran, Elmer Chapman, Arthur E. Guegen and Daniel L. Delaney of Engine 4, Lt. William Grover and Robert Martin of Engine 3, Morris Mills of Engine 5, John Walsh of Boston Ladder 2, James Sheehan of Boston Engine 6 and Michael Monahan of Boston Engine 5. A Sergeant Gordon K. Young, 31, of 13 Louis Street, caretaker of the armory confessed to flicking a lit match into an overturned can of lacquer thinner and starting the fire. He was booked at the local police station on charges of arson.
1957	The J. S. Green Building, a large corner block at Broadway and Second Street built in 1853, was destroyed by a three alarm fire on December 6, 1957. The building measured 62 feet by 120 feet extending back to Cherry Street from Broadway. It was three stories high reduced to two stories after a Thanksgiving Eve fire in 1950. The building was beyond repair and was torn down.
1969	Gulf Oil Farm fire - January 3, 1969
1970	On November 9, 1970 a major fire was discovered in the auditorium of the Chelsea Senior High School. The damage to the building was estimated at $500.000 with no estimate on contents.
1971	On January 30, 1971 a suspicious fire broke out in the auditorium of the Williams School. This fire caused an estimated $3000 damage to the school and no estimate to the contents. On March 10, 1971 at 10:22 P.M. a fire broke out on the Hawthorne Street side of the Shurtleff School. The fire was discovered by two young boys who ran to the Engine One station at the corner of Park and Cross Streets to inform firefighters. Deputy Chief William E. Coyne reported that upon arrival flames could be seen engulfing room 26 on the ground floor on Hawthorne Street. The room had been used for art instruction. Firefighters from Engine One, Two, Three, Five and Ladder One and Two immediately entered the building by breaking through windows and bringing in hoselines. The fire was kept to one alarm and is believed to have started in a stack of papers piled in one part of the art room. It is suspected that this fire was the work of an arsonist. This was the third school fire in Chelsea in the last five months with damage estimated at $6000. On Thursday evening, March 11, 1971, a fire of suspicious origin completely destroyed the Carter Junior High School on Forsyth Street with an estimated $3 million dollars damage. Shortly after 9:00 P.M. an alarm of fire was sounded from box 432. When firefighters arrived smoke was billowing out the rear of the building. When the front door of the school was forced open the auditorium was a mass of flames. Lines were laid into the building and the first water on the fire seemed to knock down the fire. A second alarm was sounded at 9:24 P.M. for manpower. It appeared that the fire was under control but a further investigation revealed that the fire had spread to the upper floors. The fire had apparently spread through the air duct in the hall to the upper floors and then mushroomed through the walls and finally broke into the open on the top floor. At this point the chief ordered a third alarm which brought in additional men and equipment from surrounding cities and towns. The fire had now spread throughout the entire school. Headmaster Joseph Shultz was at the fire scene early in the evening but as he saw the fire spread and realized the school would be destroyed, he had to leave the scene because he could not bear to see his beloved school go up in smoke. As the fire began to become progressively worse, large flying brands began to spread over the area. Homes directly across the street on Forsyth and Franklin Streets were evacuated. At 10:53 P.M. the offshift call, 6-6, was sounded to bring in all off duty men to relieve the exhausted firefighters. Firefighters from Everett, Revere, Boston, Malden, Saugus, Winthrop, Medford, Watertown and Lynn were called to assist local firefighters. Chelsea Fire Chief Herbert C. Fothergill stated that the school was a total loss and practically all that remains are the outer walls. A large portion of the rear wall caved in during the height of the fire. This was the fourth suspicious fire in a Chelsea school in the last five months.
1973	CONFLAGRATION: The Second Great Chelsea Fire - October 14, 1973
1974	On Tuesday, May 24, 1974 a five alarm fire struck the American Barrel Company on Carter Street. The first alarm was sounded shortly before 9:00 A.M. and within 20 minutes the walls of the American Barrel Company crumpled. The presence of creosote, a highly flammable substance used to treat barrels fed the flames. In quick succession Deputy Chief William Capistran orderd a second, third, fourth and fifth alarms sounded. Gasses in the building caused the flames to explode with the sound of cannons. Deputy Frederick Resca said heat transference caused the fire to spread to the Murdock Corporation at 158 Carter Street and other surrounding buildings. Ponn Machine Cutting Company, 245 Everett Avenue and Leatherstone Inc., 217 Everett Avenue went up in flames. The fire then spread to Chase Parker Company at 211 Everett Avenue, Gans Tire wharehouse and Plamer Spring Company before noon. Dense smoke poured out of Gans Tire as heavy aircraft tires burned. Police closed the expressway, Tobin Bridge, Broadway and Everett Avenue to prevent cars from hindering firefighting efforts. State Police arrived at the scene to assist the Chelsea Police. Firefighters opened Chelsea Stadium to house fire apparatus in safety. Firefighters hosed neighboring Thomas Strahan Company and stood watch atop the building to put out fires caused by any flying embers. Firefighters injured in the fire were Captain Paul Riley, Lieutenant Charles Crowley, Lieutenant Gerald Buckley, Firefighters Charles Szczerbinski, Frank Carolan, Arthur Gueguen, John Kanarkiewcz, Paul Sweney, Raymond Johnson, Chester Winam and Dennis Williams, who was adimited to the Chelsea Memorial Hospital with first degree burns and heat exhaustion. Also injured were Boston Firefighters John Conway and Richard Woods.
1978	On New Years Eve, January 1, 1978 a three alarm blaze at 172 - 174 Pearl Street claimed the lives of a veteran Chelsea Fire Captain, two young brothers, and their babysitter, in a tragedy that has stunned the city. Dead due to the fire are Fire Captain James E. Trainor, 53, who suffered a fatal heart attack while fighting the blaze; the two youngsters, Dennis Elliot, 4, and his brother Michael, 2 1/2; and their babysitter, Walter Juskiewicz, 26, of East Boston, a former Chelsea resident. See main text of the New Years Eve Fire Tragedy. On November 30, 1978, a five alarm fire destroyed eight dwellings on Poplar and Walnut Streets. At 10:43 P.M. box 236 was sounded. When firefighters arrived they found heavy fire and smoke pouring from the rear of the buildings. Captain Robert Denning, who was acting Deputy Chief quickly ordered a second alarm at 10:44 P.M. A third alarm was sounded at 10:47 P.M. At 10:52 P.M the fire was reported "out of control" and a fourth alarm was struck. Fearing the fire would engulf the other wooden dwellings in the block, due to the intense heat and flying embers, a fifth alarm was struck at 11:10 P.M. With the sounding of the successive alarms, firefighters and apparatus from Boston, Everett, Revere, Winthrop, Saugus, Lynn, Somerville, Cambridge, Brookline and Newton responded with additional help. It is believed that the fire started in the rear of the buildings, which in this particular area are but a few feet apart. It quickly engulfed the rear of the buildings at 200-202-204 and 206 Poplar Street and the rear of 223-225-227 and 229 Walnut Street. All these buildings were two and three story wood frame dwellings.
1997	An eight alarm fire destroys the Standard Box Company on Gerrish Avenue - June 6, 1997