Images of 1914 blaze in Pottsville startle even a century later

Sept. 01--The images of the ruins are still startling even a century after they were taken.

Giant clouds of smoke rising from the winter-chilled remains of fire-ravaged buildings in the city's downtown, a block of them, a million dollars worth of property in 1914.

"Today, with inflation, I think that would come to about $24 million," Thomas B. Drogalis, the Schuylkill County Historical Society's executive director, said Thursday as he flipped through photos of the historical conflagration.

To celebrate 185 years of firefighting in Pottsville, local fire officials and historians will host a special program at The Majestic Theater, 209 N. Centre St., at 7 p.m.Nov. 12 to observe the 100th anniversary of what they say was the city's biggest blaze -- and its first three-alarm fire -- which occurred early Dec. 17, 1914.

The Schuylkill County Historical Society, Pottsville, the Schuylkill Historical Fire Society, Shenandoah, and the Pottsville Fire Department will host "The Crucible: The 100th Anniversary of Pottsville's Great Fire of 1914."

"A crucible is defined as an occasion of severe test or trial. Fire Chief Lynaugh and his firefighting forces would surely agree -- as do we -- that a massive fire in the heart of the city's business district, on a bitterly cold night, and with water supply difficulties in the early stages, tested both the department and the city in a way that they hadn't imagined," said Michael R. Glore, Pottsville, co-author of the 2010 book "Schuylkill County Firefighting."

The event will be free and open to the public. There are 224 seats and Drogalis expects a packed house. He said people interested in attending should make reservations by calling the society at 570-622-7540.

Glore will be among the guest speakers. He is a career firefighter for the City of Reading, a firefighter with Phoenix Fire Company No. 2, Pottsville, and a past assistant fire chief for the City of Pottsville. Mike Kitsock, Pottsville, president of the Schuylkill Historical Fire Society, also will also speak.

"Mike Kitsock and I generally agree that the 1914 fire in Pottsville was the third worst fire in Schuylkill County history. The first was Shenandoah's Great Fire of 1883. Second was Mahanoy City'sMemorial Day fire in 1945. A close fourth was Shenandoah'sSouth Main Street fire of 1955," Glore said Thursday.

The fire started just before 3 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 17, 1914, and caused an estimated $1 million in damage, "an appalling loss" according to the newspaper's archives.

In 1914, the City of Pottsville and its fire department were still in their infancy, Glore said.

"Pottsville and the Pottsville Fire Department were in transition. Pottsville had just been chartered as a third class city in 1911 and was growing. The fire department had begun the transition from horse-drawn apparatus to motorized apparatus. And, in the midst of that, Pottsville was faced with the most destructive fire in its history," Glore said.

The city's first three-alarm blaze, it destroyed numerous buildings, including the P.J. Ferguson building, occupied by the Woolworth Company, where it started, according to the "Joseph H. Zerbey History of Pottsville and Schuylkill County," published in 1936.

"The size, construction and configuration of those buildings would present modern firefighting forces with a daunting challenge. One can imagine the challenges faced in 1914. In addition to the construction characteristics, people must also remember that this fire occurred shortly before Christmas. The Woolworth store, where the fire originated, and the J. Miehle Department Store, were heavily stocked with merchandise for the holiday season, adding a tremendous fuel load to the respective buildings," Glore said.

In just five hours, the blaze had "practically wiped out the entire block from Norwegian to Mahantongo, from Centre to Second," according to the Dec. 17, 1914, edition of The Pottsville Republican.

The Zerbey history listed the financial losses businesses sustained. The Ferguson building sustained $40,000 in damage and the W.S. Cowen building and drug store, $25,000. The C.W. Mortimer haberdashery building and stock lost $25,000. The Pennsylvania Bank building lost in the neighborhood of $40,000. The E. Fisher building and jewelry store lost $30,000. The Academy of Music, a noted playhouse, was a $170,000 loss.

The J. Miehle Department Store was on the southeast corner of Second and West Norwegian streets, the current site of the Masonic Building, Glore said. It sustained $200,000 in losses, according to the Zerbey history.

"The loss is roughly estimated at a million dollars and about two thirds of this amount is covered by insurance," according to the Dec. 17, 1914, edition of The Pottsville Republican.

At the time, city officials debated why the fire did so much damage. Firefighters at the time said the water supply wasn't sufficient, according to the Zerbey history.

"The theory most accepted is that the trouble occurred at the East Side basin of the water company where the explanation 20 years after the fire has it that a perforated plate over the intake to the city mains became clogged and shut off the supply from the basin, with the result that until the water from the huge Wolfe Creek reservoir was turned directly into the mains at Minersville and Centre streets the fire department was without an adequate supply," according to the Zerbey history.

While an assistant fire chief suffered burns to his face, no firefighters suffered serious injuries. The fire left 300 people jobless, according to the Zerbey history.

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