The Fire Spreads

Map Courtesy of Enoch Pratt Free Library

The fire started to spread toward the southeast of the city, south to Pratt and east past Calvert St. At 5 pm, the fire department planned to dynamite two downtown buildings to stop to the spread of the fire. John Duer & Son, a carpentry and hardware store, and Schwab Bros, located at Charles and German Street. After the explosion the buildings remained standing and the fire continued to spread.

This ad was placed by John Duer & Son in the Baltimore Merchants & Manufacturers Association of Baltimore’s publication about Baltimore’s city zoning limits. This ad was placed in October 1917, which shows this company was not destroyed after the fire.

Luckily, around 8 pm, the wind began to change. The wind started to move from the west pushing the fire eastward. The stopped the fire just short of City Hall. Fire engines from Philadelphia and Wilmington arrived to help out the fires. In 1904, there were over 600 different sizes of hose couplings used throughout the US. While fire departments tried to make the hoses fit by wrapping them couplings with cloth, it reduced the water pressure which hindered the fire hoses effectiveness.

After midnight, the wind changed once again moving the fire from north east. Another fire started up in the Maryland Institute Association of Mechanical Arts and started to spread around the Center Market and Water Street. As the morning rose , both fires joined together in the middle of the city.

Map Courtesy of Enoch Pratt Free Library