Remembering the 1906 Earthquake: Feeling the HeatKaren Barnett2015-04-18T08:57:32-07:00
In honor of Saturday’s anniversary of the 1906 Earthquake, I’m devoting each blog post this week to survivor stories. If you’d like to enter to win copies of my novels based during the disaster, Out of the Ruins and Beyond the Ashes, don’t miss the information at the bottom of this post.
As horrific as the initial earthquake seemed to be, most of the damage caused to the city occurred in the days that followed. Three days of intense flames swept through San Francisco. Since the earthquake had damaged the city’s infrastructure, there was little water available to fight the fire. Firefighters used dynamite in an attempt to clear firebreaks, sometimes with disastrous results.
Here are some memorable descriptions of the conflagration from the people who were there.
Lloyd Head, Roosevelt Boys Club: The sun shone blood-red through a thick haze of smoke and people began coming in a steady steam from the district near the fire.
Arnold Genthe, Photographer: I went to Montgomery Street to the shop of George Kahn, my dealer, and asked him to lend me a camera. “Take anything you want. This place is going to burn up anyway.” I selected the best small camera, a 3A Kodak Special. I stuffed my pockets with films and started out. It was only then that I began to realize the extent of the disaster which had befallen the city. The fire had started simultaneously in many different places when the housewives had attempted to get breakfast for their families, not realizing what a menace the ruined chimneys were. All along the skyline as far as eye could see, clouds of smoke and flames were bursting forth. The work of the fire department was badly hampered, as the water mains had burst.
. . . From a safe distance I watched with others the dynamiting of the block of our homes. There was no expression of despair. (“Well, there it goes!” “That’s that!” being the only comments heard.)
Jack London, photo by Arnold Genthe
Jack London, author: I stood at the corner of Kearny and Market, in the very innermost heart of San Francisco. Kearny Street was deserted. Half a dozen blocks away it was burning on both sides. The street was a wall of flame. And against this wall of flame, silhouetted sharply, were two United States cavalrymen sitting their horses, calming watching. That was all. Not another person was in sight. In the intact heart of the city two troopers sat their horses and watched.
Mrs. James T. Watkins: Every half hour two of us walked down the street, to see for ourselves how the flames were. The sky was lit up with the awful glare for three-fourths of the Heavens; on the other side was the black fog from the sea. We could hear the crackle of flames, the crash of falling roofs and walls, the roar of dynamite. Showers of cinders fell over us, and continued to fall for three days and nights.
…We staid there until after midnight, watching; by this time, the soldiers had adopted the plan of dynamiting every house that caught fire and the houses around it. The concussion of the dynamite explosions was like a slap on one’s cheek. We saw the dynamite loaded into the automobiles, and the dynamited houses collapse. I saw a man take up a box of dynamite, rundown a hill, and put it into a house next to the flames. I saw four soldiers in an automobile loaded with dynamite; one tire was punctured, and half of the wheel, and the automobile bumped over every stone, but never slackened speed.
Frank A. Leach, Superintendent of the United States Mint: The buildings across the alley from the mint were on fire, and soon great masses of flames shot against the side of our building as if directed against us by a huge blow-pipe. The glass in our windows, exposed to this great heat, did not crack and break, but melted down like butter; the sandstone and granite, of which the building was constructed, began to flake off with explosive noises like the firing of artillery. The heat was now intense. It did not seem possible for the structure to withstand this terrific onslaught. The roar of the
conflagration and crashing of falling buildings together with the noise given off from the exploding stones of our building, were enough to strike terror in our hearts, if we had had time to think about it. [The heroic actions of Leach and his men saved the Mint and its contents–$300 million, fully a third of the United States’ gold reserves in 1906].
In my novel, Out of the Ruins, the spreading fire leads to some of my characters’ darkest moments.
The sun burned, a fiery red ball blasting through the veil of smoke that clung to the city, but too high in the sky to be an actual sunset. Robert pressed his knuckles against his nose, certain he’d never be able to erase the scent of the incinerating city from his memory. The cinders floating on the breeze reminded him of the story of God’s manna. But these ashes were no blessing from God—more akin to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Abby trudged along by his side.
A shiver ran down his spine. As tired and bedraggled as they were, they must resemble a young family on the run from the flames. His mind wandered for a moment imagining Abby as his wife. He longed to take her into his arms and promise her Mrs. Fischer and Davy would be safe, but the longer they spent walking, the more concerned he grew. The fires were moving too fast.
In honor of this anniversary week, I’m hosting two separate giveaways. You must enter each separately, so pay attention to the details!
To enter to win a copy of Out of the Ruins, book one of the Golden Gate Chronicles, you can find the entry form below. [UPDATE: CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED]
Book two of the series, Beyond the Ashes, releases June 16, 2015. It’s available for pre-order at most bookstores and online booksellers. You can enter to win an advance copy by subscribing to my e-newsletter. You’ll find subscription information on the right-hand side of my website, or on the top menu of my Facebook page. Because of some technical difficulties, I’m extending this giveaway until Saturday morning at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time. If you’re having any trouble subscribing, click the “Contact” tab above and send me a message including your name and email address. I’ll add your name to the subscription list by hand. If you subscribed recently, make sure you received the confirmation email. It may be sitting in your junk email file. You need to follow the instructions on that email address in order for me to see your entry. [UPDATE: CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED, E-NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIPTIONS STILL WELCOMED.]
Tomorrow I’ll give you a peek into the weeks and months that followed. With over half the citizens of San Francisco left homeless, some of the worst challenges still lay ahead. I hope you’ll join me!
Want to catch up on the rest of this week’s series?
Touching testimonies, Karen. And, your book Out of the Ruins captures the post-quake horror and the shock well, as well showing us Abby and Robert’s hearts. Look forward to reading Beyond the Ashes.
Thanks, KT! Out of the Ruins is very dear to me, and partially because I love these eyewitness stories so much. The people in this era had a beautiful way of expressing themselves. I think we’ve lost some of that in our communications styles today.
Since I’m only 27 many of the important dates people remember were before my time. I would say that 9/11 was one of those dates that I will never forget, I was only 13 then and it was scary stuff. Another event that I don’t remember the precise date but the news around it is the Oklahoma City Bombing, I watched the coverage on the news and even then understood what a horrible thing had happened.
In honor of Saturday’s anniversary of the 1906 Earthquake, I’m devoting each blog post this week to survivor stories. If you’d like to enter to win copies of my novels based during the disaster, Out of the Ruins and Beyond the Ashes, don’t miss the information at the bottom of this post.the disaster which had befallen the city. The fire had started simultaneously in many different places when the housewives had attempted to get breakfast for their families, not realizing what a menace the ruined chimneys were. All along the skyline as far as eye could see, clouds of smoke and flames were bursting forth. The work of the fire department was badly hampered, as the water mains had burst.
Frank A. Leach, Superintendent of the United States Mint: The buildings across the alley from the mint were on fire, and soon great masses of flames shot against the side of our building as if directed against us by a huge blow-pipe. The glass in our windows, exposed to this great heat, did not crack and break, but melted down like butter; the sandstone and granite, of which the building was constructed, began to flake off with explosive noises like the firing of artillery. The heat was now intense. It did not seem possible for the structure to withstand this terrific onslaught. The roar of the
ut of the Ruins, the spreading fire leads to some of my characters’ darkest moments.
Touching testimonies, Karen. And, your book Out of the Ruins captures the post-quake horror and the shock well, as well showing us Abby and Robert’s hearts. Look forward to reading Beyond the Ashes.
Thanks, KT! Out of the Ruins is very dear to me, and partially because I love these eyewitness stories so much. The people in this era had a beautiful way of expressing themselves. I think we’ve lost some of that in our communications styles today.
Since I’m only 27 many of the important dates people remember were before my time. I would say that 9/11 was one of those dates that I will never forget, I was only 13 then and it was scary stuff. Another event that I don’t remember the precise date but the news around it is the Oklahoma City Bombing, I watched the coverage on the news and even then understood what a horrible thing had happened.