History Watch: “Hell Night”

History Watch:
“Hell Night”
If you were to walk or drive on Fourth Street between D and E Streets, you might notice that the architecture of the buildings on both sides of the street is a little different from other buildings along our main thoroughfare.  The buildings look a little newer than many of the older ones and it might seem strange that they all appear to be of the same time period.
 
In order to find the answer as to what happened, we have to travel back through time to the middle of summer on a very windy afternoon on Monday, July 29, 1957.  At about 4:00 PM, two young boys about 10 years old were walking on Fourth Street looking for something to do.  As they got to the northwest corner of Fourth and D Street, they saw a small shed to the rear of the main building and they went inside to do some exploring.
 
One of the boys, who had some matches with him, started to play with them by lighting several matches, and he then started several small fires.  One of those small fires got out of hand and the small fire started to turn into a bigger one.  Both boys did what most ten year olds would do.  They ran and they did not tell anyone.
 
The first alarm came in at about 5:00 P.M.  The fire in the shed had jumped to the building at the Northwest corner of Fourth and D Street, which was the historic Odd Fellows Hall, a wooden structure that was built in 1871.  The high winds pushed the fire into this building and by the time the first fire engine arrived, the fire was well under way.
 
Firefighters attempted to contain the fire to the one building, but the wind kept the fire going and a second building on the north side of Fourth Street started to burn.  At about 7:00 PM, three buildings were burning and additional engines started to arrive at the scene.  A crowd of several thousand people were now present and many of them assisted firefighters in pulling hoses to the buildings.
 
At about 8:00 PM people started screaming and yelling at several firemen who were on D Street.  The people were pointing to the building across the street which was at the southwest corner of Fourth and D Street.  Smoke was coming from the roof.  The Fire had jumped the street.  Fire Fighters immediately started to pull hose to the building as they now had to open a second front.  The building was the Johnson Furniture and Paint Company and it didn't take long for the flames to get into the structure and it started to burn with a great deal of fury. 
 
At about 9:00 PM both sides of the street were now on fire as firefighters just could not get ahead of the flames.  Citizens standing on Fourth Street saw an interesting sight when they observed two San Francisco Fire Engines rolling up the street to assist.  The Fire Department was asking for help from out of the county as the entire downtown was now threatened.  Everyone now knew it was serious.
 
The fire continued to burn, igniting buildings on both sides of the street between D and E Streets.  Firefighters were able to get into a pet store and release a large number of birds.  At Keaton’s Mortuary, which was behind the burning structures, employees started to evacuate the building, carrying out bodies and loading them into vehicles.
 
At about 10:00 P.M., a crowd of several hundred people, who were standing at Fifth and D Street, started to cheer.  Traveling westbound on Fifth Avenue approaching D Street was a convoy of about four fire engines.  But these were not your normal fire engines.  They were huge with a lot of fireman riding on them.  They were engines from Hamilton Field and Travis Air Force Base.  These engines were made for fighting airplane crash fires. They were immediately put into action.
 
By about 10:30 P.M. the San Rafael Fire Chief decided that a final stand had to be made to save the downtown.  The battle lines were drawn.  Don’t let the fire spread east of D Street and west of E Street.  With a force of over 200 firefighters and over 30 engines, the fight was on.   By 11:30 P.M. it was over. The firefighters had successfully contained the fire to one block of Fourth Street between D and E Streets. Miraculously, no one was seriously injured in the battle.  The San Rafael Police Department went to work on the case and it didn't take long before they had the two young boys in custody.
 
The City of San Rafael learned a valuable lesson from this fire.  They were ill prepared to fight large fires.  For whatever reason new fire engines had not been purchased and hose was allowed to age with no replacement.  In fact during the height of the fire several hoses broke spewing water like snakes.  In addition, there was a lack of ladder trucks that could have helped control the blaze.  At one point the Fire Department had to commandeer a PG&E bucket truck and they used it as a ladder truck to fight the flames.
 
The Fourth Street Fire, as it is known, was the worst fire in the history of San Rafael, having destroyed 20 businesses and causing over one million dollars in damage. 
 
The next time you drive on Fourth Street between D and E Streets take a moment and look at the buildings.  Imagine both sides of the street on fire with fireman and citizens working together pulling hose to try to control it.  Hopefully that July night will never be repeated.
 
Attached are three photos.  The first was taken during the first hour of the fire as firefighters attempted to keep flames to one building.  The fire was so hot it melted the street lights as can be seen in the image. The second photo was taken at night after the fire jumped Fourth Street and caught the furniture and paint store on fire.  The last photo is of a completely frustrated firefighter, holding his helmet in hand and walking away from a wall of flame after his hose broke.
 


Copyright 2014 Harry Barbier –All Rights Reserved