For thousands of years, the world has managed to survive, and even thrive on fires. Time has shown that fires are a major force driving the development of civilizations and of society. As change arose and governments were formed, their primary duty has been to protect its people. Ever since technology has grown enough to allow humans to control fires to some extent, part of a government’s responsibility is to aid in quenching the fire, and thus protecting the people who would otherwise be threatened by it. The Great Boston Fire of 1872 was one of the nation’s deadliest and most destructive in its history, and it is clear that at the time, the local government had neglected to take the necessary precautions or heed warnings that could have prevented or mitigated the spread of the fire. In the Great Fire, the local government did not fulfill its responsibility to protect and direct both the people and their property, a Constitutional right of the people ever since the Fifth Amendment was instated in the 1900s.
Government is simply the organizing factor within a group of people. Without one, chaos ensues and efficient production is nearly impossible. Any government is responsible for protecting its people. One obvious example of this is shown in warfare. Throughout history, whenever a group of people is attacked, regardless of whether the conflict is internal or external, their government is called upon to intervene and provide military assistance. Just as the both the local and federal governments are responsible for dealing with protecting its citizens and from war, they are equally responsible for providing basic protection from fire.
Fearing a fire like the Chicago fire of 1871 , Chief Damrell of Boston’s fire department had been...
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...s, 2003. Print.
The source Boston on Fire focused on the results that the fire itself caused, for example the changes in industry and social status as well as politics and the economy. Also, this source describes the reasons why the fire grew to such a magnitude. The book seems to be less about the events themselves as the causes and results of the fire.
Schorow, Stephanie. "NFPA Journal." Boston Fire Trail. NFPA Journal, 1 May 2011. Web. 6 Nov. 2013. .
While this source is supposed to be about a trail that was centered around the Boston Fire of 1872, it talks about many of the events of the fire, and also the geographic relationships between them. This source turned out to be more like a historical summarization of the Boston Fire of 1872, as categorized by location.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire not only affected the city of New York, but also the rest of the country. It forever changed the way our country would look at safety regulations in factories and buildings. The fire proved to America what can and will happen if we over-look safety regulations and over-crowd buildings. Unfortunately, 146 lives are taken before we fully understand this concept.
The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America is about Teddy Roosevelt’s attempt to save the beautiful scenery of the West. Roosevelt used his presidency as a springboard to campaign his want of protection for our woodlands, while doing this he created the Forest Service from this battle. In this book Timothy Egan explores the Northern Rockies to analyze the worst wildfire in United States history. This disaster is known as the “Big Burn,” the 1910 fire quickly engulfed three million acres of land in Idaho, Montana and Washington, completely burned frontier towns and left a smoke cloud so thick that it hovered over multiple cities even after the flames had been extinguished.
One of the deadliest nightclub fires in United States history occurred on May 28, 1977, a busy Memorial Day weekend in the suburbs of Cincinnati. The Beverly Hills Supper Club was a popular nightclub located in Southgate, Campbell County, Kentucky in the greater Cincinnati area. It was located on a hill less than 1000 ft. from the highway on seventeen acres of land just three miles from downtown Cincinnati (Beverly Hills Supper Club Fire D-1). It has since become a case study for its numerous code violations and the behavior of the fire from ignition to building collapse. While there is no one contributing factor to the significant loss of life at this facility, a study of the building’s history, the sequence of the fire’s progression, and an analysis of the fire’s chemistry can provide some valuable lessons to the future firefighter.
'Is it true that long ago firemen put fires out instead of going to start them?’ ‘No. Houses. have always been fireproof, take my word for it.’ ‘Strange. I heard once that a long time ago houses used to burn by accident and they needed firemen to stop the flames.’ He laughed.
Fires were a very common obstacle at the time, but nothing was even close to the fire of 1871. On October 8th, firefighters received a call from the neighbor of Catherine O’Leary. Neighbors reported seeing a number of flames coming from the cow barn. Firemen instantly spotted the fire, but miscalculated how big it really was. This event was historically known as the Chicago Fire of 1871 (“People 7 Events”).
The fire started by campers thirty miles north of Winthrop in Okanogan National Forest in the Chewuch river valley. The fire was only 25 acres in size when twenty one Forest Service firefighters were dispatched to the fire.
Policies regarding the handling of wildland fires continue to change and evolve as new information is learned each fire season. Attitudes have changed between complete wildland fire suppression to no suppression at all. We now seem to have reached a balance between the two schools of thought and fall somewhere in the middle.
To begin with, during the year of 1870 and 1871 Chicago was facing extreme drought. During that time period the city of Chicago was built mostly from wood, making everything extremely flammable. Richard Bales author of “The Great Chicago Fire” states in an online article, “October 8, 1871, just after nine o'clock, a fire broke out in the barn behind the home of Patrick and Catherine O'Leary at 13 DeKoven Street. How the fire started is still unknown today, but an O'Leary cow often gets the credit.” Although we are not certain what and how the fire started, we know that it quickly spread. Legends say that the O’Leary’s cow knocked over one of the fire lamps therefore starting this massive fire. You might be asking yourself, how is it possible for a small fire to spread so quickly? “Hot air rose from the flames and mixed with the cool air above it, creating convection whirls. Witnesses called them "fire devils." A fire devil could pick up a burning piece of wood and send it flying. New fires started where the flaming objects landed. (McHugh)” Firefighters were exhausted from fighting a large fire the night before; and were sent to the wrong neighborhood at first. After finally arrivin...
The Triangle Fire made a lasting impact on the future of America. March 25th, 1911, a day that changed everything. Fire engulfed the three stories of the Triangle Waist Company. Family members, firemen, and friends could only watch by the sidelines as 146 girls and boys perished. The vision of girls jumping from the windows to escape being burned alive, broke down even the most seasoned Fire Chief sending him down to the street with quivering lips. In 1910, 13 weeks on strike most companies accepted the unions’ demands but Triangle Waist Company denied the union, giving higher wages and shorter hours. If Triangle Waist Company had accepted the union, would the 146 girls and boys lived? The fire was a terrible tragedy that will never be forgotten but it changed the Industrial life. Following the Fire there was industrial reform, passing of legislation, and it led to women’s suffrage.
Boston Massacre was a street fight between the patriots and British troops that happened on March 5, 1770. It is remembered as an important event that helped gain America’s Independence. The riot was about the disagreement the settlers of America had on the Townshend Act. The Townshend Act was an act passed by the British ruler and it was about taxing on everything except tea. The Americans disapproved of the act, they believed it was an abuse of power. The Boston Massacre resulted in public protest and threats against Britain’s Townshend Act. During the Boston Massacre, there were five deaths. The town demanded a trial for Captain Preston and his men for murder. John Adam and Josiah Quincy the second were on the British side and didn’t believe
The town of Boston was a very unstable throughout the 1760’s. This instability quickly turned to violence in the early part of 1770’s. Tension had already begun to in the beginning of the year with various clashes between the British and the colonists. However, in early March the tensions erupted into bloodshed to create what we now know as the Boston Massacre. The occurrence of these events is a fact, however, the interpretations of them has changed over time. The reports are colored by events that are taking place during the period of time in which they were written and by the author’s own prejudices and opinions. However, we can use these imperfections as a way of tracking what is occurring in America and the state of politics.
Linder, Doug. "An Account of the Boston Massacre of 1770 and Subsequent Trials." An Account of the Boston Massacre of 1770 and Subsequent Trials. N.p., 2001. Web. 26 Apr. 2014.
The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 was one of the largest disasters in American history. Practically overnight the great city of Chicago was destroyed. Before the fire there was a large drought causing everything to be dry and flammable, then a fire broke out in the O’Leary’s barn and spread throughout the city. Many attempts were made to put out the fire but there were too many errors and problems in the beginning. After the fire many people were left homeless and had to help build their city again (Murphy, 39)
This chapter provided information from the trial of Captain Thomas Preston. The chapter asked the question, “What really happened in the Boston Massacre”. Chapter four focused on the overall event of the Massacre and trying to determine if Captain Preston had given the order to fire at Boston citizens. The chapter provides background information and evidence from Preston’s trial to leave the reader answering the question the chapter presents. Although, after looking through all the witnesses’ testimonies some might sway in Captain Preston’s favor, just the way the grand jury did.
Throughout recorded history, fires have been known to cause great loss of life, property, and knowledge. The Great Fire of London was easily one of the worst fires mankind has ever seen causing large scale destruction and terror. Samuel Pepys described the fire as “A most malicious bloody flame, as one entire arch of fire of above a mile long… the churches, houses and all on fire and flaming at once, and a horrid noise the flames made.” (Britain Express 1).