May 21, 1917 – The Great Atlanta Fire

Today is the anniversary of the Great Atlanta Fire of 1917, a blaze that burned over 300 acres, destroyed almost 2,000 structures, and left some 10,000 people homeless. Although the 11-hour conflagration claimed only one life, property losses totaled $5.5 million and spanned 73 city blocks. The city's poorest residents suffered in the greatest numbers, but a broad swath of citizenry watched in horror as their homes were destroyed. As William B. Hartsfield, a 27-year old law clerk who would later become mayor of Atlanta, wrote in a letter the following day, "Just imagine the terror and helplessness of those people at seeing houses catching on fire everywhere and not a thing to be done, no firemen anywhere around there."

The Fire Begins

May 21, 1917 dawned warm and bright in the city of Atlanta. Although the morning had been quiet, residents reported a series of small fires between 11:39 AM and 12:46 PM. By the time that firefighters discovered a stack of burning mattresses near Decatur St., the city's arsenal of water-pumping equipment had been spread thin across Atlanta. Tragically, the neighborhoods near Decatur St. were the most vulnerable, crammed with wooden-shingled shanties that were quickly engulfed in flames. As the blaze burned northward and threatened other parts of the city's Fourth Ward, firefighters raced across town to dispense the first of 22-million gallons of water. Eventually, volunteers from Macon and Augusta, Georgia were joined by crews from Chattanooga and Knoxville, Tennessee; however, even well-placed blasts of dynamite could not halt the blaze. Finally, around 10 PM, the Great Atlanta Fire ended, stopping more than a mile north of where it had started.

The Aftermath

In the aftermath of the Great Atlanta Fire, the National Board of Fire Underwriters issued a report which blamed "frame buildings with wooden shingle roofs, in many cases in the poorest conditions." With many of these rooftops "in such poor condition that they are little more than punk", the Board's Committee on Fire Prevention warned of "an ever-present danger of far more serious conflagration." In response, the city of Atlanta passed an ordinance banning the construction of homes with wooden shingles. Although the memory of the blaze burned brightly, the last wooden rooftop wasn't replaced until 1931.

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Atlanta_fire_of_1917

http://www.uwec.edu/freitard/GroupAndMinority/Atlanta/History/history.htm

http://www.answers.com/topic/great-atlanta-fire-of-1917

http://www.gpb.org/GeorgiaStories/doco.jsp?sub_id=064&primary_id=552&curpage=3&studstatus=1&sentry=0&group=1&educstatus=1