Brief overview of the causes and destruction of the city due to the inferno in San Francisco. The fire department was never able to extinguish the 1906 blaze.
The San Francisco Fire of 1906
April 18th, 1906 at 5:13 A.M. an earthquake rocked the city of San Francisco. It struck with such force that buildings turned into heaps of rubble, power lines fell, roadways buckled, water and sewer mains were shattered. Shortly after 2 lesser shocks added to the mayhem. It really did not matter because by then the power lines had touched off a conflagration. People had fled from their homes and into the streets. All electricity was cut off, Western Union shut down, and all transportation came to a grinding halt.
The streets were flooded with a noxious mix of water and sewerage from the ruptured mains. The fire department was helpless due to the lack of water. Although the entire complement of 600 firefighters had gone to work immediately, it was to no avail. The extent of the fires, the speed at which they spread, and the shortage of water doomed their efforts from the start. The entire south side of Market Street was in flames. Eventually the commercial buildings north of Market Street were engulfed by the blaze. As the fires reached the Opera house it ignited the gashouse and the ensuing explosion brought with it the realization that normal firefighting tactics were of no use.
The firemen resorted to creating firebreaks by dynamiting buildings in the fire's path. This blasting lasted for days and the end result was the same as the fire either jumped the breaks or was ignited behind the line by another source.
In essence the San Francisco fire of 1906 was never extinguished. Due to the condition of water mains, streets made impassable by rubble and fallen debris, and dazed and confused residents clogging roadways, the fire department was never able to control the blaze. All their efforts were rendered useless as the inferno gained momentum. In the end, the fire burned itself out. When there was no more fuel to feed its advance, it simply extinguished itself after raging for 3 days and cutting a 3 mile path through the city.
