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December 20, 1909. "Firemen spraying burning building on West 14th Street, New York." 5x7 glass negative, Bain News Service. View full size.
Three million gallons of water from the high-pressure mains were pumped into a fire that destroyed a large seven-story factory and loft building at 180-188 West Fourteenth Street yesterday morning, and for five hours the fire, which raged until the afternoon, completely cut off traffic on that street. The pavement and sidewalks and many buildings for almost a block were coated with thick mid-Winter ice. Fire and water together provided a spectacle for thousands of Christmas shoppers who crowded both sides of the street.
Although there were no injuries from the fire, it caused damage of $200,000. Workers at the training school of the Salvation Army headquarters, adjoining the building on the east, were routed from their beds. It is not known what started the fire.-- New York Times, 12/21/1909
This must have been a fast-developing situation, because the trolley car apparently got marooned by fire hoses being stretched across the tracks both in front and behind before the car could escape the proximity of the fire premises.
This is one of the few areas in which buses have an advantage over street railways; a fire anywhere along the line instantly makes streetcar service discontinuous!
A bus can detour around the block. The street car line has to make-do with two separate segments.
The large building on the right still stands at 144 West 14th and is home to Pratt Institute as of 1999. GVSHP has some history of the building:
http://gvshp.org/blog/2016/11/18/happy-landmark-anniversary-144-west-14t...
Below is the same view from April of 2012.
[Where's the fire? - Dave]
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