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Just north of Boston is Chelsea Massachusetts. The second Great
Chelsea Fire occurred in 1973. Eighteen blocks of the city were completely destroyed, with National Guard
troops cordoning off the border streets to turn away spectators, and support local authorities.
The first Great Chelsea Fire occurred
in 1908.
In 1971, an area of Chelsea was slated for urban renewal. This part of the
city was known as the "Rag Shop District," due to many junk and
salvage dealers being located there. Negative economic conditions in the early
1970s resulted in numerous businesses closing up shop forever, with many
property owners just abandoning their buildings. Most of the structures in
"Millionaire's Row" were two-story wooden buildings or constructed of brick
and wood.
At 3:56 p.m. on Sunday October 14, 1973, a fire alarm was sounded at
Third and Arlington Streets. The wind was gusting up to 35 mph that day, and
the fire quickly spread from Summer Street to Maple and Third Streets. The
fire was out of control due to high winds, and a lack of water from leaky
ancient city water mains. Aid was called in from sixty-seven fire companies
from eastern Massachusetts, and one from Hampton New
Hampshire.
After several hours, a stand was made at Everett Avenue. The fire was controlled in a triangular area bounded by Second
Street to the south, the Boston & Maine Railroad tracks to the west, and
Everett Avenue to the east. Eighteen square blocks were completely
destroyed, with 1000 people evacuated from the disaster area.
In 1973, this author lived about 1-1/2 miles from the
Great Chelsea Fire. The entire sky was filled with smoke, blowing swiftly to
the north. There is a famous photo of people on top of a hill in San Francisco
watching the fire after the 1906 earthquake; my view of the Chelsea Fire was
very similar to this image.
That night the sky was glowing red in a broad swath, with several small
explosions observable that shot ambers high into the air. The sound of
distant explosions was discernible, although with a slight delay as the light traveled
faster than the sound. This author was just a kid, and the next day walked to the center of
the Meridian Street drawbridge to witness the National Guard troops blocking
off this
road into Chelsea.
The fire fighters and emergency response people did an unbelievable job
in fighting this great conflagration, thus preventing a much greater disaster.
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