GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE FIRE. 137 
The death of Mr. Sullivan, the chief of the fire department, which 
was caused by the falling of a mass of brick from a chimney while 
he lay ill in bed, was a most unfortunate accident, as the city was 
thereby deprived of his excellent knowledge and skill as a fire fighter. 
The fire department, although it responded promptly to the calls 
and was composed of brave and efficient men, with excellent appara- 
tus, was disconcerted by the loss of its chief and paralyzed in its 
action by the almost complete rupture and disintegration of the 
water system. The city mains were so thoroughly broken that in a 
short time not only could no water be obtained for the extinguish- 
ment of fires, but for a number of days little water could be had for 
domestic use, and the people were compelled to rely on a few wells 
that remained available. 
In private dwellings incipient fires were quickly extinguished by 
individual effort ; but, because of the early hour, the fires which started 
in the great downtown business houses, factories, etc., " south of 
Market street," grew to alarming proportions before anyone could 
reach and conquer them. With the exception of the private water 
supplies, such as wells (see map, PI. LVI) , pumping systems, etc., pos- 
sessed by a few establishments, there were no means of extinguishment. 
Within three hours after the earthquake nine fires were in full con- 
flagration between " The Mission " a and the water front south of 
Market street. At first there was little or no wind to fan the flames, 
but the great heat soon drew in a current of air which continually 
increased, and, varying from one point to another, swept the flames 
first in this direction and then in that. By Wednesday noon the 
fire had consumed nearly a square mile of the city on the south side 
of Market street, and on the afternoon of the same day it broke across 
to the north side, in the vicinity of the high steel Call (Claus Spreck- 
els), Examiner, and Chronicle buildings. Thence the fire veered 
with the wind, burning northward and westward through China- 
town, and joined its destructive energy Avith that of a separate col- 
umn of fire that had swept up from the lower end of Market street 
and the water front. The column, driven by the wind, ate its way 
rapidly through the residence portion of the city, which was built 
of wood and hence was consumed like tinder. Three hours after the 
conflagration had begun a corps of dynamiters was organized, but as 
no such body had existed in the fire department, it was necessarily 
composed of volunteers and amateurs. These men fought the flames 
with great bravery, but with little skill, and their endeavors to arrest 
the progress of the fire by throwing structures down in its path were 
n " The Mission " is a well-known locality in the city of San Francisco. It is the site 
of (he original settlement and mission estahlished by the Franciscan monks, and the old 
Mission Church still stands there (PI. HXIII, B) , as the fire was checked at this point 
just in time to save it. 
