UTICA — Have you ever noticed while driving through Utica, that a chunk of its downtown is missing?
While many old buildings remain, there is a section on the east side of Main Street that lacks the older buildings. I noticed it in the past without really thinking about it too much until I bumped into an old postcard that explains it.
That chunk is the fingerprint of a fire that devastated the village 113 years ago this fall. The blaze started accidentally in the kitchen of the Vance Hotel early in the morning of Dec. 9, 1909, but it quickly spread throughout the hotel and into adjacent buildings which housed numerous small shops.
The Vance Hotel was the largest continuous structure, and the fire spread through it rapidly. Mrs. L. P. Wheeler, the wife of the hotel’s proprietor, was caught on an upper floor by the fire, which was advancing down the hall toward her. Running to a nearby window, Mrs. Wheeler did not find a fire escape, but the fire was spreading too quickly for her to explore better options.
She examined the outside of the building and noticed an iron pole that ran down the side of the structure. Realizing it was her only option, she climbed out of the window, grabbed onto the pole and slid down into the alley beside the building.
On the other side of the building, rescuers arrived with a ladder. A hotel chambermaid named Minnie Hayes got the attention of the rescuers, who placed the ladder against the window, allowing Hayes to escape the fire as well.
One person in the hotel was not so lucky. A boarder identified in news reports as “F. Daum” was an employee of the nearby natural gas fields. Trapped by the flames, Daum was badly burned before he escaped the hotel and collapsed. Unfortunately, his burns were severe and he died at 9 a.m.
It’s likely that there would have been more casualties if the fire had hit during the middle of the business day, as most of the shops were not yet open for business when the fire started.
Destroyed by the blaze were the Vance Hotel, the Mitchell Clothing Store, the Oil Well Supply Company, three barber shops, a livery stable, a jewelry store, a plumbing shop, a pool hall, a furniture store, a restaurant, and the Citizen’s Telephone Company exchange.
Total damages for the fire were estimated at nearly $100,000, a staggering figure in those days.
The worst thing about the fire was the horrible vulnerability of the village. Lacking sufficient water pressure, Utica was notorious for having high fire insurance rates. Therefore, most of these businesses didn’t have insurance. Utica’s fire department telegraphed Newark for assistance, but Newark didn’t yet have a pumping fire truck.
Wires requesting assistance were sent as far as Mansfield and Columbus, who arranged to send crews.
By this point, around mid-morning, the fire had peaked and the local crew was able to contain it and prevent it from spreading further, so the call for assistance was canceled. By noon, the fire largely burned out. The photographer of the postcard appears to have caught the ruins some time that afternoon.
In time, new structures went up to replace the destroyed businesses, and later on the greater availability of affordable equipment improved small towns’ ability to fight fires throughout the region.
But this fire’s print is still discernable today to the thoughtful passerby.
