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Jerome, born from fire.
We know of four fires in the 1890’s sufficiently devastating
to be placed in the category of disasters.
Jerome’s conflagrations occurred in rapid succession.
Conditions existed which contributed to Jerome’s ability to burn; pine
buildings, some covered in canvas close together on a hill, using kerosene
light and wood heat with clay and wood chimneys. Other factors which
contributed to the fires were quoted as wind, alcohol consumption and a lack of
water.
This formula for disaster produced the following burns. After each
burn citizens lived in tents while reconstructing the their structures only to
have them burn again. In 1897 a madam of one of the houses ran into the street
in a panic and offered free business to the entire fire department from then on
if they would save her house. Her house was saved. Bill Adams, editor of the
Jerome Mining News, remarked that he might as well have left the type set up
for the next big conflagration, “Jerome Burns Again.”
April 24 - 1894 two blocks in the commercial district burn
December - 24, 1897 Christmas fire burns business district and many
homes
September - 1898 again business district and many homes
May - 1899 24 saloons, 15 Chinese restaurants and many homes were
burned.
After the 1899 fire consumed buildings freshly rebuilt from the last
two fires, the burned out mining camp organized and incorporated.
The Yavapai County Board of Supervisors granted incorporation in
1899.
The new town council acted promptly to correct the woeful lack of an
adequate supply of water and fire fighting equipment. Incorporation allowed the
citizens to collect taxes to raise the money to erect water tanks, bury fire
lines, construct a fire station, outline a fire district and adopt one of the
first building codes designed to lessen the occurrence of fire. The new code
didn’t go very far; its main provision was to compel the construction of
stone or brick fire places and chimneys and prohibit tents.
These are some of the fires that occurred in later years:
1902 - four homes on the hogback
1907 - eight homes in the foreign quarter
1911 - four homes and the TF Miller warehouse
1915 - the famous Montana Hotel burned
1917 - an entire block burned including rooming houses
and
homes, displacing 90 families
1918 - 60 homes burned in the gulch
1926 - Jerome Hotel and 26 homes burned
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