Boston on Fire: A History of Fires and Firefighting in Boston [Hardcover]

Stephanie Schorow (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2003

Fires have shaped Boston since its founding on a narrow peninsula in 1630. Innovations by Bostonians have led to improvements in fire fighting and fire prevention across the land. In the first comprehensive history of Boston’s major fires, Schorow tells the dramatic tales of seventeenth-century fires (which were viewed as signs of God’s wrath), the 1834 Ursuline convent fire, the Great Fire of 1872, the Chelsea conflagrations of 1908 and 1973, the tragic Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire, the Vendome Hotel collapse that killed nine firefighters in 1972, and an arson ring that terrorized the city in the 1980s. Chapters are also devoted to two key Boston innovations: the Hunneman fire engine and the citywide fire alarm system (first in the nation) developed by William Francis Channing and Moses Farmer. You’ve heard of the Freedom Trail. Discover Boston’s Fire Trail!

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

FIRES HAVE SHAPED BOSTON SINCE its founding on a narrow peninsula in 1630. Innovations by Bostonians have led to improvements in firefighting and fire prevention across the land. In the first comprehensive history of Boston’s major fires, Stephanie Schorow tells the dramatic tales of seventeenth-century fires (which were viewed as signs of God’s wrath), the 1834 Ursuline convent fire, the Great Fire of 1872, the Chelsea conflagrations of 1908 and 1973, the tragic Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire of 1942, the Vendome Hotel collapse that killed nine firefighters in 1972, and an arson ring that terrorized the city in the early 1980s. Chapters are also devoted to two key Boston innovations: the Hunneman fire engine and the citywide fire alarm system (first in the nation) developed by William Francis Channing and Moses Farmer. You’ve heard of the Freedom Trail. Discover Boston’s Fire Trail!

About the Author

Stephanie Schorow has been a reporter for the Boston Herald for ten years. She has also worked for the Associated Press and at newspapers in Connecticut, Idaho, Utah, and Missouri. A native of Chicago, she now lives in Medford, Massachusetts.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Memoirs Unlimited (July 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1889833444
• ISBN-13: 978-1889833446
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #277,054 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fire History of Boston and Brave Firefighters, April 6, 2004

By 

Stuart CODY "srcody" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Boston on Fire: A History of Fires and Firefighting in Boston (Hardcover)

I loved this book. This is a carefully crafted and well researched collection of tales about fires out of control and what are very scary risks, even up to the present day.

It starts from times when there were no machines to fight fires, dirt roads downtown, little or no water available, and nobody on the payroll. Stories cover fires in and around Boston that wiped out entire neighborhoods and changed hundreds of lives. The story of the famous Cocoanut Grove fire of late 1942 is right from the front line and for me, brought the recent Station Nightclub fire to mind.

As a bridge to further study, it has detailed references to source material drawn upon, but I have to think that none of it can be more captivating than this compendium.....

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hot Tales of Big, Bad Boston Fires, January 4, 2007

By 

James R. Holland "Author of Boston's Notable ... (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Boston on Fire (Paperback) (Paperback)

A person would not expect to find a history of fire fighting in Boston to be a difficult book to put down. I bought this volume mostly because I had enjoyed the author's earlier story of the Cocoanut Grove Fire and I'm delighted I did. I had no idea of all the inovations in fire fighting that were first invented or applied in Boston. I happened to start reading the book at the back when I was thumbing through it and came across a description of the fire at the Vendome Hotel on Commonwealth Avenue. I'd witnessed that fire while passing by on my way to work. I then read the book from that point to the end before starting to re-read it from the beginning. It was amazingly accurate because I'd been alive and read about many of those recent fires at the time. The great fires from the past were even more fascinating.The author did a wonderful job of making what could have been boring, boring, boring, into a history that was riviting, riviting, riviting. It's a great read even for non-sparks and fire fighters.

5.0 out of 5 stars Boston on Fire was great!, December 30, 2010

By 

graybat - See all my reviews

This review is from: Boston on Fire (Paperback) (Paperback)

Stephanie was our guest speaker for our Oct 2010 Boston Chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineer's technical meeting. Her presentation was about her research into the historical fires in Boston and this book was really good in the technical aspects uncovered in the research and the human toll the fires had. It is a really good read.