The Great Fire (Spokane)

The Great Fire was a major fire which affected downtown Spokane, Washington on August 4, 1889. It began just after 6:00 p.m. and destroyed the city's downtown commercial district.^[1] Due to technical problems with a pump station, there was no water pressure in the city when the fire started.^[2] In desperate bid to starve the fire, firefighters began razing buildings with dynamite. Eventually winds died down and the fire exhausted of its own accord. As a result of the fire and its aftermath, all of Spokane's downtown was destroyed, though only one person was killed.^[1]

Despite this catastrophe, Spokane continued to grow; the fire set the stage for a building boom. After The Great Fire of 1889 and the rebuilding of the downtown, the city was reincorporated under the present name of "Spokane" in 1891. Just three years after the fire, in 1892, James J. Hill's Great Northern Railway had arrived in the newly created township of Hillyard (annexed by Spokane in 1924)—the chosen site for Hill's rail yards.^[3]

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