Tragic fires and Charleston share a long history

Fire has shaped Charleston since before it was even a city, but Monday night’s tragedy stands out because it involved so much loss of life while only a single building burned down.

Nine city firefighters lost their lives when the roof of the Sofa Superstore on Savannah Highway collapsed suddenly, far more than in any other blaze since the city reorganized its fire protection into a professional, paid department in 1888.

In its early history, fire often swept through blocks of downtown, claiming hundreds of homes, outbuildings and an unknown number of lives.

But those fires are remembered more for their scars to the city’s physical fabric, not so much for their death tolls. When the great fire of 1861 swept over 540 acres downtown — singeing 575 homes, churches and stores along a mile from East Bay to Gibbes streets — no one died.

Charleston also suffered devastating fires in 1698, 1740, 1778, 1812 and 1838, when more than 1,000 homes and outbuildings in Ansonborough went up in flames, according to Walter J. Fraser’s history of the city.

The city’s deep understanding of fire’s fury helped it create some firsts.

Charlestonian William Pinckney founded the first fire insurance company established in the American colonies. Unfortunately, the Friendly Society for the Mutual Insuring of Homes against Fire At Charles Town was established just a few years before the 1740 blaze wiped it out.

After the 1886 earthquake, the city razed its old fire departments and built three modern fire stations for its new professional department. These stations allowed firefighters on duty to sleep upstairs until an alarm sounded, prompting them to slide down a brass pole to the horse-drawn engines. The stations also were wired for alarms to be transmitted through telegraph and phone lines.

The city has said its fire station at Wentworth and Meeting streets is the oldest working fire station in the nation today.

In 1998, the city was one of only 26 among the nations 88,000 fire departments nationwide to earn the top ranking from Insurance Services Offices Inc.

Reach Robert Behre at (843) 937-5771 or at rbehre@postandcourier.com.