As the chief leaped from his wagon, Bruce realized for the first time
the extent of the conflagration which they had been called upon to
subdue. From the upper windows of the hotel streams of smoke were
issuing, while in others he could see the half-clad forms of men and
women who were looking out and shouting to those in the street below for
assistance.
The sidewalk in front of the main entrance was already thronged with
people, many of whom were only partly dressed, and had evidently been
aroused from their beds by the alarm of fire. One or two of them carried
bundles in their hand, and there were some who had dragged their trunks
down the stairs and out into the roadway, and were now sitting on them,
regarding, in a bewildered fashion, the progress of the fire.
And now the people in the windows above began to throw satchels and
other light articles out into the street, and one or two of them fell
near enough to the spot where Bruce was sitting in his wagon to make it
apparent to him that he had better move away. His horse was panting and
sweating from the exertion of his run, and so the boy threw a heavy
blanket over him, and then hitched him to a lamp-post a block away. Then
he returned to the truck, and stood for a moment watching the streams of
water which the firemen were turning on the hotel.
Chief Trask, who, at the moment of his arrival had reported to the
deputy in charge of the fire, now appeared and ordered his men to come
up at once and open the roof; and, in obedience to this command, some of
them seized axes and others hooks and endeavored to force an entrance
into the building next door to the hotel. But the door resisted their
attempts, and then Chief Trask briefly ordered them to get the ram.
The ram, a heavy-headed iron shaft, with handles projecting on either
side, was brought from the truck, and in the hands of three or four of
the strongest men of the company, soon proved formidable enough to
demolish the heavy front door, and afford the firemen means of access to
the building. In they went, with roof-ropes and hoisting tools, Bruce
following with his iron hook in his hand; and as soon as they had broken
their way to the staircase, they went up on a swift run and were not
long in reaching the skylight. In an instant they had unfastened the
scuttle and were out on the roof in the midst of the wind and the snow.
Beside them towered the wall of the hotel, fully twenty-five feet above
the roof, on which they were standing.
“Cap, get up a thirty-five-foot ladder for that roof, as quick as you
can!” commanded the chief; and in a moment a long rope was uncoiled, and
one end thrown over the edge of the building to the men below. To these
the chief shouted his directions, lying at full length on the
snow-covered roof, and bending his head down over the cornice in a
difficult attempt to make himself heard. Then a thirty-five-foot ladder,
with the end of the rope tied around its sides and under its middle
rounds was reared against the wall, and with a strong pull the chief and
his followers pulled it up until it was within their reach.
Once on the roof, the ladder was speedily raised, and placed as securely
as it was possible to place it against the wall of the burning hotel.
Then, with the chief leading and Bruce bringing up the rear, the men
made the ascent, and stood at last on the parapet of the building, from
which they descended to the tin roof. The smoke was rising about them
now in dense clouds, and the chief knowing that the hotel itself must be
filled with it, ordered his men to begin at once the task of breaking
skylights and ventilators and cutting a hole in the tin roof to serve as
a vent.
To this task the firemen bent themselves with characteristic energy,
cutting a big square hole with their axes, and then turning back the tin
with their hooks. This done, it was an easy matter to break through the
boards and plaster that formed the ceiling, and thus give a vent to the
smoke and flames. In the meantime other axemen had demolished one of the
scuttles, so that dense clouds, enlivened here and there by brilliant
tongues of fire, were pouring out through the two huge openings.
As the men stood resting after their labors, and waiting for further
orders from the chief, Bruce crept along to the edge of the roof, and
leaning over it looked down into the street below. He could see that
fully a dozen fire-engines were at work now. He could hear the noise
they made, and it sounded like the distant strokes of so many
pile-drivers. The police had arrived by this time, and driven the crowd
back from in front of the hotel, leaving none there but the firemen and
some of the escaping guests. The snow which lay so white and pure on the
roofs and in the other streets that were within his range of vision, was
trampled into a black slush, while the heat of the flames had already
melted some of the drifts that lay close at hand.
A fire-escape, connecting the different stories of the burning building,
attracted his attention, and it seemed to him to be crowded with
frightened people who were hurrying down it as fast as they could, some
carrying bags or bundles, while others who had not even taken time to
dress, were in their night clothes, and apparently perfectly oblivious
of the awful storm of wind and snow that raged about them. And as he
noted all these things he saw coming down the broad avenue a fire-engine
driven at the top of the horses’ speed and belching out a column of
black smoke from its funnel, while the red-hot cinders, falling from the
ash-pan, sizzled and then went out in little breaths of steam in the
snow that lay thick on the streets. And now a sudden shout arose from
the men and women on the fire-escape, and was echoed by those in the
street underneath. The boy looked down, startled by the loud cries, and
saw the flames bursting out of the building at the sixth story,
completely enveloping the frail iron stairway on which the hapless
guests were going down, and cutting off the escape of those who still
lingered on the upper floors. He saw at once the danger in which these
people were, and realized that in their half-crazed condition they were
liable to throw themselves to the ground.
“Chief!” he cried, running over to the scuttle where that officer stood,
“there are a lot of people on the fire-escape and the flames are coming
out right under them. Can’t we save them?” In an instant Chief Trask had
run to the edge of the roof, and thrown himself at full length on the
snow covered surface so that he could look down as the boy had a few
moments before.
“Hold on there!” he yelled to those who found themselves cut off, and
who seemed ready to take the most desperate chances to save their lives.
“Don’t jump! Stay right where you are and we’ll save you in a couple of
minutes.”
His words and the authoritative way in which they were uttered made an
instant impression on the frightened men and women to whom they were
addressed, and when these looked up above them and saw the helmet of a
fireman extended beyond the cornice, they felt assured that succor was
at hand, and despite their awful position of peril they gave vent to a
feeble cheer.
“Go back into the hotel!” screamed Chief Trask at the top of his lungs,
for the wind was blowing so fiercely that it was with great difficulty
he could make himself heard.
“We can’t go back! We were driven out by the smoke!” yelled a man in
stentorian tones.
“I tell you to go back at once and I’ll come down with my men and take
you out of the building,” rejoined the fireman in stern, commanding
tones, which left the frightened guests no alternative but to obey.
Accordingly they climbed in at the windows from which they had escaped,
and found that the rooms were no longer filled with smoke, as they had
been before, because, although they did not know it, the open skylight
and holes made in the roof by the firemen had drawn most of the smoke
out of the building, and made it possible for people to move about in
the upper stories without fear of suffocation.
Having seen that his orders were obeyed, Chief Trask lifted a scuttle
which had not previously been touched by the firemen, and finding that
very little smoke came up through the open hatchway, and also that the
volumes that were pouring through the other apertures were not nearly as
dense or as black as they were before, he summoned his men, and, leading
the way himself, bade them follow into the interior of the hotel. Bruce
went with him, leaving the scuttle open behind him.
Meantime the firemen outside the building had not been idle. There were
twelve fire-engines on the ground, four hook and ladder companies and a
water-tower, and of these four engine companies had been ordered to
enter the hotel by the main entrance, while four more had gone around to
the side and rear entrances, and the others were at work in the streets
throwing water against the burning wall and also upon the roofs of the
buildings adjoining. As for the hook and ladder companies, some of them
were in the building helping to tear down partitions and ceilings, while
others had put up their scaling ladders and were going from window to
window in order to save any people who might be imprisoned in the rooms.
Others had ascended to the roofs of the neighboring houses, and were
lending efficient aid to the firemen by helping to haul the long lengths
of hose up from the street.
At this critical moment, and when the fire seemed to be making steady
headway in spite of the desperate and diligent efforts of those who were
fighting it, the sharp clang of a gong was heard on the street, and
immediately the crowd which had gathered, despite the awful storm that
was raging, parted in the middle. The policemen on guard saluted, and a
wagon, drawn by a panting and sweating horse, dashed through the
fire-lines and drew up suddenly at the curbstone. The tall, grizzled,
and soldierly looking man who alighted was evidently a person of
importance, for in an instant the deputy chief in command of operations
appeared before him and saluted him in military style.
The newcomer was tall and well built. He wore a thick fireman’s overcoat
and a helmet. His face was grave and stern, and smooth shaved, save for
a grey moustache.
“What have you sent out?” he demanded curtly of his deputy, as with a
quick glance of his practiced eye he took in all the details of the
scene in which he found himself.
“Third, sir.”
Once more the chief of the fire department surveyed the burning building
before him. Then, without a word, he turned on his heel and walked
rapidly to the corner of the street, where he could have a better view
of the fire and of its exposure on all sides. He was back again in less
than a minute, and ordered his subordinate to send out a special call
for two engines and a truck company, in order to locate more companies
on the north side of the fire. Then he ordered the immediate erection of
a water-tower on the eastern side, and stood silently regarding the men,
as they placed it in position.
About this time the fuel-wagons sent out by the companies which had
arrived on the first and second alarms, began to come in loaded with
cans of coal, and with small boys sitting on them ready to lift them to
the ground and make themselves as useful as possible, simply for the
sake of being inside the fire-lines and imagining themselves to be
firemen. There is no fire in New York, no matter at what time of the day
or the night, that does not attract its swarm of boys, who are only too
anxious to load and unload the fuel-cans, in order to get into the thick
of the excitement.