The St. Louis Fire starts on May 17, 1849, when a steamboat catches fire.

The fire destroys a significant part of the city and many of the steamboats using the Mississippi River and Missouri River.

The flames leap from the burning steamboats to buildings on the shore and is soon burning everything on the waterfront levee for four blocks.

The fire extends to Main Street westward and crossing Olive Street

It completely guts the three blocks between Olive and 2nd Street and goes as far south as Market Street

It then ignites a large copper shop three blocks away and burns out two more city blocks.

The volunteer firemen, after laboring for eight hours, are nearly completely demoralized and exhausted.

The entire business district of the city appears doomed unless something is done.

Six businesses in front of the fire are loaded with kegs of black powder and blown up in succession.

Captain Thomas B. Targee of Missouri Company No. 5 dies while he is spreading powder into Phillips Music store, the last store chosen to be blown up.

This fire is the largest and most destructive fire St. Louis has ever experienced.

When the fire is finally contained after eleven hours, four hundred and thirty buildings are destroyed, twenty-three steamboats along with over a dozen other boats are lost and three people have died including a Fire Captain.

As a result of these fires, a new building code will require new structures to be built of stone or brick and an extensive new water and sewage system will be started.