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Group: India, High Medieval
Topic: Great Spokane Fire

Great Spokane Fire

Years: 1889 - 1889

The Great Spokane Fire—known locally as The Great Fire—is a major fire that affects downtown Spokane, Washington on August 4, 1889.

It begins just after 6:00 p.m. and destroys the city's downtown commercial district.

Due to technical problems with a pump station, there is no water pressure in the city when the fire starts.

In a desperate bid to starve the fire, firefighters begin razing buildings with dynamite.

Eventually winds die down and the fire exhausts of its own accord.

As a result of the fire and its aftermath, virtually all of Spokane's downtown is destroyed, though only one person is killed.

"Remember that the people you are following didn’t know the end of their own story. So they were going forward day by day, pushed and jostled by circumstances, doing the best they could, but walking in the dark, essentially."

—Hilary Mantel, AP interview (2009)