Seven Fires: The Urban Infernos that Reshaped America

by Peter Charles Hoffer

This resonant and fascinating book by a renowned historian examines how seven fires shaped the larger course of American history. The Boston fire of 1760 set the stage for the American Revolution. The Pittsburgh fire of 1845 opened the way to larger scale industrial plants. Out of the ashes of the Chicago fire of 1871 came the modern skyscraper, the Haymarket Riots, and the Pullman Strike. The Baltimore fire of 1904 showed how a city's downtown, utterly destroyed, could re-invent itself after a catastrophe. The Detroit fire of 1967 forced politicians to concede what people of Detroit already knew—that racism and racially-based deprivation were not changed by the civil rights movement. The Oakland Hills tragedy demolished a landscape of private privilege and imperiled the dream of leisure living in natural settings. Apart from their domestic and global political implications, the fires of 9/11 have prodded a complacent nation to admit to itself that twentyfirst century emergency services, and the urban lifestyles they protected, have to be thoroughly rethought. Told through gripping narrative chronicles of the catastrophic events, memorable portraits of historic figures, and incisive, thought-provoking analysis, Seven Fires reveals a nation and a people at its best and worst and illustrates how disasters teach lessons that, if we grasp them, can help us better our society.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American

480 pages, Hardcover

First published April 24, 2006

Reviews

[Judd Street · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seven Fires is an ambitious book that explores, well, seven infernos and the influence that they had in America. At its best, the book demonstrates what history can be: a lens that helps to explain broad happenings through specific and well-documented causes. In its latter chapters, however, it struggles to land its historical analysis on contemporary fire problems, resulting in overly tidy stories that are rhetorically convenient but a little flimsy analytically.

Hoffer, a dyed-in-the-wool historian, really shines in the first four fires: Boston, Pittsburg, Chicago, and Baltimore. These chapters are exceptional because of the way they use their conflagrations as turning points in the historical narrative. The 1760 Boston fire, for instance, is tied effectively to protests and the emergent role of firemen in the war Revolutionary War a decade and a half later. In Pittsburg, the untamed fire stood in contrast with the tamed fires that fed the industrial machine of the city; the flames being constructed into narratives that fit the journey through industrial phases in the city. The fires in Baltimore and Chicago were that of reconstruction and monied interests; a way of clearing out old debris to make way for the new capital of the future.

These first four fires - particularly the first two - are striking because of the way that Hoffer is able to link the blazes to their impacts. It's more meaningful than most fire stories, which are all too often lost in anecdote and the hyperlocal, because he links them to what they /mean/. But, this strength is much less compelling in the last three, where the /meaning/ of the fire is less evident, whether because of their recency or less clear narrative arcs.

In the chapter on Detroit, the story is clear, if perhaps a little too neat. Where Baltimore was the last of what Hoffer sees as the classic city-consuming fires, Detroit is death by a million papercuts: hundreds of acts of arson overwhelming the city piece by piece. The obvious question that animates this chapter is 'why' - why does the city turn on itself through perpetual self-ignition, where the previous cities would have given anything to put out their fatal spark? But, the historical storytelling here is less persuasive: Hoffer throws out a few aspersions towards the 'young' and leaves it at that.

In Oakland, the meaning is also obscured, because there is no meaning. The fires happened and people rebuilt with little regard to the past. This, again, introduces a question of import: why is it that the fire was so insignificant in making real change. But there, again, we get no real answer.

Finally, in the World Trade Center, the meaning gets lost in attempts at rhetorical flourish. At its core, in my eye, at least, it seems that the moral of the story must be that of infrastructure and codes and institutions. High rises present a world where firefighters cannot reach with hook and ladder and, at times, sometimes the fire itself cannot be fought. As a result, it would seem to become a story of building codes and inspections and design and engineering. Hoffer ends up at a striking analogy - comparing the WTC blaze to wildfire - but ends up squandering a lot of its most interesting parallels by focusing on the sheer /size/ of the WTC and its analogue to grass fires, rather than digging into more substantive comparisons between the futility involve in direct attack on crown fires and high rise infernos.

All that said, these qualms about the weaker back half of the book shouldn't distract from its overall value. The content - perhaps with the exception of a bit of more questionable analysis in the Detroit chapter - is quite good overall. The book is accessible and interesting, and gets into decent depth with its examples. It just does /so/ /well/ in the first 2-4 fires with respect to focusing on /meaning/ (something all too often missed by students of fire, who can get caught up in the flash) that the second half lands a little weaker as a result. Still, it's well worth reading and I'd happily recommend to anyone looking for a bit of a toehold into the world of urban fire.

[Linda Gaines · Rating 2 out of 5]

I should have enjoyed this book a lot more than I did. I can't explain why, but this book was written in a dry manner, such that I just could not stay interested in it. Second, the entire thesis of the book is how these seven fires reshaped America. The author did not prove his thesis. In fact in many cases, he proved that after a certain fire, no changes were made from the acknowledged mistakes that caused the fire or caused the fire to be worse. So how did the fire reshape America? I would have given the book 3 stars for those reasons. I downgraded it to 2 because by the end of the book I was so annoyed with the sexism and complete refusal to use gender neutral language when referring to fire fighters I could not stand it anymore. For the oldest four and probably five fires discussed, I can believe that there were no woman firefighters. I find it hard to believe Oakland had no female fire fighters in 1991, and the author even stated that there were woman fire fighters in FDNY in 2001. Yet he still insisted to discussing all fire fighters as men and saving their "brother fire fighter", etc. Also, if the author is to be believed, only men worked the pile after 9/11. If you want to factually and accurately discuss recent history, gender neutral language is mandatory.

[Christine Starkey · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book from my grandpa’s library, as a gift from my mother to him. I enjoyed the pages on the Pittsburgh fire, being from Pittsburgh myself, but the writing and history connecting these great fires fizzles the interest in consuming this this book. 🔥 💨

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gave up on it after two fires. Not interesting enough to make up for the density. Good concept, though.

[Sarah]

too dense. great idea tho.

[June Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. And fun to read.