Found out my town had over 200 chimney fires in the 1920s

I was looking at some old city records at the library for a project... and I saw a line about 'chimney conflagrations' from 1925. The clerk said they logged 217 calls that year alone. It makes sense with all the old coal furnaces back then, but I never pictured it being that many. Has anyone else come across old stats like that in their area?

3 comments

3 Comments

wright.lisa19d ago

Wonder if the fire insurance rates back then were insane? Bet a lot of those old houses still have the original flue liners too.

blake69112d ago

Guess @nancybailey's right, they just built 'em cheap and crossed their fingers.

nancybailey18d agoTop Commenter

Actually, fire insurance was pretty cheap in the 1920s because building codes were so lax. They didn't even require liners in most places back then. The real risk was just priced into the cheap lumber and labor of the era.

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