Boston on Fire: A History of Fires and Firefighting in Boston

by Stephanie Schorow, Leo Stapleton (Foreword)

Fires and firefighting in Boston from the seventeenth century to the present. Includes the Great Fire of 1872, the Cocoanut Grove fire, the Vendome fire, and others.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

242 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Stephanie Schorow is a Boston-area reporter and writer. For 12 years she toiled as a features editor and ink-stained scribe for the Boston Herald until she struck out on her own as a freelance writer in 2005. Her articles now regularly appear in the Boston Globe and other publications.

Reviews

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boston history is the history of stuff burning down. Schorow's book weaves numerous compelling tales of fire through the ages, and Boston's unique role in firefighting and fire prevention. The Cocoanut Grove fire is well-documented here, an important reminder for all of the need for awareness and personal responsibility for fire safety.

[Dana Booth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book I've read for my new book club. How appropriate - since I just moved back to Massachusetts!

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pointed to this book from an end note in Fire in the Grove. This book is more of a survey of the major fires in Boston and major fire innovations developed here over the last 350 or so years, and it does quite a good job, especially re-creating events from well before mass media was around to record things. Primary source material includes sermons from Increase and Cotton Mather, of all people. The book details fires that were either important in some way or that illustrate some aspect of fire safety or invention.

The earliest fires show the development and use of varying kinds of bucket brigades; moving on to the invention of "engines"; replacement of human power with horses, then with steam, then with gasoline; the invention of fire call boxes and how they were used; and so on.

Schorow also does to admirable job describing the context and attitudes around the time of the fire, although I think she goes light on some of the corruption involved, at least in the later ones (like Cocoanut Grove). Particularly good is her description of the anti-Catholic and anti-Irish moods around the time of the Ursuline Convent fire.

I do wish that there were a little more detail in some of the descriptions. She covers more than 10 fires plus related equipment developments and procedural changes in a scant 218 pages. But what is here is remarkably good.

At times, the narrative borders on melodrama, and I was a bit concerned when I read that the author is a former Herald reporter, but upon looking closer, I saw that she was a reporter back when the Herald was still a real paper. Still, there is that sort of Herald practice of telling an event through personal stories as opposed to the "just the facts" of many historical histories. It works well in this case, and the volume is very readable and memorable.

Very good.

[Jon Frum · Rating 4 out of 5]

More a comment than a review. I'm currently reading this book, and am very puzzled about one issue. All of the question marks are upside-down! What the heck is up with that. When I did an online search of 'upside-down question mark,' all I found were references to the Spanish double-question mark practice. With more effort, I found a reference on this site in a review of this same author's other book. I can't understand how no one else is bothered by this strange practice - every time I see a question mark, I stop reading. Thats' not good. I can only assume that's it's the house style practice at this publisher, but why? Very strange.

Otherwise, an interesting book.

[Billy Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written. Provides an excellent history of the Boston fire department and fires in Boston.

[BCfromBC · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're terrified/fascinated by fires, and have a hankering for Boston history, this is a well written informative book which assembles brief histories of several notorious fires in (mostly)Boston's history, including the Ursuline convent fire, the Great Fire of 1872, the Chelsea conflagration and the Cocoanut Grove disaster.

[Taryn]

This looks like a good book because it tells the hstory of the Boston fire!

[Mk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read on Boston fire history.

[Becca Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Already read it!! Want to read again!! Great Boston fire history!!

[Jeffrey Leonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very intriguing book. Considering I am from Boston and what people call a "spark", it was very well done, well researched and very informative.

[laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

love a little history. especially about fire