The Chelsea Fire of 1973 is being commemorated this week on its 36th anniversary. Many people still remember that day vividly, and numerous residents were present in Chelsea when the city came perilously close to being consumed entirely by flames. Three and a half decades have passed, and Chelsea has transformed dramatically since then. The area that burned is now almost unrecognizable compared to what it was before the disaster. The Demoulas shopping center sat at the heart of the conflagration. On the windy afternoon of October 14, much of Chelsea’s largest ward was engulfed in a fierce blaze, with dust and ashes rising skyward and scattering across the landscape like powder. The burned-out district that remains today has become part of a Chelsea that is economically revitalized. At the time of the fire, the city was in steep decline, with most of the structures that burned standing empty, and the commercial establishments far inferior to what now operates there. The city itself was economically moribund, shrinking due to years of disinvestment and the departure of founding families and major corporations. A critical factor in the fire’s devastating spread was the city’s inadequate water infrastructure. When firefighters connected hoses to fire hydrants, the vast majority were inoperable – nearly allowing the city to be destroyed as a result. Firefighters were forced to extend hoses more than half a mile to functioning hydrants that day, employing pumpers as relay stations to maintain water pressure. This situation was particularly acute around Bellingham Square during the evening hours when the fire threatened the city’s survival. Water lines stretched from the Williams School through Bellingham Square and along the length of Bellingham Street to reach working hydrants. Enormous flaming debris drifted through smoke so dense that breathing became difficult. At Jimmy’s Café on Broadway during the fire’s peak, activity continued unabated. Jimmy’s was a modest tavern – little more than a cramped space. Power had failed throughout the area. Yet inside, Budweiser flowed freely as patrons drank while their city burned outside. This scene was just one of countless moments I can vividly recall nearly four decades after the fire reshaped Chelsea’s trajectory. The morning after the fire, I toured the still-smoking ruins. Senator Ted Kennedy made a similar tour. Photographs I took that day appear in today’s newspaper. Few photographers and reporters ever document a city consumed by fire. Even fewer witness the disappearance of their ancestors’ city in furious, swirling clouds of black smoke driven by intense flames. October 14, 1973 was indeed an extraordinary day.
