The 1973 conflagration was the second on this site, the first happened 65 years earlier. Ironically, the one-time country town of Chelsea became home to a thriving salvage trade when Boston rebuilt after the Great Boston Fire of 1872. The industry moved across the river because the owners couldn't meet the newly enacted fire and building standards in Boston.
In the 1908 Chelsea fire, 19 people were killed and 15,000 were left homeless. Chelsea rebuilt without following Boston's example and the rag district became even more congested and even more dangerous. Eight months before the 1973 fire, the National Board of Fire Underwriters had written that Chelsea had the highest potential for conflagration of any city in the U.S.A. Happily the 1973 conflagration caused no fatalities. But 18 city blocks were consumed, leaving more than 1000 people homeless and another 600 jobless.
Twelve hundred firefighters from 111 fire departments in the area responded to the blaze, leading to a more formal mutual aid agreement in the Greater Boston area.
Image: © stanleyformanphotos.com