Comments on: The Grand Fires of 1904 – St. Patrick’s Catholic Church; Lowell, Massachusetts

By: Forgotten New England

Forgotten New England — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:37:40 +0000

Thanks for the comments, all. They’re much appreciated. Jason – your comment made me think of another (sort of) recent fire I heard much about, growing up – the Sacred Heart School fire on Moore Street in the late 60′s/early 70′s. It’s before my time, but many of the teachers were still talking about it 10-15 years later. Maybe I’ll write a post about that one too, one of these days.

By: Jason Strunk

Jason Strunk — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:31:49 +0000

As is usually the case, history repeated itself a few years back in April of 1999, when the Assumption of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox church on Butterfield Street (also in the Acre) burned. What initially started in another building in the rear then spread to the church resulting in its destruction. Members of the fire department including the chaplain made several trips inside the burning church to rescue the icons. A terrific slideshow of it by Bruce Preston is available here.

http://www.geocities.com/~bgpreston/42599/gcpg1.html

Images of the icons being rescued are on slide 11.

By: Dorothy Gardner Casey

Dorothy Gardner Casey — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 19:32:34 +0000

I enjoyed this article, as my Mother was a graduate of Notre Dame Academy in Lowell and 2 of my uncles, John Gray and Edward Sullivan and cousin Peter Sullivan were all Lowell Firemen.

By: Karen K

Karen K — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:47:54 +0000

What a shame. Can you imagine the people rushing in to save what they could? Talk about devotion.

By: Dave McK

Dave McK — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 01:41:40 +0000

What a fantastic job! We have a couple of pieces that were taken as “souvenirs” that have been returned to the church in recent years. One is a brass ornament from the altar rail that was a vine of shamrocks.

By: Grand Fires of 1904: St. Patrick’s Church Lowell | Lowell Historical Society

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 01:24:34 +0000

[...] Read the full account here: http://forgottennewengland.com/2011/12/10/the-grand-fires-of-1904-st-patricks-catholic-church-lowell… [...]

By: Forgotten New England

Forgotten New England — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:36:34 +0000

Hi Jason – I’ve appreciated the mentions from your Facebook page and thanks for the comment. Great book too, by the way. My grandmother’s uncle was a Lowell fireman out of Truck 1 of the Lawrence Street Station for years, from 1924-1942. I think he was a call fireman before that; so, there’s a chance he met Chief Hosmer before he retired in 1913. I’m planning to cover the Huntington Hall fire of 1904 soon, and some from other years after that.

By: Jason Strunk

Jason Strunk — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:10:46 +0000

I think I need to put you on the payroll. Great series. What I wouldn’t have given for photographs I could have used in the book of these fires.

Chief Hosmer was arguably responsible for the very existence of the modern fire department in Lowell more than any other individual. Let me know if I can ever be of assistance on LFD research.

Jason Strunk
Lowell Firefighting

By: Forgotten New England

Forgotten New England — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 12:34:53 +0000

Thanks David – I’m hoping to post one more installment soon, on the Huntington Hall fire that occurred later that year.

By: David

David — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 12:14:42 +0000

Thank you… I enjoyed all 3 installments