Yes, everyone knows that the earthquake was devastating. Army officer whose rescue efforts ironically more seriously endangered the city and its people.Īlso read about the shocking factors that exacerbated the chaos: the use of dynamite as a firefighting strategy, the dislocation and unavailability of the volunteer firemen, and the mayor's imposition of martial law and his ill-advised shoot-to-kill orders. Read about the wealthy Rudolph Spreckels who ' put his conscience before the social well-being of his family and his friends.' And read about Frederick Funston, the U.S. naval officer on the USS Preble whose initiative and heroics helped save the city’s imperiled piers and wharves. Read about Lieutenant Frank Freeman, the U. Read about the valiant heroes of Engine Company 1 and the other heroic firemen of the San Francisco Fire Department. Smith tells about the four harrowing days of fires, and - in doing so - he goes much further by giving readers plenty of accurate details and - more importantly - compelling accounts of the heroes who saved San Francisco. Now, with the book finally appearing in trade paperback, readers have easy access to Dennis Smith's excellent account of the 1906 disaster, San Francisco is Burning. In fact, much of what has been previously written about the fires is incomplete or inaccurate. However, nearly no one knows the complete story about the heroic San Francisco firemen and countless other San Franciscans who were determined to save their city from the catastrophic inferno that threatened to destroy everything.ĭocumentary records of the event, dispersed in archives and only partially available throughout the past century, have unfortunately been frequently distorted by rumor and fiction. Fed by plenty of fuel and fanned by bad decisions, poor planning, corruption, and ineffective actions, the wide-spread fires nearly erased San Francisco from the map. Some people - but fewer - even know about the fires that spread for several days throughout the city in the aftermath of the earthquake. San Francisco is Burning: The Untold Story of the 1906 Earthquake and Fires by Dennis SmithĪlmost everyone knows a few things about the great earthquake that devastated San Francisco in April of 1906.
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