Incident Date:
January 20, 1917
Department:
Seattle Fire Department (WA)
Number of Line-of-Duty Deaths:
1
The Grand Theatre
The Grand Theatre, originally known as the Grand Opera House, was a five-story building with a basement located at 217 Cherry Street. Constructed in 1900, it measured 77 feet by 120 feet and was designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. Once the premier theater in Seattle, the Grand featured a highly ornate auditorium with a seating capacity of 2,200 people, including two tiers of boxes—six on each side of the stage. Despite a previous fire in 1906 that destroyed its interior, the theater continued to operate, transitioning into a movie theater and occasional vaudeville stage by the time of the fire. The 17-year-old building, the oldest playhouse still in use in Seattle at the time, was connected to the Rector Hotel—built in 1913—via the balcony level.
At approximately 6:00 am on Saturday, January 20, 1917, George Nishimura, the janitor of the Grand Theatre, was working beneath the balcony when he noticed a reflection on the stage curtain. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the glow was a fire in the balcony. Reacting swiftly, he rushed outside and activated the alarm at two fire alarm boxes located on the exterior of the building.
On the first alarm, Battalion Chiefs W.H. Clark from Headquarters and Fred G. Gilham from Station 2 responded to the scene. Ten minutes later, Chief Frank L. Stetson arrived, assumed command, and sounded the second alarm. Firefighters from Engine Companies 1, 2, and 10, Truck Companies 1 and 2, Squad Wagon No. 1, and the monitor wagon from the Third Avenue and Pine Street station rushed to the scene. Upon arrival, crews encountered flames erupting from the roof, posing a serious threat to the neighboring Rector Hotel and Alaska Building.
At approximately 7:00 am, as Chief Gilham called to the crew in the gallery to bring another hose line to the roof, they saw him step back and fall into the balcony just moments before the domed roof collapsed, trapping him beneath heavy timber. Firefighters labored relentlessly for 30 minutes, digging through the debris to free him as the fire advanced dangerously close. Trapped beneath the rubble, his body was crushed, and his feet and legs sustained severe burns. By the time they reached him, Chief Gilham had lost consciousness. He was rushed to a local hospital but tragically succumbed to his injuries before arriving.
While working to extinguish the fire in the gallery, firefighters Lawrence Brunson and Albert B. Colburn were hurled two stories down to the theater floor when the structure collapsed. Firefighters Dan McGinley and George Boyd were swept from the gallery into the balcony. Six other firefighters narrowly escaped the collapsing dome and truss roof, staying perched atop the debris as they continued battling the fire. At the time of the collapse, the majority of the staff from fire headquarters, along with firefighters from the Third Avenue and Pine Street station and Engine Company No. 1, were inside the building when it fell.
Meanwhile, hotel clerks Arthur Price and Carl Holbrook, along with motorcycle patrolmen C.H. Shiveley and J.J. Kush, were evacuating the 100 guests of the Rector Hotel. On the fifth floor, C.K. Barker, who was sound asleep in his room, was awakened when patrolmen Shiveley and Kush grabbed him, pulled him into the hallway, and closed the window where heavy smoke had been pouring in. The fire and building collapse threatened to ignite the hotel, particularly on the fifth and sixth floors. Windows were shattered, and the curtains hung dangerously close to catching fire.
Nine Others Hurt
Injured firefighters on the upper floors were carried across a ladder bridge to the fire escape of the Rector Hotel, while those injured on the ground floor were brought out through the building’s main entrance. The nine injured firefighters included:
- George A. Boyd of Engine Company No. 10 sustained a broken left leg and multiple bruises.
- Lawrence Brunson, from Squad Wagon No. 1, suffered a badly bruised shoulder.
- Albert B. Colburn, his Squad Wagon No. 1 colleague, sustained cuts and bruises.
- Charles A. Hull of Engine Company No. 10 dislocated his shoulder.
- John Loughran, also from Engine Company No. 10, was bruised but remained on duty that night.
- Gordon W. Martin of Engine Company No. 14 experienced burns to his arm and face.
- John McGinley, from Engine Company No. 10, suffered severe burns and a broken foot.
- Otto A. Rooney of Ladder Company No. 2 dislocated his arm.
- Arthur A. Shaughnessy of Engine Company No. 1 endured severe cuts and bruises.
The Aftermath
A funeral procession, led by the fire department band, escorted the hearse carrying Chief Gilham’s casket to Station No. 2 for his final ride. It was one of the largest funeral corteges the city had ever witnessed. Hundreds gathered for the service at the First Presbyterian Church, and Chief Gilham was laid to rest at Lake View Cemetery on Capitol Hill.
He was survived by his wife, Madeline; two adult children, Ruth and Brian; his brother, Captain Charles W. Gilham of Engine Company No. 6; and his sisters, Elizabeth Wright and Ellen Richter.
Seattle Fire Marshal Harry W. Bringhurst and Fire Inspector John Reid determined that the fire was caused by faulty wiring located beneath the balcony floor. The damage to the building was estimated at $45,000.
