1906: Three Days of Fire
San Francisco City Hall. Photo: UC Berkeley
San Francisco, one day before the 1906 earthquake
View from south of Market Street, looking east toward Berkeley. The Call Building (the tallest building in the photo) is still standing today, at Third and Kearny Streets. Photo: UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library
April 18, 1906: The fires begin
A fire tornado at Second and Howard Streets. Photo: UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library
South of Market catches fire
A wooden building is consumed by fire. San Francisco’s neighborhoods are mainly wood-frame buildings. Photo: UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library
Three days of fire: The first night
View from Washington Street above Van Ness Avenue, looking downtown. Photo: OpenHistorySF
“In the meantime, the city had started on fire. The water mains had broken, and they had no water, and no hoses long enough to draw water from the Bay.
They had only about a mile of hose altogether. They were in a hell of a fix.
The fire started, and nothing could stop it, and it just kept going.”
—Aurelious Alberga (1884–1988), a Black San Franciscan who lived through the 1906 earthquake
Aurelious Alberga.
Photo: tanea lunsford lynx; San Francisco Public Library
The Embarcadero on fire
View from the water, looking toward the Ferry Building. The fires destroyed four square miles of the city: from South of Market through Chinatown and North Beach, then west to Van Ness Avenue. Photo: J.P. Magagnos/UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library
San Francisco under martial law
The U.S. military patrolling Market Street. The Call Building is on the left. Photo: UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library
The final stand: Van Ness Avenue
View from above the Ferry Building, looking west. The white area indicates the ash left behind as the fires raced west toward Van Ness Avenue. Photo: The Sunset Beacon
Market Street after the fires
View from Market Street, looking west toward Van Ness Avenue and Twin Peaks. Third Street is on the left, Lotta’s Fountain (at Geary and Kearny) is on the right. Photo: UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library