The Brooklyn Academy of Music(most popularly known as B.A.M. for short) is a performing arts center located in the borough of Brooklyn. It was founded 1859, making the B.A.M. the oldest performing arts center in the United states which is still in operation today. The B.A.M. has a long history involving presenting concerts, plays, ballet, and lectures. The original building of the B.A.M. was on Montague street, near Brooklyn City Hall. However, years later, the first building was destroyed by a large fire. Like any disaster, it came completely unexpected.
On November 30, 1903, the first and original B.A.M. building was destroyed by a massive fire. An exact cause for the fire was never determined. According to an article on the fire by the Brooklyn Eagle, “The cause of the fire is still more or less a mystery and the officials have little hope of satisfactorily solving it.” However, it is believed that the probable cause was an electrical accident. The theater was being set up and prepared for a dinner. A few men who had been helping to prepare for the dinner set up a sign in incandescent lights. Unfortunately, a fuse connected to the sign reportedly blew out shortly before a few men were testing the wiring. As a result, a burst of flames appeared over the stage inside the B.A.M. building and it quickly spread onto the draperies. It consumed all the decorations and everything else in the building. Firemen came and prevented the flames from spreading beyond the building to other surrounding establishments. A few hours later, the flames died out.
A handful of different newspapers reported about the events that unfolded from the fire. Each of them reported about the fire in slightly different ways. The Pittsburgh Press was one of the newspaper companies that reported on the events of the fire. According to a November 30, 1903 article by the Pittsburgh Press, the flames destroyed everything in the B.A.M. building and left the walls standing. No lives were lost during the fire. However, one of the fireman received a slight injury. The flames were strong enough to endanger the establishments surrounding the B.A.M. building. Fortunately, firemen came and put out the flames before any further tragedies occurred. The flames were first discovered shortly before 9:00am by two decorators who were preparing the auditorium of the building for a dinner that was to be held in honor of Senator Patrick H. McCarren, the Democratic leader of Brooklyn at the time. The flames reported to be the result of an electrical accident. Before the decorators were able to leave the building, the flames quickly spread to all the decorations in the building. The firemen came and prevented the flames from spreading to and damaging other nearby establishments. The fire raged on until around 11:00am where it died out by itself. It is believed that the owners of the theater didn’t have any insurance.
A second newspaper company that reported on the events of the fire was the New York Times. According to a December 1, 1903 article by the New York Times, the fire “was one of the swiftest destructions that Brooklyn has ever known, the great auditorium being a seething sea of flame within twenty minutes…” As stated before, the fire was reported to have been started by an electrical accident. Before the fire, a man named John J. Sullivan and his men were decorating the theater for a banquet in honor of Senator McCarren. A big sign that said “Welcome” in incandescent lights was set up as one of the decorations. Unfortunately, a fuse connected to the lights blew out. While a few men were testing the wiring of the lights, a burst of flames appeared and started spreading across the draperies of the stage. Soon, the building became a sea of flames. Firemen came to put out the flames, but they dropped the fire hose and ran for their lives. However, they did contain the fire so that it didn’t spread to other buildings like the Brooklyn Public Library. The police placed an estimate of all the damages from the fire to be $273,000.
Both of the newspaper companies reported on the same story, but they each contain noticeable differences. The New York times article was published a day after the fire. The Pittsburgh Press article was published on the same day of the fire. I believe that it is because of this that the N.Y.T. article contains more information than the Pittsburgh Press article. Also, the N.Y.T. article was able to describe more specific details surrounding the fire than the P.P. article. For example, The N.Y.T. articles gives the name of one of the decorators from the B.A.M. Also, the article describes the firemen who responded to the fire to have quickly dropped the fire hose and ran away. The P.P. article stated that the cost of the damages from the fire wouldn’t exceed $250,000. However, the N.Y.T. article claims that the police estimated the cost of the damages to be $273,000. The N.Y.T. article also stated that it is rumored that one volunteer from the B.A.M. was killed during the fire, but no bodies were reported to have been found. Just from these differences alone, I believe it is safe to say that the N.Y.T. article was the result of a more detailed investigation than the P.P. article.
Although both of these newspaper companies reported on the same incident, there is a clear difference shown between their articles. It is very likely that the New York Times did more research than the Pittsburgh Press. One fact that further proves my claim is the fact that the N.Y.T. article was published a day after the incident while the Pittsburgh Press was published in the same day of the incident. It is clear that more time was put into one article than the other. Although it was claimed to have been an electrical accident, the cause of the fire was never truly proven. Also, the Brooklyn Academy of Music was threatened by a fire in 1895. It makes me wonder if the fire really was just an accident.
Works Cited:
“The Brooklyn Academy of Music in Ruins.” BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC IN RUINS – Historic Amusement Structure Totally Destroyed by Fire. SWIFT WORK OF THE FLAMES Caterers Preparing for McCarren Banquet Barely Escaped with Their Lives — Adjoining Building Destroyed — One Death Rumored. – View Article – NYTimes.com. New York Times, 01 Dec. 1903. Web. 02 Dec. 2013.
“A Big Fire In Brooklyn.” Pittsburgh Press 30 Nov. 1903: 1. Print.
“Theatre Talks.” Theatre Talks. N.p., 13 Dec. 2011. Web. 02 Dec. 2013.
“Brooklyn Academy of Music.” Infoplease. Infoplease, n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2013.
