Thomas Alva Edison’s factory catches fire during the night. The damage is extensive, due to the wooden structures and the deposits of flammable materials such as film and nitrate, alcohol, and highly volatile phenol. Among the 12,000 onlookers crowding to see the horrific sight is Thomas Alva Edison, strangely calm and amused, after ensuring his laboratory was safe. At 7:00 a.m., a benzene tank explodes. Edison, as if watching a scientific experiment, tries to guess what is burning and exploding as events unfold. Finally, he comments, “Yes, a great fortune went up in smoke last night, but isn’t it a beautiful sight?” Indeed, the damage turns out to be less severe than feared. One worker is also killed. The fire drills had served their purpose, and the evacuations had been effective. Edison doesn’t fire anyone and sets off to rebuild, this time with his Portland cement, replacing the wood. Fire insurance paid a third of the estimated damages, and at the end of December production of Blue Amberol cylinders for phonographs resumed.
