Rochester, NY had several devastating fires, but none was more catastrophic
in loss of human life than the Steam Gauge and Lantern Works fire on the evening of
November 9, 1888. The watchman noticed the fire and ran to give the alarm, neglecting
to tell 60 men and boys on the 5th, 6th and 7th floors of the factory. Every fire unit in the city was at the fire. Thousands of onlookers gathered. Firemen stretched their nets, but workers could not see because of the engulfing smoke. Many jumped away in desperation. Horse drawn ambulances, police and delivery wagons and private carriages carried burned victims to St. Mary's Hospital and City Hospital. They fought to keep the fire from spreading to the William & Hoyt shoe factory next door.
It took days to uncover the bodies from the debris of the totally destroyed building. In the end, 38 men and boys perished. For days afterwards, funerals wound through the streets of Rochester to Mount Hope Cemetary.
(exerpts from Mount Hope by Richard O. Reisem)