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As part of a system originally installed in 1865 and upgraded by the time of the
fire, this and 171 other such boxes placed throughout Chicago were connected by
telegraph to the main alarm office in the Courthouse. In order to prevent false
alarms, the system required citizens to notify a nearby homeowner or storekeeper
who had the key. One could also report fires to the nearest fire house. When a
report of a fire was received in the Courthouse, it was relayed to the
appropriate companies, and the bell in the cupola rang out the general alarm. On
the evening of October 8, local residents turned in an alarm right away, but the
message never made it to the Courthouse. The nearest engine company, located six
blocks south of the O'Leary home, discovered the fire on their own and took off
for DeKoven Street, but additional help was avoidably and tragically delayed.
Once the watchman spied the flames and decided that the situation was serious,
he gave the telegraph operator the wrong location to send to the rest of the
department. The watchman soon realized this error, but the operator refused to
send out a corrected alarm on the grounds that it might confuse the men, and any
hope of stopping the fire before it became out of control was lost.
This was the last of several alarms that failed. In the days, months, and even
years preceding the fire, local editors and other citizens warned that the
Common Council, with support from property owners opposed to building
restrictions and higher taxes, was inviting disaster by permitting careless
construction and refusing to provide the fire department with enough equipment.
In 1868, the Board of Police commented on building techniques, "In many cases,
ornament is substituted for strength, and safety is sacrificed for cheapness."
To these critics, one of the most surprising things about the fire was that it
had not happened sooner.
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The Eve of Disaster 