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Fire, Fire Everywhere!
10 Plays15 days ago
On today’s episode of Beneath the Evergreens, Ana and Jessy explore a chilling mystery from Washington State’s past. Over the course of one summer in the late 1800s, three devastating fires erupted across the state, leaving destruction and unanswered questions in their wake. Was it the work of a serial arsonist, a tragic coincidence, or something even more sinister lurking beneath the surface? Tune in as we dig into the history, the theories, and the eerie connections that still leave us wondering.
⚠️ Content Warning: This episode includes references to abuse, trauma, and death. Listener discretion is advised.
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Transcript
Introduction to Beneath the Evergreens
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to Beneath the Evergreens, where murder, mysteries, and mayhem lurk in the shadows of the Pacific Northwest. I'm Jess. And I'm Anna. From haunted forests and unsolved disappearances, to true crime cases buried deep in the moss and the mist, we're digging into the dark secrets hiding under the evergreens. Each episode will explore real cases, eerie encounters, and the legends that keep the Pacific Northwest up at night.
00:00:26
Speaker
So grab your flashlight, lock your doors, and join us beneath the evergreen.
00:00:55
Speaker
Was that a Twilight Zone that we just did right there? The Twilight Zone, yes. Might be copyright infringement. We should maybe cut that out. I'll just do like two seconds of it. It'll be perfect.
00:01:06
Speaker
I'll cite my source. There you go.
Diet Coke vs. Diet Pepsi Debate
00:01:10
Speaker
Welcome back, everyone. Welcome, welcome. I have a very important question to ask you. What is it?
00:01:17
Speaker
And I think i'm going to turn this into a poll. Okay. Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi? We've done this before and I feel like you've given me shit because I really like Pepsi.
00:01:29
Speaker
Like I've been on the Coke Zero train recently. Okay. But I do like Pepsi. And frankly, I don't care that much. So usually my orders or usually I pick whatever is cheapest at Costco.
00:01:44
Speaker
That's smart. I get that. And historically it's been Pepsi. So that's what I'm drinking. I feel like it has to be Diet Coke. See, once I had Coke Zero, I couldn't go back to Diet Coke. i So my child doesn't like Diet Coke.
00:01:59
Speaker
I don't like regular Coke. So we have to meet in the middle and do a Coke Zero. So I'm like, okay, with Coke Zero. But there's something about a Diet Coke that just is delicious. But it's crazy that you like Pepsi.
00:02:11
Speaker
i I have a sweet tooth. Like anything that's like sweet, um I love. Yeah. I will say it is very sweet. So if you're like in that sweet mood, it does make sense. You know who is obsessed with Pepsi?
00:02:22
Speaker
Who? The West. No, the East side of Washington. Oh, interesting. I didn't know that.
Flavor Hacks for Soda Lovers
00:02:28
Speaker
Like when I went, so had to go over there for like a business thing.
00:02:33
Speaker
And every restaurant i went to had Pepsi. No one had Diet Coke, which is fine. Like i um um don't care that much. But like, it's also like, cool. But then when you're over here on the West side, there is nothing but Diet Coke.
00:02:51
Speaker
You to know a fun hack? So when i was in Italy a couple of years ago, we'd always get a Coke Zero and they'd always serve it with a lemon and try putting a lemon in your Coke Zero or even like a true lemon like little packet changes the game. It's so much better.
00:03:10
Speaker
you A lemon packet? but Like, true lemon. It's like this. It's like crystallized lemon. So there's, like, no, like, additives or anything. It's just, like, dried, essentially, lemon. But it's, like, you don't have to buy an actual lemon. You just, like, have a packet.
00:03:23
Speaker
You pour it in your can. And it's so freaking good. I feel like I'm intrigued by this crystallized lemon. I will bring you some next time see you.
Washington State's Fiery History
00:03:32
Speaker
Please. They're also super cheap on Amazon.
00:03:35
Speaker
I'm excited for your story today, Anna. Yeah, so... it's This is a very interesting story. And frankly, this whole thing started by me doing like a deep dive into some more Washington state history because we all know that's one of my favorite things to talk about, apparently. Yes. A new newfound favorite thing.
00:03:55
Speaker
So I was looking through a website called History Link, and they actually have a ton of information on Washington state history. So its kind of going through like their timeline. honestly learned a lot just by skimming like titles of of of articles. Did you know that the first like Europeans to be in Washington were the Spanish actually?
00:04:14
Speaker
did not. Right? I always thought that like it was always like British if you will. But no, like the Spanish were actually the first in Washington. Actually, did I know that?
00:04:26
Speaker
You think of like, like I didn't know that. But no, there was like, yeah, it was like a full on Spanish settlement up here. I would have assumed like Native Americans obviously here first. And then the Hudson Bay Company is the the people that I'm thinking are the first ones here.
00:04:40
Speaker
Yeah, I know there was some explorers if you yeah from Spain couple times. Yeah, it was kind of interesting. That was one of the things I learned. But another thing that I kind of came across is the the Great Seattle Fire. So that was like the big headline, right?
00:04:57
Speaker
Yeah. but Did you know that the same summer, actually two months from the Great Seattle Fire, there was another two massive fires in the state of Washington that burned down two other cities, like completely burned down these cities.
00:05:11
Speaker
So the Great Seattle Fire yeah took place on June 1889.
00:05:18
Speaker
On July 4th, 1889, there was an Ellensburg fire, burnt down the entirety of downtown Ellensburg. On America's birthday? That's fucked up. And then on August 4th, 1889, so like literally a month after that, was the Great Spokane Fire.
00:05:36
Speaker
Yes. So within two months, Seattle, Ellensburg, and Spokane basically all burnt down. So is there like a serial arsonist that we need to discuss? Because that also is like the amount of time it would take you in 1889 to get from place to place. Right. So there's nothing like it doesn't seem there's anything nefarious that happened, but it's a super weird coincidence that i kind of wanted to to talk about and explore a little bit more because like,
00:05:59
Speaker
What are the chances? I mean, obviously, guess if it's weather dependent, right? Lack of water. It's very dry. Then, yeah, the chances are pretty high. But it's such a weird phenomenon that all three of these big cities, well, now big cities, but yeah um burnt to the ground, essentially.
00:06:16
Speaker
Especially, it's weird that it was, like, in order. Wait, was it in order? So it went Seattle, Spokane. Seattle, Ellensburg, Spokane. ah Look, I think we just cracked the case that it was a serial arsonist.
00:06:28
Speaker
That's what it
The Great Seattle Fire Account
00:06:29
Speaker
was. So, well, I'll talk a little bit about each fire, but yeah, keep in the back of your minds, everyone, that ah maybe this is a serial arsonist and we are uncovering a great case from the AM 1889. We are like Sherlock Holmes and Watson right now.
00:06:43
Speaker
Jess, if we were Sherlock Holmes and Watson, who would be who? I feel like you would be Watson. 100% would be watching. And I would be Sherlock Holmes. This wily person just like on the ground with a magnifying glass like licking at some weird substance. I feel like you're way more eccentric than I am.
00:07:01
Speaker
I'd be solving the case. Oh, this what happened. And you'd be like, well, actually, let's logically think about this. No, I agree 100%. Okay. so these these great fires. So the Great Seattle Fire. I'm sure everyone in Seattle has heard of this at some point or the other, right? But essentially what went down is Seattle was built pretty much at sea level. So already the like construction was like it was not ideal, right? You have tides moving, storms. like it's just It was not meant to last for a long time. It was not a lot of like wooden structures.
00:07:37
Speaker
Like Mother Dandible's house. Remember her? Yes. So it was kind of like ripe for like if something bad were to happen, it's going to spread pretty quick. Yeah. So on June 6th, 1889, there was – basically in the commercial center of Seattle, work was happening, right? Yeah.
00:07:54
Speaker
yeah And there was a pot of glue that was on the stove. It was mixing and it ended up overheating and spilling, causing a fire because everything around it was flammable.
00:08:05
Speaker
Right. So every fire statement to say in this day and age, I just had a pot of glue on my stove. Right. Right. It's nuts. Like that's insane.
00:08:17
Speaker
It's craziness. But anyway, so the glue basically spilt everywhere started a fire. It was a very hot day. It was a windy day with everything around it being flammable. It was basically like just right for this massive fire.
00:08:31
Speaker
So makes fire starts and it's spreading immediately. yeah So obviously there is there is a fire department. They all start attacking it. But there's basically like there's basically no water pressure.
00:08:43
Speaker
Not enough water. So like there's nothing they can do. They're just watching the city burn. People even run into Puget Sound and try to like just bring water over to stop this fire. With their bodies just like soaking themselves and shaking like dogs? or like do they I'm going to guess that they had a bucket.
00:09:00
Speaker
The mental image that just came into my mind was insane. Okay, please continue. And this, everyone, is why I am Watson.
00:09:11
Speaker
Yeah, so I'm imagining buckets carrying utensils. I feel like shaking off like a dog maybe was not the most good. Pots of glue, if you will. They're basically at this loss of how do we stop this fire? They were eventually able to get it kind of under control, but it burnt almost the entirety of downtown Seattle. Mm-hmm.
00:09:31
Speaker
Yeah. So look when after the fire had settled, you know, insurance was coming through to like figure out how like who was getting what, what the cause of it was. it was essentially understood that there was not, yes, like is it not a sufficient water supply in the city and that the fire department was just not trained well enough. There was not like they did not know what they were doing.
00:09:52
Speaker
So essentially this fire led to a complete reform of the fire department. Everyone was fired that fired. The chief was let go and they were re recruited new people with more comprehensive training. And i'll ultimately turn the Seattle fire department into like one of the best in the nation, actually. That's pretty cool.
00:10:10
Speaker
It is really cool, actually. And then they started on rebuilding the city. okay So city was basically rebuilt on, on, on top of the ruins of the previous Seattle So that's where you get like the underground tour where you can go down there. love the underground tour. Have you been? hi and No, I have not been. oh my God, you should go. we're gonna We're going this summer. I made a point. When I was researching this, i turned to my husband and I was like, we need to go. I have been talking about it since I was a little kid.
00:10:36
Speaker
Yes, it's super cool. So I think we're going to make a point to to do it this summer. I love it. When you do it, will you do like a whole episode on it? Cause there's some like really cool history facts that I can't fully remember.
00:10:48
Speaker
You know it. yeah Don't tempt me with a good time. Don't tell me to tell you what I learned. oh So that was the Seattle fire in a nutshell. So it seemed like a pretty isolated incident. It was an accident, right? Accident meant mixed with bad weather.
00:11:07
Speaker
Then a month later, we move on to Ellensburg and Ellensburg at this time was not a very big city. There was the railroad running through it. it had been about three years before the fire occurred, the railroad was built coming in. So it was like building in popular popularity, but it wasn't a necessarily large town at this time. I mean, Ellensburg is still pretty small. I was going to say, I don't think ever Ellensburg was ever like super big. Was it? But maybe it was cause it's a, like a train stop situation. Fun fact. Ellensburg was a contender to be the capital of Washington.
00:11:37
Speaker
That is insane. Right. Could you imagine that? No, I cannot. I mean, Ellensburg is super cute, but like, I can't imagine it being like the the Olympia. I can't either. Although I'm guessing if it became it, we could like, it would become Olympia, but I still can't.
00:11:54
Speaker
It gets so cold there. And it's like, it's so far away from like where most of the population lives. Yeah. i would like I guess not like Olympia is that close, but like, I feel like the West side is where most people are. I would agree.
00:12:06
Speaker
Anyways, though. So Ellensburg, pretty small town at this point, but on the evening of July 4th, it sounds like at a grocery store, a fire fire started. Okay. well I'm just saying it was a serial arsonist guy, put glue on the stove, knew it was going to catch fire. Like one of those flaming marshmallows.
00:12:26
Speaker
Jumps on a train, immediately gets out of town, to Ellensburg. And now on America's birthday, he wants to watch the world burn. Honestly, that train theory might not be the most far-fetched thing. And you'll hear why when we get to the Spokane story. So like I said, evening of July 4th in a grocery store, that's kind of all the reporting that we have on this fire.
00:12:48
Speaker
But it burned down most of downtown Ellensburg. they it yeah They didn't have a fire department at the time. So the townspeople were actually the ones that like put out the fire. But they also suffered from very little water supply, um which really exacerbated the damage. but by then i was going to say, because there's like no lake. but like Yeah. and like Imagine in like Seattle, there's no water.
00:13:09
Speaker
Like Ellsberg, Spokane, there's not going to be like anything over there. Yikes. And you're not even like by the ocean, so you can't shake like a dog. No, you can't. No, you can't.
00:13:20
Speaker
Oh, my gosh. But so the fire in Ellensburg, it really is because that very little water sp supply. It started to like basically just grew and grew. Eventually, by the next morning, it was like put out and it was kind of stopped. But like I said, the whole downtown was basically burnt down. So the people in the town basically put together like a little tent city while they were rebuilding. But they actually had the town rebuilt that year.
Mysteries of the Spokane Fire
00:13:46
Speaker
So yeah. And the railroad is really like what helped them out instead of having to go like grab, ah get all the materials they were able to get it um via the railroad. So it's pretty impressive. And apparently if you still go to Ellensburg today, you'll see 1889 on a lot of the buildings as like part of the rebuilding effort.
00:14:05
Speaker
Oh, I'm going to have check out. I don't think I've actually been it to Ellensburg like proper. I think I've only driven like super cute. I really like Ellensburg. We'll add that to our road trip. Yes, please. I think, um, I wonder if like in, if that happened in today's world, like a whole city burnt down, do you think that to like we're in a place where we would all come together still and like rebuild like this?
00:14:30
Speaker
I don't know. i mean mean mean, the hopeful part of me is like, yeah, we don't, everyone would come together. Right. But I don't, I don't know if I believe that or not. I feel like it would, I don't know. I feel like if you're in a small town, people would come together for the most part.
00:14:45
Speaker
But yeah, and I also can't imagine a whole city burning down now. Right. Like I can imagine neighborhoods like, don't know, pockets of Seattle, but like the entire city of Seattle burning down, that would be like catastrophic.
00:14:57
Speaker
Well, l LA just burnt down to the ground, essentially. That's fair. But still like pockets. And I feel like they were able to rebuild a little bit, but like, yeah, well,
00:15:08
Speaker
Let's get into our last great fire. So exactly a month after Ellensburg burnt down, Spokane burnt down. Of course. um And the consensus is that the Spokane fire started at a lodging near the railroad depot.
00:15:24
Speaker
So look, his name was William Jones III. He had a top hat and some shiny shoes and a monocle.
00:15:36
Speaker
He also happened to have a so briefcase, man purse, that looked like a gas cam. Crazy. That was insane. but no it is odd though, right? Yeah. um So similar to the fires in Seattle and Ellensburg, um none of the structures at this time were built to withstand fire. were all built out of wood. So fire starts at this lodging. It quickly spreads to the rest of downtown Spokane.
00:16:02
Speaker
And then also similar to the other fires, there was no water pressure. There was no no water pressure. There was not enough water to actually put out the fire. So it just continued to grow and grow and grow.
00:16:13
Speaker
However, in this piece, there actually was um an idea of what happened. There was almost someone that was blamed for the fire. And the other two, Ellensburg, it was like this asked was kind of a fluke.
00:16:25
Speaker
Seattle, it was like, oh, the fire department wasn't trained well. But in this case, um the actual the superintendent of the waterworks Spokane was basically – he was out fishing the day that the fire occurred.
00:16:39
Speaker
And the consensus is that he hadn't trained his his like backup well enough. Oh, no. so Yeah. So this fire is burning. This guy has no idea what to do with the water and how to direct out of like what is happening. Yeah.
00:16:53
Speaker
And then the super superintendent is just out fishing, just like enjoying a nice August day. like it smells like burning, but you know what? I'm at the pond. Crazy. Yeah. i Can't be that bad. That sucks. Yeah.
00:17:05
Speaker
But the Spokane fire was actually probably the worst of all the fires. Oh, no. Well, so the whole city did burn down, but there was ah also someone died during this fire. And from what I could see, there weren't any casualties in the Seattle or the Ellensburg fires.
00:17:21
Speaker
Yeah. it's not good. Okay. It sounds like this guy, he he might have, like, jumped out of a lodging or a building trying to get out, and then he ended up succumbing to his injuries at the hospital later on. Aw.
00:17:33
Speaker
Yeah. So... this whole This whole saga, right? Maybe it was a nefarious man on the railroad, or maybe it was just a weird coincidence that all of these cities burnt down in Washington at the same year, literally a month apart from each other.
00:17:49
Speaker
But it's just ah like an odd coincidence. And maybe it is just it was hot. there was It was windy. The wind was blowing east, maybe. But yeah, kind of a strange coincidence in history that always makes me wonder like, yeah, was this something else or was it truly just a really bad summer? Like I think feel like we hear about these things now and it's like, oh, we had it's a w bad wildfire season. British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California.
00:18:13
Speaker
And we don't think much of it. So maybe this was the same thing, right? Just a really bad, a really hot, dry summer. Or maybe it was something a little crazier at the the railroad stops and just someone coming around lighting things.
00:18:27
Speaker
if i was even on the ma If I was to put on my Sherlock Holmes hat, we're going to have to continue going east and seeing like if within a month did something in Idaho. Yeah.
00:18:38
Speaker
Right. And then and then keep if it did keep tracking it down, because I think it was William Jones, the third. With his top hat and monocle, of course, with his top hat and monocle. You know what else is kind of crazy about this story that I will sound silly saying, but I'm going to say it because I bet other people are feeling this way, too.
00:18:57
Speaker
I'm kind of shocked that there was even like full plumbing at this point in some of these places. Like Ellensburg was is a a pretty rural area. So to get water out there, that's like a significant feat. Yeah, and I don't know if it was like more rudimentary than I'm thinking. like Maybe it truly was directing stuff from like a river more rudimentary groups or like movement of water in some capacity.
00:19:24
Speaker
um But no, it is kind of it is really interesting to think that like they actually had water flowing, and I don't know how good the indoor plumbing was. yeah I believe at the Underground Tour, the thing I was quickly reading, they talked about like the plumbing a little bit. Yeah.
00:19:39
Speaker
Not to a gross degree, but to an interesting degree. So once I go on the tour, I'll report back to you guys. Let me know what our little pipes looked like back then. Will do. Will do. So interesting. That was a fantastic little story. I feel... I'm serious. I think someone...
00:19:57
Speaker
I don't actually think this. Maybe I do. I don't know. like great It's like such a weird coincidence. It just, it you know, and the timing being like, so like yeah that, that is really how long it would take you to like get somewhere and then know the place, like scout the place that you're going to burn.
00:20:15
Speaker
That would have the biggest impact. and yeah And it's also crazy that no one got injured in any of these, except for the last one.
Episode Wrap-Up
00:20:23
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. It's almost like they had a town crier that was like, oh my gosh, he and like ran and got on the um the train out. oh No, it is. It's so cool. And I remember what saw. I didn't see anything that like connected all of them.
00:20:39
Speaker
It just sounded like the consensus was that it was a weird coincidence, but it's kind of cool to look back. And it is just it's very strange. It is. Well, that's it for today's dive into the dark corners of the Pacific Northwest.
00:20:52
Speaker
If you love the stories or shivered a little, be sure to subscribe and follow so you don't miss what's lurking beneath the evergreens next time. Thanks for joining us on Beneath the Evergreens. We appreciate you diving into the mysteries with us.
00:21:04
Speaker
Until next time, keep your eyes open and your door is locked. Yes, or William Jones III will burn your house down.