Great Fire of 1894
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| Location | Kien-k'ang, Themiclesia |
|---|---|
| Type | fire |
| Cause | ruled unknown |
| Deaths | 574 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 2,298 |
| Missing | 1,761 |
| Property damage | Over $60,000,000 |
The Great Fire of 1894 was a severe city fire that occurred from June 2 to June 7 in Kien-k'ang, Themiclesia. Burning for four days, the fire caused 574 confirmed deaths and 2,298 injuries and left another 1,761 unaccounted for; it devastated an area of 5.8 km² in a densely built-up part of the city, destroying at least 20,000 buildings and leaving upwards of 80,000 temporarily homeless.
Fire
Rebuilding
Influence
Building code
Within three weeks of the fire, in advance of major reconstruction efforts, the Kien-k'ang Council published the first general regulations regarding the structure and dimensions of buildings in the name of preventing future fires of the sort.
The regulations' unifying theme was to ensure adequate clearance between buildings, since the spread of the fire was almost universally blamed on buildings that touched each other. Thus, there was to be a mandatory recess of 3 Themiclesian feet or about 73.5 cm from a "shared property line", which, observed on both sides of the line, should create a clearance of 6 feet or 147 cm. This clearance was not to be infringed by "flammable projections" like wooden balconies, clothing racks, or projecting roof rafters. Even balconies with wooden roofs over them were explicitly forbidden. In short, there should be at least 147 cm of space between houses where there should be no flammable material.
On a property line that was not shared, that is to say facing a street, there was no mandatory recess provided the front of the building was not flammable. This rule was added because, in many cases, alleys that would have permitted escape were blocked by the collapsed, flaming remnants of flammable structures, such as wooden promenades, walkways, landed balconies, or awnings.