On Nov. 13, 1916, flames fanned by wind gusts gutted the O. S. Kelly Piano Plate Company in Springfield.
The fire started in gas ovens used to manufacture of piano plates and had made significant headway by the time it was discovered by a police officer on patrol.
"Chief Samuel F. Hunter responded and found the two top floors in flames on the west and gaining eastward, fanned by a high wind," Fire Engineering reported. "The chief was handicapped by a deep creek running along the south side of the building, the creek being forty feet wide.
"He had forty men at the fire and they worked skillfully under his direction and checked the blaze," the magazine said.
Springfield firefighters responded with an Ahrens motor combination pumper, two American-La France chemical engines, a Seagrave aerial ladder, a Webb pumping engine and four Kelly hose and chemical engines.
The plant was located at Limestone Avenue and Warder Street.