71. Fire! Fire!
One of the greatest perils facing local residents during the 1800s was fire. Most of the buildings were made of wood, a cheap and readily available building material. Many riverside fires were started by hot sparks from an overheated steam engine falling on a wood-shingled roof. Once one building caught fire, the flame quickly spread to other buildings nearby.
In 1886 nearly half the commercial buildings of Saugatuck were destroyed by fire. Saugatuck’s fire department was organized in 1871 and reorganized in 1891. The village fire fighting system was primitive and often ineffective — one time citizens pressed into service refused to work the hand pumps. In 1892 the Saugatuck harbor pier caught fire and much of the Fishtown settlement burned down. On the other hand, heroic fire-fighting action by local people in 1871 held the line against fires along the Allegan Hill and east to Goshorn Lake — the same Midwest fire disaster that destroyed most of nearby Holland, Fennville and much of Chicago. It was not until 1904, when Saugatuck invested in a municipal water system, that fire fighters could rely on an ample supply of hydrant water.
To be clear, Douglas had similar woes — in 1902 their firehouse caught fire and burned up their fire engine.