"In graphic novel format, tells the story of the great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 and the subsequent fires"--Provided by publisher.

Prepared by the Technical Council on Lifeline Earthquake Engineering of ASCE. This TCLEE Monograph covers the entire range of fire following earthquake (FFE) issues, from historical fires to 20th-century fires in Kobe, San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, and Northridge. FFE has the potential of causing catastrophic losses in the United States, Japan, Canada, New Zealand, and other seismically active countries with wood houses. This comprehensive book on FFE and urban conflagrations provides state-of-the-practice insight on unique issues, such as large diameter flex hose applications by fire and water departments. Topics include: History of past fires; Computer modeling of fire spread in the post-earthquake urban environment; Concurrent damage and fire impacts for water, power gas, communication and transportation systems; Examples of reliable water systems built or designed in San Francisco, Vancouver, Berkeley, and Kyoto; Use of large diameter (5 in.) and ultralarge diameter (12 in.) flex hose for fire fighting and water restoration; and Cost-effectiveness of various FFE mitigation strategies, with a detailed benefit-cost model. Water utility engineers, fire fighting professionals, and emergency response planners will benefit from reading this book.

"At 5:12 A.M. on the morning of April 18, 1906, San Francisco was struck by one of the worst earthquakes ever recorded, a disaster that instantly killed hundreds and leveled large sections of the city. The quake has become a watershed event in American history, yet with the passage of time its drama has overshadowed the even greater calamity to which it gave rise: the fires that broke out as the result of toppling chimneys, broken flues, and severed gas lines. These blazes burned for days and were ultimately responsible for the deaths of as many as three thousand people, the destruction of more than five hundred blocks and twenty-eight thousand buildings, and the dislocation of some two hundred thousand residents." "In San Francisco Is Burning, Dennis Smith recounts the three terrible days of the tragedy with an almost cinematic immediacy, tracing the drama through the experiences of a number of people who lived it: a valiant naval officer who helped save the city's piers and wharves, the corrupt mayor, a firefighter who witnessed firsthand the staggering intensity of the fires, a woman who ran a shelter in Chinatown, and the army general who took command of the city and inadvertently placed the city and its people at even greater risk." "Above all, San Francisco Is Burning is a compelling and timely account of how a city copes with catastrophe - how it prepares for such contingencies and how effectively it deals with them when they occur. Smith reveals how San Francisco's corrupt municipal government had paid little heed to the warnings of its fire chief about the inadequacies of the public water system, a failing that would leave the city particularly vulnerable to spreading blazes. Once the fires began, a number of decisions made by the emergency leadership not only proved ineffective hut actually exacerbated the situation. Dynamiting to create firebreaks became, in the hands of amateurs, a dangerous incendiary, while the enforced evacuation of many of the city's neighborhoods deprived them of a volunteer fire brigade, desperate to save their own homes. But the most drastic measure - the declaration of martial law and posting of militia with shoot-to-kill orders against looters - turned out to be the most damaging of all as it led to senseless deaths and the demoralizing of an already overwhelmed populace."--BOOK JACKET.

Investigates the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, describing the horrible natural disaster and the subsequent fire that raged through the rubble, killing ten thousand people.

Winner of the Phi Alpha Theta Best Subsequent Book Award A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist The captivating and definitive account of the Great Lisbon Earthquake--the most consequential natural disaster of modern times. On All Saints’ Day 1755, tremors from an earthquake measuring approximately 9.0 or perhaps higher on the magnitude scale swept furiously toward Lisbon, then one of the wealthiest cities in the world and the capital of a vast global empire. Within minutes, much of the city lay in ruins. A half hour later, a giant tsunami unleashed by the quake smashed into Portugal’s coastline and barreled up the Tagus River, carrying countless thousands out to sea. To complete Lisbon’s destruction, a hellacious firestorm then engulfed the city’s shattered remains, killing thousands more and incinerating much of what the earthquake and tsunami had spared. Drawing on a wealth of new sources, the latest scientific research, and a sophisticated grasp of European history, Mark Molesky gives us the gripping, authoritative account of the Great Lisbon Earthquake disaster and its impact on the Western world—including descriptions of the world’s first international relief effort, the rise of a brutal, yet modernizing, dictatorship in Portugal, and the effect of the catastrophe on the spirit and direction of the European Enlightenment.

8.5 x 11 Hardcover with Dust Jacket256 pages including 32 color pagesAt 5:12 on the morning of April 18, 1906, a mild foreshock shook San Francisco. Twenty-five seconds later, the Great Earthquake, lasting almost a minute, devastated the City. In San Francisco, this historic event is more often referred to as the Great Fire.Within the first hours, 52 fires spread across the City. The quake destroyed the central fire alarm and telephone systems; thus, no alarms sounded to the 584 members of the Fire Department. The department was without any means of communication; every company was on its own.The engine companies responded to visible fires but discovered the quake had broken most of the water mains. As firefighters searched desperately for working hydrants, small-unchecked building fires merged into large, uncontrolled fires. Before long, the conflagration engulfed 4.7 square miles of the City.Despite these setbacks and challenges, the San Francisco Fire Department fought on, day and night until, late in the evening on April 20th, they extinguished the fire and saved the City.Everything Took Time transports you to those three eventful days in April 1906 to experience the heroic battle of the San Francisco firefighters. Author Bill Koenig gives the events immediacy citing contemporary newspaper articles and takes you behind the scenes with previously unpublished officers' reports. Leave your 21st-century viewpoints behind and read how the department managed a disaster of this magnitude without the tools we have today.