People who have experienced fire first-hand will tell you that it's alive with a mind of its own. Many times throughout history fire has demonstrated it's free will by unleashing itself on a large scale to wreak havoc on people and places around the world proving to everyone that a fire with a mind of its own is not so easily controlled. Some examples of fire's mass destruction are the great Chicago fire of 1871, a massive blaze in London in 1666, with many others before and after those dates; but the fire discussed in this paper is arguably the most devastating of all time (at least in the United States).
             It was April 18, 1906 at 5:12 a.m. when an earthquake struck San Francisco and the coast of Northern California with a magnitude of 7.9 with multiple aftershocks. Shaking was felt from Oregon to Los Angeles, and as far as central Nevada. As damaging as the earthquake and its aftershocks were, the fires that burned out of control afterward were even more destructive. It has been estimated that up to 90% of the total destruction was the result of the fires. Over 30 fires, caused by ruptured gas mains and other incidents, destroyed around 25,000 buildings on 490 city blocks. Of course what we learn from disasters such as this can prevent future ones from happening, which is why we will discuss causes of the fire and how it spread, errors in trying to control it, and the aftermath it caused to the San Francisco area.
             In 1906, technology in building and city design is nothing like it is today. Today, areas that are prominent for earthquakes have building built and cities developed to withstand the shaking and fires. Skyscrapers have fireproof insulation, fire alarms, and many other fire prevention measures that keep the cities safe. Few buildings these days are made of just wood, as they were in San Francisco in 1906. It seems that any fire prevention measures that were in place at that time did no good in the face of that massive...