HISTORIC EXHIBIT FOCUSES ON ASTORIA FIRE OF 1922
Memorabilia, accounts on
display at Heritage Museum
BY HEATHER DOUGLAS
On a windless December night in Asto-
ria, light snow was falling around 2 a.m.
In just moments, the city would experience
one of the most devastating urban fires in
Oregon’s history.
This year marks the centennial of Asto-
ria’s landmark 1922 fire, an event that rav-
aged nearly every building in the down-
town corridor. Now, the historical moment
is commemorated in an exhibit at the Clat-
sop County Heritage Museum in Astoria.
Chaotic scenes
Few physical artifacts remain from the
1922 fire, and these fit into a small banker’s
box, leading one section of the new exhibit.
While artifacts are on display, the core of
this exhibit features panoramic images,
personal accounts, items such as firefighter
gear and recreated downtown scenes.
But the chaos of living through that
moment in Astoria’s history is difficult to
convey. That’s why the exhibit features
what curator Chelsea Vaughn refers to as a
“pile-o-stuff,” a recreated scene of a pile of
possessions from the era.
“People were trying to save stock
from their stores, from their apartments,”
Vaughn said. “They moved their items
down to the street not knowing how bad
the fire was and then it came closer. Even-
tually they had to abandon their things.
There were looters, and at the many sport-
ing goods stores, ammunition was catching
fire and exploding. It was a chaotic scene,”
she added.
One personal account from the exhibit
comes from Kermit Gimre, who described
his father Sven’s efforts to salvage mer-
chandise from his shoe store, Gimre’s.
“The whole downtown was afire, and
here was my poor dad, downtown, trying
to save something from his store. He got
downtown before the fire burned his build-
ing, but it’s a wonder he didn’t burn to
death, because he was caught right in that
fire. He realized he couldn’t save a thing.
So he just ran into the store and ran out,”
Gimre said.
After the fire consumed approximately
30 blocks of Astoria’s business district, the
flames’ perimeter was littered with mat-
tresses and destroyed belongings. Many
lost all of their possessions.
10 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
A panoramic image of a burned out district from the 1922 Astoria fire is seen at the Clatsop
County Heritage Museum.
A small chest features the few remaining
items from the era of the fire.
‘The Great Fire of 1922’
Clatsop County Heritage Museum, 1618
Exchange St., Astoria
Exhibit open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
www.astoriamuseums.org
hive was up in flames within a half hour of
the first sighting of the fire,” Vaughn said.
Inconclusive
An overview of headlines and memorabilia from the era of the great fire.
Debates and accounts
The true origin point of the fire has
remained a curious question for nearly a
century. Decades ago, one man, on his
deathbed, may have admitted that the cig-
arette he failed to properly extinguish
started the fire.
Other accounts point to the origin as
the basement of the former Thiel Brothers
Restaurant, while still more point to the
Beehive Department Store, once housed at
12th and Commercial streets. “The Bee-
Vaughn also noted that the fire chief
at the time had for years warned of severe
risk leading up to the fire. Astoria’s down-
town had been constructed on a sys-
tem of wooden viaducts which spread the
flames and allowed the fire to travel under-
ground. “That’s why the fire was so hard
to fight,” Vaughn said, “it actually trav-
eled underground. The firefighters would
have it under control in one place and it
would spring up under the street in a dif-
ferent place.”
An insurance bureau filed a report on
the fire, ultimately ruling its cause incon-
clusive, but Vaughn confirms that many
conspiracy theories drifted through town.
Now, questions surrounding the blaze
remain, while this exhibit seeks to collect
the facts and the memories.