The urban fires of the late 20th and early 21st centuries offer crucial lessons for addressing the fires plaguing suburban areas today. Examining the past reveals how a similar crisis was overcome.

A Look Back at the 'Crucible of Fire'

Retired firefighter Bruce Hensler’s book, Crucible of Fire, provides a detailed account of the widespread fires that ravaged Eastern U.S. cities in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Hensler documented cities burning, insurance premiums skyrocketing, and politicians failing to enforce basic fire safety regulations.

He recounts an instance where a city’s fire chief was criticized for inadequate preparation and subsequently ousted by politicians. However, Hensler wasn’t predicting future wildfires; he was chronicling a historical period when cities were constructed largely of flammable wooden materials.

The Rise of the Wooden Tinderboxes

The Industrial Revolution and the Civil War fueled rapid growth in Northeastern cities, creating dense concentrations of wooden buildings and people. Fire departments reorganized under a paramilitary structure, inspired by wartime tactics, but remained largely volunteer-based.

Crucially, building codes and water infrastructure failed to keep pace with the escalating fire risk. This resulted in devastating fires, such as the 1866 fire that destroyed much of Portland, Maine, causing over $240 million in today’s dollars in damage.

The Insurance Industry Steps In

The Portland fire significantly alarmed insurance companies focused on downtown industrial properties. Within days, they formed the National Board of Fire Underwriters to stabilize the industry and promote fire safety measures.

However, further disasters followed, including the 1871 Chicago fire (over $4 billion in today’s dollars) and the 1872 Boston fire (over $1 billion in damage). The Board responded by raising rates by 50% and threatening to withdraw coverage from cities that didn’t address their fire hazards.

Data, Codes, and Grading Systems

Over the following decades, the National Board of Fire Underwriters began collecting data on the causes of urban fires and funded research to develop effective safety measures. After the 1904 Baltimore fire, the Board released national fire-safety building codes.

They also created a grading system to assess city risk based on fire departments, water utilities, and adherence to building and electrical codes. This system incentivized politicians to invest in fire safety infrastructure, as poor ratings led to dramatically increased insurance rates.

From City-Wide Blazes to Contained Fires

As cities adopted these reforms, the scale of fires diminished. Fires were increasingly contained to blocks or individual buildings. Advancements in technology, such as motorized fire engines, smoke detectors, and indoor sprinklers, further reduced fire spread.

These improvements primarily focused on commercial and industrial buildings. However, a new crisis was brewing in suburban residential areas, which were becoming a different kind of fire risk.

Echoes of the Past in Today’s Wildfires

Today, we are witnessing similar dynamics in the urban-wildland interface: rising insurance rates, policy cancellations, and debates about how to protect communities. Organizations like the Institute for Business & Home Safety are playing a role similar to the National Board of Fire Underwriters.

Insurance wildfire models are mirroring the old grading scales, and policies like Zone Zero are akin to the national building codes. As Hensler noted in 2011, building fires are now considered commonplace, but widespread destruction is no longer expected.

State Farm recently reached a deal with California to maintain a 17% rate hike following the 2025 L.A. County fires. The company reported paying $6.2 billion in claims last year, largely due to L.A. County fires. A heat dome across the American West is also increasing wildfire risk, with acreage burned nearly triple the 10-year average.