In the early morning hours of Dec. 8, 1922, fire tore through Oregon’s oldest city.
Astoria’s fire likely began near 11th Street and quickly spread through the downtown business district.
Despite a drizzle of rain and light snow, the blaze jumped from building to building. Within an hour of the first alarm, an entire block turned to ash. Newspapers described it as an “inferno.”
“The heat was terrible,” the Oregon Journal reported. “In the path of the on-coming flames people ran through the streets carrying children and what few goods they could gather.” The Journal detailed how former Astoria police officer Chris Carlson managed to salvage a few valuables before watching his house burn. “It was just like daylight, wherever you went even though the electric lights went out,” he said.
The fire raged for over 11 hours, burning nearly every building in the business district.