3-053-505 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Burning of the old Opera-House, Paris, 1873. 'Destruction by fire...There is nothing standing except part of the northern wall and three narrow strips of wall, now looking like ruined towers. In the night the flames so alarmed the whole neighbourhood that the inhabitants...hastily packed up their valuables and fled. It is wonderful, however, to see how completely the fire was limited to the building itself. The cafe attached was, of course, utterly destroyed, but beyond that scarcely any damage was done in the precincts. The cause of the fire is supposed to have been the bursting of a gaspipe...The children of the stage manager narrowly escaped being forgotten, the parents being out spending the evening...The firemen came in by chance, tore them out of their cribs, where they were fast asleep, and it was only next morning that their parents knew they were saved. It is said that Mdlle. Devries's dresser, at the risk of her life, saved her mistress's diamonds...the streets adjacent were covered with cinders...The firemen, all but unaided by the population and with a very insufficient water supply, abated the fire. Tremendous detonations and noises were heard, caused by the gaspipes'. From "Illustrated London News", 1873.