104th Anniversary of 1906 Great Earthquake and Fire Commemorated at Lotta's Fountain

Those who died in the 1906 Great Earthquake and Fire, and those who survived and lived to rebuild San Francisco from the ashes, were honoured at 5.12 am this morning.

About 300 people gathered at Lotta's Fountain to applaud guest of honour and survivor, 104-year-old Bill Del Monte, and to participate in a wreath laying ceremony and moment of silence.

Bill and members of his family travelled in the back of an open-topped vintage car from the Westin St Francis in Union Square, flanked in a small cavalcade by modern and vintage fire trucks and with police outriders. (Photo by Bob David)

As they arrived at Lotta's Fountain in the dark at about 5 am, the San Francisco German Association Band struck up. They were greeted with applause from the crowd, many in costume, recreating the atmosphere of the early 1900s and during the ceremony Bill was formally welcomed and thanked for his appearance.

As Bill sat tucked in the passenger seat, gone from his head was his familiar tan tam o'shanter. Instead, he wore a commemorative fireman's helmet with a badge inscribed '1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire Survivor Award.'

It is the first such award ever given, and Bill received it last night at the Survivors' Dinner.

San Francisco Chronicle writer, Carl Nolte, conjured up an image of the devastation of the quake and fire in which four square miles of the city burnt to ashes and 3,000 people died. San Franciscans used to say that if they stood in town long enough, they would see everyone they knew, he said.

He was thankful that no-one left but chose to remain, and said, 'if you want to seek their  monument....look around you.'

The event was supported by the police and fire departments and those involved in emergency management who are urging the city to prepare for the next big disaster. Police Captain Al Casciato said people must 'never forget' the lessons learned from the disaster, and  'never lose sight of' the lessons learned from every national disaster.

Before the official moment of silence and wreath laying, event organizer Lee Houskeeper asked for a special moment of silence for Taren Sapienza who died last year and who for over 25 years had worked to keep the commemoration alive. Taren had taken on the mantle from her father, Leo Sapienza, the last president of the South of Market Boys who began to hold an annual remembrance at Lotta's Fountain in 1919.

After the silence, Lee reminded the crowd that water was now flowing from the fountain once again, due to former Mayor, Willie Brown, and his first campaign promise to restore it. 'He didn't know how bad a shape it was in, but he did it. He kept his promise,' said Lee.

Then 5.12 am approached - 'not 5.11, not 5.13, and not 6.12!'  said Lee in reference to the debate over the precise time of the quake and the issue of daylight saving time. Leading the observance of a minute's silence, he said it was for 'these wonderful San Franciscans who rebuilt our city from the ashes.'

The silence ended, a city siren sent an eerie wail out into the darkness, a bell clanged from a vintage fire truck, the sirens of modern fire trucks blared and, next, a lone piper played Amazing Grace while Captain Casciato layed the wreath at the foot of Lotta's Fountain.

With the solemnities over, the band struck up a rousing 'San Francisco' with which the crowd joined in. Cherie Oliver, who has been attending the ceremony for 25 years, voluntarily took over the mic.

Now living in Redwood City, she said, 'I fell in love with San Francisco when I came here in 1972.' She now views through 'new eyes' the courage of the 1906 survivors, she said, having experienced the 1989 quake that caused great damage to parts of the city.

'If it had been me, I would have got out,' she said. Her imagination took her to 1906 and nightmarish scenes of the fire  chasing people down the street with everyone rushing to get on boats and sail across the bay.

It was the courage of parents to bring their children back to a burnt out city that impressed her the most.

Deborah, who also lives outside of San Francisco, has been attending for 23 years 'to honour the people that died here, and to remember fondly the people that came back to the city again.' What impressed her was that within nine years, the city was able to host a world fair.

In elegant costume, Krista Slanker was there with another purpose. As a member of the Department of Emergency Management, she said, 'It's just a great opportunity to commemorate a very important event for San Francisco,' and which serves as a reminder 'of being prepared for the next emergency,' she said.

There was one dissenting voice to the occasion. A member of the public complained that the organizers had not got their watches set properly and that the moment of silence had occurred a couple of minutes too early!

Whatever the accuracy to a minute, time was pressing for Bill Del Monte and his cavalcade, the official attendees and others wishing to attend the paint spraying ceremony of the heroic, gold fire hydrant at the top of Dolores Park.

In the darkness, they were soon heading for the Mission District.

for more photos, flickr stream by Chris: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisflowersmd/sets/72157623757165237/

104th Anniversary Events of 1906 Great Earthquake and Fire

At 5.12 am eaxctly on Sunday, April 18, several hundred people will gather, some in period costumes, for a solemn pageant to reflect on the great devastation of San Francisco's 1906 earthquake and fire.

They will stand in the dark around Lotta's Fountain in the heart of the city on Market Street. A vintage fire truck and street car, and a band will be there along with representatives of the city and emergency services. As the clock reaches 5.12 am, the city sirens will wail and there will be bell clanging from the vintage vehicles.

Surrounded by emergency services, the fire, the police and members of the Emergency Preparedness team, 'it's the safest place to be,' said Lee Houskeeper, press agent for San Francisco Stories and organizer of the 104th commemoration. The city are using the anniversary to prepare San Francisco for the next great quake that has been forecast to occur before 2038.

The wreath laying ceremony is held at Lotta's Fountain because it was one of the few remaining structures in the street and became a focal point for stunned people to gather and post messages as they searched for loved ones.

The ceremony is a legacy of the South of Market Boys who began gathering there every April 18 from 1919, although there was one commemoration event two years after the quake, said Lee. Some of the people who will be there remember being there as children and are now taking their children.

The exact time of the 1906 Great Earthquake is uncertain. The main debate is between 5.11 am and 5.12 am, and some people put it at 5.13 am, he said.

The USGS call it 5.12 am, but even they had to get their information from San Francisco. 'They have estimated several times what the time should be. They can only use best estimates,' he said. They and the city appear to have settled it at 5.12 am in deference to Gloria Hansen, the city's historian and former Head Librarian.

About 3,000 people died, a quarter of a million were left homeless and about $8 billion of damage in today's equivalent was caused.

'To be specific, 522 city blocks, four square miles of the city, 2,593 acres, 28,188 buildings -- all destroyed. For 99 years, until Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, the San Francisco earthquake and fire stood as the largest natural disaster in U.S. history,' wrote Carl Nolte in the San Francisco Chronicle in a series of features at the time of the 100th anniversary.

The crowd will then travel on to a gold fire hydrant in the Mission District for a ceremonial spray painting. This hydrant, at 20th and Church Streets, is credited with the miraculous saving of the area with its historic churches. It was the only hydrant that had a water supply.

Firefighters and residents had to pull the heavy steam engines up the hill and fight the raging inferno throughout the night.

'The titanic battle lasted seven hours,' wrote Bill Cereske - http://www.naalarm.com/bill/golden.htm

'Hoses were used. Mops and buckets were used. Behind the fireline, homeowners were on their roofs beating out sparks and small fires with blankets, mops, casks of wine - anything that could be used. Doors from the demolished houses were used as heat shields until they too began to smolder. Exhausted firefighters would drop in their tracks, as volunteers took to their lines. Nurses moved through, administering stimulants. Through the night, the fight raged.'

So on Sunday, between 5.40 am and 6 am, residents will spray paint the hydrant in  

memory of their loved ones.

The anniversary events also include two historic San Franciscan restaurants.

A Bloody Mary breakfast will be held at Lefty O'Doul's, near Union Square, from 5.30 - 11 am, where the traditional Sunday breakfasts have been held for about six years.

Manager John Fair will be there from 4 am getting everything ready.

'When you wake up in the morning and see the costumes and the fire-trucks, it really brings you back to those times,' he said. He recalled one diner, too young at 80 years to be a survivor, reflecting on how times were so different from when he was a kid.

The restaurant reflects the history of baseball. It was founded in 1958 by San Franciscan Francis 'Lefty' O'Doul, a New York Giants personality who became coach and manager of the San Francisco Seals.

Tomorrow afternoon, on Saturday at 4 pm, the survivor dinner will take place at John's Grill near Market Street. John's is one of the remaining period pieces of the city, a three-storied, wooden panelled restaurant with period furnishings. It was one of the film settings for The Maltese Falcon, and its walls are adorned with film memorabilia and photos of old San Francisco and well known patrons.

Owner John Konstin has been hosting anniversary dinners there for about 25 years.

'We used to fill up the whole place, of course the numbers have dwindled,' he said. The longevity of the survivors impresses him. 'When you least expect to see someone back the next year, you keep seeing them.'

He remembers Jeanette Scarpa Trapani who died last year at the age of 107. She lived in the city and was a patron there for 80 years.

'I asked her how she was able to live such a long and healthy life,' he said. 'She said it was the martinis!'

The survivor reunions have had great value for the survivors. 'A lot of people knew each other. This would be the place where they saw each other once a year. They would stay at the St Francis...and have dinner here,' he said.

Manager Neil Hayes won't be there today, but he was in the city for the 100th commemoration. 'My wife and I couldn't get near John's that day! Unfortunately, there was no getting our foot in the door,' he said.

By the 101st anniversary, Neil was working at John's and recalls there being two survivors present, surrounded by flash bulbs and the media.

'I think it's fantastic. A sure way of keeping the memory,' he said.

The earthquake is one of the great tragedies of America and he said it was important to show how the city has been raised up from the ashes.

A point Lee Houskeeper agrees with. The significance of San Francisco's achievement is another important reason for keeping the commemoration alive, he said. People all over the world who have been devastated by earthquakes look to San Francisco as the supreme example of a city restored from rubble.

San Francisco Prepares to Commemorate 104th Anniversary of 1906 Great Earthquake and Fire

 pic of Lotta's Fountain on Market Street

As San Francisco is preparing to commemorate the 104th anniversary of the 1906 Great Earthquake and Fire, the Mayor and emergency services are focussing on readying the city for the next big quake.

A programme of commemorative events has been rolled out along with city plans for seismic retrofitting, with an emphasis on the need for every San Franciscan to be able to cope personally with a major emergency.

At the heart of the weekend events will be a wreath-laying ceremony at Lotta's Fountain on Market Street at 5.12 am on Sunday morning. There will also be an annual repainting in gold of a fire hydrant in the Mission District that helped save the Mission from fire, a survivor dinner and breakfast, a film-showing of the disaster, and a tour of the city's emergency water supplies.

The 7.8 quake struck with devastating force at 5.12 am on April 18, killing 3,000 people, leaving at least a quarter of a million homeless and causing, in today's currency, $8 billion in damage.

'Recent earthquakes in Haiti, Chile and Southern California are all too clear reminders that we must continue to prepare for the next major earthquake in our region,' said Mayor Gavin Newsom. 'We’ve made great progress in recent years, but we can never let up on our work to seismically reinforce our key facilities and infrastructure to withstand a major earthquake.'

In April 2008, scientists and engineers from various earthquake agencies including the USGS released a new report warning of a 99.7 per cent chance of a 6.7-plus quake in the next 30 years in the Greater Bay Area.

One of the top priorities is the upgrading of a high pressurize fire fighting water supply system, also known as the Auxiliary Water Supply System, which was built after the 1906 quake.

More than 40 repair and improvement projects are underway, part of plans that are expected to create 190,000 new construction-related jobs, said the Mayor and the President of the Board of Supervisors, David Chiu, in a press release. These include health centers and hospitals, libraries, culture centers, museums, including the new Academy of Sciences in the Golden Gate Park, terminals at San Francisco airport, and the drinking water system from the Hetch Hetchy reservoir in Yosemite.

In the past 20 years, 180 seismic projects have also been completed.

'We need to look ahead and ensure that our aging infrastructure, the backbone of our great City, is protected for our future generations,' said Supervisor Chiu. Despite the work that has already been done, 'we still have a long way to go in terms of seismic improvements and repair. Being able to respond quickly after an earthquake is critical to our survival and recovery as a city,' he said.

The Mayor and Supervisor Chiu had gathered earlier this week with Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White, Police Chief George Gascon, Executive Director of the Department of Emergency Management Vicki Hennessy and others to highlight emergency preparation.

'Emergency preparedness and planning should be a part of our everyday lives,' said Vicki Hennessy. 'This can be as easy as buying a few extra canned goods and batteries the next time you’re at the market or making a family emergency plan over dinner.'

They are asking people to check out the website www.72hours.org to learn more about individual preparation.

The programme of events, which they hope will attract many members of the public, are as follows:


Public Tour of Auxiliary Water Supply System
April 17
Twin Peaks Reservoir@ Marview Way at Farview Ct FROM 9-11 am
Pump Station #2 @ Van Ness and McDowell Road from 1-3 pm


John’s Grill Annual Survivor Dinner
April 17, 2010 @ 4 pm John’s Grill
63 Ellis St.
Reservations suggested; call (415) 986-0069 for more information


104th Annual Wreath Laying and Commemoration
April 18, 2010 @ 5:11 am
Lotta’s Fountain, Market St. at the intersection of Kearny, Third and Geary


Golden Fire Hydrant Painting Ceremony
April 18, 2010 @ 5:40 – 6:00 am
20th and Church Streets


Lefty O’Douls Annual Survivor Breakfast
April 18, 2010 @ 6:00 am
333 Geary St. (at Powell)


Screening of the film “1906”
April 18, 2010 @ 10 am
Westin St. Francis Hotel
335 Powell St.
RSVP Required; call (333) 377-4453 for more information

1906 San Francisco Earthquake Anniversary

The terrible events of the 1906 earthquake and fires that devastated San Francisco were remembered this morning in a brief ceremony with two of the few remaining survivors as guests of honour.

Marking the exact time and date that the earthquake struck - 5.12 am on April 18 - up to 200 people gathered in the dark for the anniversary at Lotta's Fountain on Market Street in the heart of the city.

Sitting in a vintage car, surrounded by many members of their families, were Rose Cliver, 106-years-old, and Bill Del Monte, 103-years-old. For both Rose and Bill, it was their first appearance at the city's ceremonies which have been held for many years.

Lotta's Fountain, restored to it's original 1875 state and once again flowing with water, was one of the few monuments left standing after the quake that flattened among many others the City Hall. It became the desperate focal point for people seeking information in the search for survivors.

The quake only lasted for about a minute but in it's wake was one of America's greatest natural disasters that took about 3,000 lives, left 225,000 to 300,000 people homeless and caused damage in today's currency of over $8 billion.

Measurements of the quake intensity vary but the US Geological Survey puts it at 7.8, with the epicenter at Mussel Rock, south of the city on the Pacific
Coast and the point where the San Andreas fault enters the San Francisco Peninsula. The quake ruptured the San Andreas fault and caused damage as far south as Los Angeles, north to Oregan and inland to Nevada.

Today that era was invoked with some people dressed in period costumes. Rose and Bill sat in their vintage car in the middle of the ceremonies. Members of the San Francisco Fire Department, who brought a vintage fire engine, participated as well as representatives of the Red Cross and other civic dignitaries.

Rose and Bill were formally thanked for their longevity in a short speech, most of which was inaudible on the sound system. There was a minute's silence, a piper played Amazing Grace and then came the eerie sound of sirens wailing together with the frenetic clanging of a bell from a vintage street car.

Senator Mark Leno laid a wreath on the fountain and the crowd sung 'San Francisco, Open Your Golden Gates.'

After that, the crowd milled, many of them surrounding Rose and Bill with great interest and taking photos. Rose, who was three-years-old at the time, lived on Bernal Heights and looked down on the city as it burned. Bill, who was three-months-old, was carried with his family through the burning streets on a 'buckboard' - a horse-drawn cart - and ferried across the bay to safety. Interviews with Rose and Bill and their families are in the next blog.

Not long after, Rose and Bill were driven away for the second part of the ceremony, the painting gold of a fire hydrant in Dolores Park that saved the Mission District churches.

One of the costumed couples were Bea and Dana. 'It's our first time to come here to the event,' said Bea. 'We're trying to connect, that here the city celebrates its history, because we think history is important.'

Also included in this weekend's events were a 'Bloody Mary' breakfast at Lefty O'Doul's, a private screening of Alon Aranya's film '1906' at the Westin St Francis in Union Square where Rose and Bill were treated as guests last night, and a Survivor Luncheon at John's Grill.


pics show: Rose Cliver and Bill Del Monte surrounded by admiring well-wishers; the crowd with Lotta's Fountain to the right; Bea and Dana; Kij and Gregg