Burning of the Marine City
By James Donahue
When the side-wheeler Marine City went up in smoke off Lake Huron’s Sturgeon Point on August 28, 1880, the fire came close to being a major marine disaster. As it was, eight of the estimated one hundred fifty-five passengers and crew members died. That the others survived was considered a miracle.
Capt. William E. Comer was taking the vessel on a scheduled run up the lake, stopping at various ports between Port Huron and Mackinac City. The fourteen-year-old wooden hulled boat was carrying about one hundred twenty passengers, many from Port Huron, Detroit and Ohio ports. The vessel also was loaded with general cargo, including thirteen hundred pine and cedar railroad ties, fifty thousand shingles in the forward and aft holds, and twenty cords of cedar posts piled on the main deck.
Passenger E. L. Stephenson of Cincinnati said he and three crew members were swapping stories on the main deck when fire broke out in a fuel bunker. The men ran out fire hoses but when they tried to charge the line, they discovered the water valves rusted shut.
The fire spread rapidly and Stephenson thought the passengers needed to be warned. But the first mate told everyone to keep quiet because he didn’t want to stir panic. The alarm was sounded anyway by the cook who saw the fire and, before he could be stopped, ran through the vessel yelling “fire” at the top of his voice. The mate was right; bedlam broke out.
In the meantime, Captain Comer was in his cabin and unaware of the fire in its early stages. Once he knew, however, Comer took charge and was credited with saving many lives. People said he acted with a cool self-assurance that calmed many of the passengers and helped them escape alive.
Comer first ordered the Marine City turned and charged at full speed toward shore, which was about two miles away. As the fire swept through the engine room, however, the black gang was soon forced to flee.
Before he left the engine room, the chief engineer shut down the engines and stopped the movement of the boat so people had a chance to escape in the ship’s lifeboats. That decision, Cover’s leadership, and the fact that the tugboat Vulcan was nearby and able to draw alongside the burning steamer to take people off before the flames reached them helped avert a major disaster.
The Sturgeon Point lifesaving station saw the fire and lifesavers got a boat on the scene in time to pull other survivors from the water. Two additional vessels, the steamer Metropolis and tug Grayling, also helped. The eight that died were said to have drowned after jumping into the lake. The dead included Frank Emmett of Port Huron, Martin T. Watson, a Detroit businessman; crew members Richard Schultz and James Cook; passengers James Graffin and Guy McElroy, both of Toledo; and a Dr. Pomeroy, also of Ohio.
Comer and a passenger, Mrs. A. B. Clough, both received recognition for their actions during the fire. Crew members presented Comer with a gold watch for his bravery. Clough got a silver tea set from the parents of Joseph Voight, a six-year-old Detroit boy whom she found wandering lost on the burning ship and put safely aboard a lifeboat.
By James Donahue
When the side-wheeler Marine City went up in smoke off Lake Huron’s Sturgeon Point on August 28, 1880, the fire came close to being a major marine disaster. As it was, eight of the estimated one hundred fifty-five passengers and crew members died. That the others survived was considered a miracle.
Capt. William E. Comer was taking the vessel on a scheduled run up the lake, stopping at various ports between Port Huron and Mackinac City. The fourteen-year-old wooden hulled boat was carrying about one hundred twenty passengers, many from Port Huron, Detroit and Ohio ports. The vessel also was loaded with general cargo, including thirteen hundred pine and cedar railroad ties, fifty thousand shingles in the forward and aft holds, and twenty cords of cedar posts piled on the main deck.
Passenger E. L. Stephenson of Cincinnati said he and three crew members were swapping stories on the main deck when fire broke out in a fuel bunker. The men ran out fire hoses but when they tried to charge the line, they discovered the water valves rusted shut.
The fire spread rapidly and Stephenson thought the passengers needed to be warned. But the first mate told everyone to keep quiet because he didn’t want to stir panic. The alarm was sounded anyway by the cook who saw the fire and, before he could be stopped, ran through the vessel yelling “fire” at the top of his voice. The mate was right; bedlam broke out.
In the meantime, Captain Comer was in his cabin and unaware of the fire in its early stages. Once he knew, however, Comer took charge and was credited with saving many lives. People said he acted with a cool self-assurance that calmed many of the passengers and helped them escape alive.
Comer first ordered the Marine City turned and charged at full speed toward shore, which was about two miles away. As the fire swept through the engine room, however, the black gang was soon forced to flee.
Before he left the engine room, the chief engineer shut down the engines and stopped the movement of the boat so people had a chance to escape in the ship’s lifeboats. That decision, Cover’s leadership, and the fact that the tugboat Vulcan was nearby and able to draw alongside the burning steamer to take people off before the flames reached them helped avert a major disaster.
The Sturgeon Point lifesaving station saw the fire and lifesavers got a boat on the scene in time to pull other survivors from the water. Two additional vessels, the steamer Metropolis and tug Grayling, also helped. The eight that died were said to have drowned after jumping into the lake. The dead included Frank Emmett of Port Huron, Martin T. Watson, a Detroit businessman; crew members Richard Schultz and James Cook; passengers James Graffin and Guy McElroy, both of Toledo; and a Dr. Pomeroy, also of Ohio.
Comer and a passenger, Mrs. A. B. Clough, both received recognition for their actions during the fire. Crew members presented Comer with a gold watch for his bravery. Clough got a silver tea set from the parents of Joseph Voight, a six-year-old Detroit boy whom she found wandering lost on the burning ship and put safely aboard a lifeboat.