One hundred twenty years ago this month, a Christmas Eve fire in Silver Lake, Ore., killed at least 40 people and seriously injured many more. Silver Lake is on State Route 31 in northern Lake County.
Nearly the entire population of the small town of 200 people had crammed into a 1,200-square-foot room above the Chrisman Brothers Mercantile for a Christmas Eve celebration. A spilled kerosene lamp sloshed burning oil onto the floor, quickly setting the room afire. Many died as men, women and children rushed through flames and jammed against an exit door that opened in instead of out.
Flames devoured the two-story building, which housed the post office downstairs and the store’s stock of goods.
News of the disaster spread slowly across the country. Five days after the fire, the Fort Wayne News in Indiana reported it had just received a word from Klamath Falls, Ore., which only learned of the tragedy when a stage arrived from Silver Lake, 200 miles away.
The News headlined the story, “Horrible Holocaust at a Holiday Fete in Oregon.”
A monument in the cemetery commemorated those who died in the fire.
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Sources: Dawn, Finn J.D. "Little-Known hero of Silver Lake fire died saving dozens of lives." Offbeat Oregon History. 10 July 2011. Web. 24 Nov. 2014. http://www.offbeatoregon.com/o1107b-schroder-hero-of-silver-lake-fire-died-saving-lives.html; "Silver Lake Oregon Fire December 24, 1894."." Fort Wayne (Ind.) News 29 Dec. 1894. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.
