Fires are unfortunately a part of every town in North Dakota. Fargo was devastated in 1893 by a downtown blaze, but in 1955 there was another memorable fire, one that destroyed the Isis Theatre and Hotel on this date in 1955.
The Isis Theater opened in 1913 at 218 Broadway. It went through a series of owners, and was advertised as “Fargo’s most popular theatre” with screen effects, acoustical arrangements and air conditioning.
The Isis Theatre’s operator told the Fargo Forum that his daughter was in the box office and noticed something “was not smelling right.” Seeing smoke in the basement, she called the fire department and had the projection operator shut down the film.
Sixty people in the theatre were evacuated without incident just before 5:00 p.m. Twenty residents of the Isis Hotel and adjoining apartments over the B.F. Goodrich store also evacuated. Many residents weren’t home at the time. One woman sustained a bruised elbow as she escaped through a smoky hallway, while one man escaped his hotel room wearing only his shoes and trousers while carrying a suitcase and clothes.
Fifty-seven Fargo firefighters responded, along with crews from Moorhead and Casselton. Black smoke hampered their efforts as they searched hotel rooms and ordered everyone out. Two firemen overcome by smoke were taken to the hospital.
The firemen made it to the roof and second-floor apartments where they fought to contain the fire. They sprayed water for 45 minutes through an apartment window, then turned it on the main floor and the furnace room where the fire was most intense. They also deployed an aerial ladder and ground hoses. They fought the blaze for four hours. In the days after the fire, two more firefighters were hospitalized for smoke inhalation.
The fire apparently started in the boiler room, and it gutted the Isis Theatre and Porter’s Apparel Shop. The building was insured for $100,000. And with both floors collapsing, it was an easy call for the insurance adjustors.
Dakota Datebook by Jack Dura
Sources:
library.ndsu.edu/fargo-history/?q=content/isis-theater
Fargo Forum and Daily Republican, 1955, Nov. 20.
Fargo Forum and Daily Republican, 1955, Nov. 21.
