Accounts vary as to the start of it, however, the best supported view was that it began in Mrs. N. E. Kelesy residence (near the intersection of 20th Street and Chester Avenue).
The town's fire engine finally arrived, but it took 20 minutes for enough steam pressure to build for operation.
[1] When the fire reached the Southern Hotel, it was hot enough that the solder, used in the indoor plumbing, was liquefied.
However, the structure was saved when Will Houghton leaned out a neighboring window and threw a bucket of water on it.
In the Kern Valley Bank, a bathtub filled with water was used in an attempt to save that building, but the effort failed.
The only two structures to survive in the central business district were Scribner's Water Tower and St. Paul's Episcopal Church.
[1][2] The local newspapers were destroyed, however, George Wear (who owned the Gazette) saved a hand press.
Haggin and Carr brought supplies from their store in Belleview Ranch, and businessmen from neighboring Sumner also assisted.
Later, assistance began to arrive from Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Fresno.
[4] After the fire, the Fresno Expositor predicted that the citizens of Bakersfield would not rebuild, and simply drift away.
The city leaders would act in a completely opposite direction than the Fresno newspaper predicted.
Designed for a city 10 times the size of Bakersfield, it was considered a rival to the finest hotels in San Francisco.