The fire started in a whale oil and candle manufacturing establishment and quickly spread to other wooden structures.

It reached a warehouse on Broad Street where combustible saltpeter was stored and caused a massive explosion that spread the fire even farther.

[1][2] Firefighters from the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY), at that time a volunteer organization, arrived under the command of Chief Engineer Cornelius Anderson.

At least two elderly women reported being approached by young men who offered to help them move their belongings from their damaged buildings, only to have their valuables stolen.

The company's firefighters entered the warehouse and dragged a hose up a staircase to direct water onto the fourth floor.

Fireman Francis Hart Jr. became trapped while trying to collect the hose and was forced to flee to the roof and escape over neighboring rooftops.

It propelled bricks and other missiles through the air, threw many people down who had gone as far as Beaver Street, and spread the fire far and wide so that the whole neighborhood was set ablaze.

[10] His name appears along with many others on a memorial in Trinity Churchyard in New York for volunteer firefighters who died in the line of duty.

[12] There was some speculation that the explosion had been caused by the NY Gas Light Co.'s gasometer house, but Chief Engineer Cornelius Anderson released a statement the day of the fire stating that the explosion occurred before the flames ever reached the gas house.

The company was led by veteran fireman Zophar Mills, who had helped stop the 1835 fire from crossing Wall Street.