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Every one seemed to feel sure that the fire would be stopped at Broadway, as the buildings on this street were substantial structures built of stone and brick, and no one even then judged rightly the havoc which must ensue before the fury would abate.
The local militia (the Fifth Company, Coast Artillery Corps) had been summoned, and the militiamen had donned their service uniforms and overcoats, leaving in their lockers, in security as they supposed, their civilian clothes, their watches, and pocket money. Hardly had they been assigned to their posts before Broadway was threatened, and soon their new $100,000 Armory became a volcano of flame as the element of destruction spread on.