At 6:34 p.m. on the evening of April 25, 1935, the first alarm came in.

A Salem resident who lived near the Oregon State Capitol called the fire department to say smoke was coming from the building. Moments later, other alarms began to sound, having been triggered by employees at the capitol.

One was from a janitor, Henry Weslowski, who had been working in the building and believed the smoke was coming from east end of the structure's basement.

As the official report said later, Weslowski reported that "smoke and heat had already filled the waste paper bailing room."

That was the beginning of the end for the stately capitol with its traditional rounded dome that had opened in 1876. Despite the fact that fire departments from throughout the region, including Portland, sped to help, the fire grew quickly.

A.H. Curry of Eugene told the Register-Guard years later that before the dome collapsed at 8 p.m., it "filled with an angry deep orange light which became increasingly ugly as the sky around it darkened."

Then, he recalled, it turned into "an Olympian torch that flared blue, green, red and yellow - all at the same time - as its heavy copper and bronze components were consumed."

The next morning, little remained of the six-decades-old building except some of the outside walls and the dome's metal frame, though firefighters remained on the scene to make sure the fire was completely doused.

By the time the blaze was out, one firefighter had been killed, at least two others injured, and countless state records - including paintings of some of Oregon's historic figures -- had been destroyed.

Oregon has had a bit of a problem with fires at its many capitols. The 1935 inferno marked the second time in Oregon history that a capitol building had been destroyed by fire. In 1855, a building constructed specifically to be the territorial capitol had also burned.

This painting, from Salemhistory.net, depicts the Oregon Territorial Capitol that was built in 1855 -- then burned to the ground later that same year. (Salemhistory.net)

It was also in Salem. Arson was suspected, but an inquiry suggested it was accidental. From that time until 1876, the state legislature and state offices had been housed in various temporary quarters.

Also, on Jan. 8, 2008, yet another fire started in the current capitol building. It did some damage, but was brought under control.

A report on the 1935 fire from the Oregon Insurance Rating Bureau estimated the total loss, including furniture and fixtures, at about $1 million, which would be about $17 million today, according to the Consumer Price Index inflation calculator.

The firefighter who died was Floyd McMullen. McMullen, who some reports say was 18 and others say was 22, was from Hermiston. He was an on-call firefighter who was trying to earn money to pay for tuition at Willamette University. He died when struck by falling debris.

Various reports in later years indicate that the fire's cause was difficult to determine but probably was the result of "spontaneous combustion" in the basement. Once the blaze got going, there wasn't much to stop it. The building's framework was made mostly of wood and, according to modern construction standards, the building was a disaster waiting to happen.

"Although giving to the casual observer the appearance of permanence and solidity, it embodied most of those features of construction which experience has shown to be in violation of good building practice," said the report issued later by A.H. Querin of the Oregon Insurance Rating Bureau.

Later, Querin went on to say that "the absence of fire stops in deep joist channels and false walls, the long corridors with the central rotunda to form great upward drafts, together with the location of the origin of the fire ... were obstacles that proved insurmountable."

That coincided with the thinking of one of the men who fought the blaze. Years later, in 1975, Percy L. Clark of the Salem Fire Department told the Capital Journal that the building was "designed to burn like a furnace."

"Those redwood columns that held up the dome were hollow and open at the base and the top," he said, "to act like a chimney."

Soon, work began on the new capitol building, which still stands today.

By May of 1936, a design and architect for the new capitol building had been chosen and ground was broken the following month. Then, on Oct. 1, 1938, the replacement building, with its unique cylindrical dome, was dedicated.

One of the speakers at the dedication ceremony was Leslie M. Scott of Portland. He talked about the new building in the context of the times, which included the rise of Hitler and Mussolini.

"These streamlined walls, surmounted by a pioneer, symbolize American trends that are significant of new world progress. This great house marks a goal of individualism, of local self government, against the every recurring pressure of mass despotism."

-- John Killen

503-221-8538; @johnkillen