In the autumn of 1872, Boston's fire chief John Damrell was worried. As a young man, he had been a volunteer firefighter in his North End neighborhood. His dedication and openness to innovation earned him an appointment as a professional fire engineer in 1858 at the age of 30. By 1866, Damrell had taken over as Boston's chief engineer and had embarked on a campaign to modernize fire safety in the city. He successfully lobbied for the first fireboat and won the right to make building inspections. But he worried that these steps would not be enough to protect Boston, with its narrow, crooked streets increasingly crowded with new buildings, from a catastrophic fire.

The city's services, he insisted, had not kept pace with its growth. He was particularly concerned about antiquated and corroded water pipes that could not produce enough pressure to reach the top floors of newer buildings. But the city councilors thought his request to install new water mains was extravagant, and they rebuffed him.

In 1871, when Chicago suffered its Great Fire, Damrell traveled to the Windy City to see what he could learn from the disaster. He came home convinced that Boston was at risk. One year later, a virulent form of horse distemper sidelined the fire department's specially trained horses, only increasing Damrell's worries. He acted quickly, ordering his men to return to the age-old practice of pulling their engines to fires and hiring 500 extra men to help with the effort.