The Fire of 1915
Jeannine Pedersen
Curator of Collections, Catalina Island Museum

In the early morning hours of November 29, 1915 every citizen of Avalon was frightened from their slumber to the sounds of men running through the streets yelling..."Hotel's afire! Hotel's aburning down!" - "Avalon Town's aburning down! Burning down! Do something - Quick!" Between 3:30 and 4:00 a.m. a large fire started near the Hotel Metropole, the Island's largest hotel that stood at the center of Crescent Avenue in Avalon. The fire quickly spread through town and by sunrise destroyed half of the town's buildings and homes. Six hotels, the Metropole, Central, Bay View, Rose, Grandview and Pacific, as well as the Pilgrim Club, Tuna Club, Bathhouse and the Grill Café were among the casualties. Every home between Whittley Avenue and Hill Street was reduced to ashes, leaving many citizens homeless.

In 1915 Avalon's fire fighting equipment consisted of a couple of hand-drawn hose carts and a volunteer fire department of five or six men. The fire was spreading so quickly that the "fire department," which included every man in Avalon that night, could barely keep up with the blaze. According to an article printed in The Catalina Islander on November 30, 1915 "The firefighters realized that unless the fire was stopped at the Hotel Stamford, the Hermosa Hotel, warehouse and power plant (with its water supply) were doomed. They pressed into service every man - every inch of hose - sent men with rope to the Hotel Stamford roof to haul up hose, placed two more nozzles between the burning Metropole and the Stamford building and another string of hose in the rear of the Hermosa to fight the flames coming from that direction. They were aided by a bucket brigade on the hill, who took water from the Tia Juan cistern to extinguish the small fires starting in the cottages." The S.S. Hermosa was summoned from San Pedro and arrived just in time to save the terminal building and steamer pier, which were situated directly across from the fire's origin. The awnings in front of the terminal had started on fire from the heat across the street, but the crew of the Hermosa carried fire hoses ashore and extinguished the flames. A fireboat was also sent from the mainland, but by the time it arrived on the Island the fire had been contained and the damage had been done. Supplies and tent accommodations for 1,200 people were later sent from the mainland.

The ashes continued to smolder for several days and men patrolled the streets to ensure that the fire would not start again. The cause of the fire is unclear, however, the November 30, 1915 issue of The Catalina Islander quoted Deputy District Attorney Keetch as saying "It smacks strongly of arson." and he expected to make an arrest soon. According to an oral history interview with Hannock Banning Jr. taken in 1969, he recalled that the fire was blamed on one man. According to Banning, "The story was that the man owned an apartment at the back of the Hotel Metropole and was about to be foreclosed, so he thought that he would get the insurance out of it and then a southeaster came up and burned virtually half the town." The damage totaled over $2,000,000, but residents were determined to rebuild their town. The Banning's immediately began planning the construction of the Hotel St. Catherine in Descanso Bay and several homes and hotels were re-built by the summer season. Among the first buildings constructed were the Metropole Café and the Catalina Hotel on Whittley Avenue.