The fire swept down the principal business streets of San Francisco on that memorable April 18th, so rapidly, that is was impossible to save anything in its way. When it reached the Grand Opera House on Mission Street, it burned through the roof in a moment. The Metropolitan Opera Company from New York, comprising all the famous singers of the day, had just opened its season there, and all the marvelous scenery and expensive costumes went up in smoke.
The Call editorial and mechanical departments were totally destroyed in a few minutes, and the falmes leaped across Stevenson Street toward the fifteen story dome and iron Claus Spreckels Building, which, with its lofty dome, was the most notable edifice in San Francisco. Thousands of people watched the hungry flames licking the stone walls. Suddenly there was a crackling of glass and the flames shot into the fourth story windows. In five minutes smoke issued from the top of the dome and then the round windows of the dome began to shine like so many full moons: they burst, and long streaming waves of flames shot skyward.