In this haunting and powerful episode, host Kaydee takes listeners to October 16, 1903, when the booming timber town of Aberdeen, Washington, was nearly reduced to ashes by one of the most devastating urban fires in state history.

Aberdeen, a coastal city built almost entirely from wood, was thriving at the turn of the century — its economy driven by logging, sawmills, and maritime trade. But that prosperity came with risk. Buildings, sidewalks, even streets were made of timber and layered with sawdust — a virtual tinderbox waiting for a spark.

That spark came from a mysterious source — possibly a cigarette or faulty stove — in the Arctic Hotel (also called the Mack Building). Fanned by harbor winds, the blaze quickly exploded into an uncontrollable firestorm. Within hours, it consumed nearly 140 buildings,  ...