The largest fire in Houston's history destroyed 40 square blocks in the Fifth Ward. The blaze began in the abandoned Mad House Saloon, a railyard watering hole that had become a shelter for hobos who hopped the trains.

About 1 a.m. on February 12, 1912, a railroad engineer spotted the fire and pulled his train's whistle in alarm - just as someone else pulled an alarm box that sounded in all 10 of the city's fire stations. Despite their response, by the time firefighters arrived, flames had engulfed the entire block and jumped the street. A gale force wind pushed the fire along on that bitterly cold morning and dozens of nearby wooden roofs went up in flames.

The fire spread south and east to Buffalo Bayou, where it finally burned itself out. In its wake were remains of a church, a school, eight stores, 13 industrial plants, more than 100 homes, 125 rail cars and at least 40,000 bales of cotton. Thankfully, no one died or was seriously injured.