On June 6, 1889, in the basement of the Pontius Building at the corner of Madison Street and Front Street (now First Avenue), a simple carpenters glue pot in a cabinet shop boiled over, and the foamy mass on the stovetop ignited wood shavings, containers of paint and turpentine in the shop, and in moments the building was in flames. Soon, the blaze spread to nearby buildings. An alarm brought fire engines number one and number two quickly to the scene. A fire hose was dropped into Elliott Bay and another was attached to a neighboring hydrant, but the tide was out and the hydrant was dry. Add the fact that the Fire Chief Joseph Collins was away in California and unable to direct the firefighters, the fire soon got out of hand and burned many of the city's blocks to the ground before it was extinguished.