A flicker of flame was seen in early dawn and then a dozen such tongues of fire here and there. The flames were started by broken power lines and fractured gas lines. Civilians and firefighters were soon at work, but to their dismay there was only a little water with which to quench the flames. And then no water. Some of the city's main water lines had been broken. WV 498.1
Some people looted breweries and liquor stores, and in certain areas drinking orgies added to the confusion. Drunken parents, unmindful of the perils about them, forgot babies and children, and in many cases were separated from them. One group of uncared-for, terrified children, thinking Telegraph Hill to be a safe place, flocked there, only to be consumed as the racing flames veered and took the hill (The Signs of the Times, May 30, 1906). WV 498.2