Fire Was a Constant Threat
The tight, overcrowded tenement buildings were under a constant threat of fire. Tenements were typically mixed-use buildings. Stores and services took up space on the street level, and the residential units were accessible through a doorway next to the store then up a single set of narrow, wooden stairs.
Some of the commercial units on the first story posed a particular fire hazard. Bakeries, especially when they used fats and oils to create their food, posed a particular threat. Storage and warehouses held combustible goods. Hay and feed for the horses could ignite. If not safely stored, the resulting fire could wipe out a whole tenement.
