"...around noon and the crowds, containing a high percentage of drunks was drifting away, a fire was discovered at a junk store located in a wooden frame house on the corner of Third and Broad. By the time the fire company arrived on the scene, the fire had already broken through the roof of the house and aided by a moderate west wind, quickly ignited the wood shingle roofs of other nearby buildings. The firemen fought the fire as best they could, damaging most of their new leather hose in the process, while store owners carried their goods out into the middle of the streets with drunks hampering the firefighters at every turn. At one point the situation was so bad that police with draw pistols stood guard around the fire engine to prevent interference. The fire engine wasn't the only thing that had to be guarded, as the goods piled in the street were a tempting sight and looting became a problem and more and more store owners carried their goods out of the threatened buildings. The local militia, the Etowah Rifles, were finally posted to guard the goods and were posted the rest of the night and into the following day.

The fire company finally made a successful stand at a three story brick opera house owned by R. B. Kyle, the man most responsible for the Fire Department's existence. Twenty-one businesses and several houses were destroyed, about one half of all the buildings on Broad Street at that time. Most of the damage was to buildings on the south side of Broad Street between Third and Fifth Streets."

History of the Gadsden Fire Department from the cityofgadsden.com

http://www.cityofgadsden.com/Default.asp?ID=265