Fountain Square Dedicated to Firemen Iler and Peak
The memorial fountain at Fountain Square stands today as a tribute to the bravery and
Firefighters Henry Iler and W.M. Peak, who were burned to death in the “Bee Hive” fire
at Fourth and Market streets on June 9, 1887. The following is an account published in
The Chattanooga Times, September 18, 1938:
“These two firemen were trapped in the collapse of a brick building at the rear of a firm
which manufactured a device making the use of illuminating gas cheap. The gas stored
in the building exploded and three tons of bricks fell over the firemen. Peak was pulled
out by Chief Whiteside and other firemen, but died three hours later. Iler died instantly.
Chief Whiteside burned both hands badly as he frantically threw aside the hot bricks in a
desperate effort to reach his trapped men.”
Early in 1888, the Chattanooga Times raised the funds with which was erected the
firemen’s fountain near the courthouse. Florence Gerald, member of a Casino Stock
Company playing in Chattanooga at the times of the fire which cost the lives of Peak and
Iler wrote a poem dedicated to them. Copies were printed by the Chattanooga Times
were sold by firefighters and school children for 10 cents. The money was spent on a
fountain monument on land donated by the city at the intersection of Lookout and Sixth
streets and Georgia Avenue. The present statue is a replica of the original and occupies
the same location.
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