On this day in 1872, a monstrous fire nearly destroyed Boston's business district, ravaging the city from the Common to the waterfront. Beginning in a dry goods store, the blaze burned for 15 hours with a heat so intense that it created its own roaring wind. Flames spread relentlessly from one wooden roof to the next, melting whole blocks of granite stores and warehouses into superheated rubble. Firefighters from dozens of towns fought the blaze, but they lacked enough water pressure to halt the inferno. Finally, officials resorted to blowing up buildings to keep the fire from spreading to residential areas. The blaze reduced 65 acres of commercial property — almost 1,000 businesses — to ruins. Within two years, a new city would arise from the ashes.