of Hanover Street and Wall Street. As it spread, gale-force winds blowing from the northwest towards the East River spread the fire. The conflagration was visible from Philadelphia, approximately away. At the time of the fire, major water sources including the East River and the Hudson River were frozen in temperatures as low as . Firefighters were forced to drill holes through ice to access water, which later re-froze around the hoses and pipes. Attempts were made to deprive the fire of fuel by demolishing surrounding buildings, but at first there was insufficient gunpowder in Manhattan to use as demolition charges. Later in the evening, a detachment of U.S. Marines and sailors returned at 3 o'clock in the morning, with gunpowder from the Brooklyn Navy Yard and began to blow up buildings in the fire's path. The Evening Post reported that "The detachment of marines from the navy yard under Lieutenant Reynolds and sailors under Captain Mix rendered the most valuable service, the gun powder brought the magazine at Red Hook was partly under their charge." An investigation found that a burst gas pipe which was ignited by a coal stove was the initial source; no blame was assigned. Damage The fire covered in 17 city blocks and destroyed between 530 and 700 buildings. This part of the city is now known as Coenties Slip, an area between the East River and Maiden Lane in the north and William Street in the west. According to an account published in the History of the City of New York: Many of the stores destroyed in the fire were new, with iron shutters and doors and copper roofs. When they burned, witnesses described appearance of immense iron furnaces in full blast. The heat at times melted the copper roofing and the liquid ran off in great drops. A gale blew towards the East River. Wall after wall was heard tumbling like an avalanche. Fiery tongues of flame leaped from roof and windows along whole streets and seemed to be making angry dashes at each other. The water of the bay looked like a vast sea of blood. The bells rang for a while and then ceased. Both sides of Pearl Street and Hanover Square were at the same instant engulfed in flames. A report that appeared shortly after the fire in the Evening Post, 23 December 1835, recounted that, "674 tenements, the merchants