arrived first to fight the fire feared for their families safety. Some left the lines to assure their relatives were safely evacuated. The fire lines grew longer and longer, with manpower spread more and more thinly. An attempt was made to fall back and create a new fire line to halt the fire at Hellegate street. The fire boat was directed to Apotekerbrygg and the fire forces were concentrated there. But before they could begin activity establishing the fire line there, the roofs of houses on the east side of Hellegate caught fire. Further, the crews dispatched to Rønneberg’s warehouse were unsuccessful in extinguishing that fire. It became clear the outer town was lost. The fire chief chose to halt the fire with the natural water gap fire line of the Brosund combined with suppression of the Rønneberg’s warehouse fire. Brosund fire line The wind, which had initially blown out of the southwest, was westerly at day break and continued to shift until it blew without abating out of the northwest. This distributed sparks and embers over larger and larger areas and the fire spread with increasing celerity. Evacuation The fire started late and spread quickly, leading to a hurried evacuation of people at very short notice into the cold January night. As the fire spread it became clear there was little local shelter to be had and the population of over 10,000 was forced to seek shelter elsewhere. A fortunate few were able to flee by boat. The old and the sick were loaded on wagons and carts, but most fled on foot with only what they could carry. Most fled along Volsdalsvegen (today named Borgundvegen), proceeding to Volsdalen and Nørve. Others took the path on the north side of Aksla, which also led to safety Volsdalen. The regional governor Alexander Kielland, reported that over two hundred people spent the night after the fire in Borgund Church. Only one person was known to die. That was an old lady who went back into her house to get her purse. Reconstruction Liberal aid was provided to Ålesund both from within Norway and from abroad. Kaiser Wilhelm II had been a frequent visitor to the area and expressed a personal concern for the plight of the population. As a result, much of the international help was from Germany, sent in Kaiser Wilhelm’s name. His first telegram was received while the fire