At around 5:30 in the evening on Dec. 10, 1914, a massive explosion erupted in West Orange, New Jersey. Ten buildings in legendary inventor Thomas Edison’s plant, which made up more than half of the site, were engulfed in flames. Between six and eight fire departments rushed to the scene, but the chemical-fueled inferno was too powerful to put out quickly.

According to a 1961 Reader’s Digest article by Edison’s son Charles, Edison calmly walked over to him as he watched the fire destroy his dad’s work. In a childlike voice, Edison told his 24-year-old son, “Go get your mother and all her friends. They’ll never see a fire like this again.” When Charles objected, Edison said, “It’s all right. We’ve just got rid of a lot of rubbish.”

Later, at the scene of the blaze, Edison was quoted in The New York Times as saying, “Although I am over 67 years old, I’ll start all over again tomorrow.”

via Thomas Edison In The Obstacle Is The Way – Business Insider.

Factory fire | Thomas A. Edison Volunteers.

Edison’s hold on early motion picture production was on of the reasons filmmakers in the teens (like Cecil B. DeMille) came to Hollywood, to escape the East Coast monopoly. Edison did start all over again with a loan from his friend Henry Ford, and his company endures to this day.