From Flux Machine: a tumbler of Kevin Weir’s creepy gifs.
The original is from the Library of Congress. If the name “Roebling” sounds familiar, it’s because this is the company, founded by John A. Roebling, that built the Brooklyn Bridge and setup a good business making cables, or wire rope.
The Roebling brothers suspected the fire was German sabotage. Given the activities of the German ambassador at the time, the claim has a whiff of plausibility. Of course, it could also have been aliens.