According to a plumbing trade journal published in April 1905, Frederick Turkowsky established a basement shop and storeroom in a four-story tenement at 27 Second Avenue. Built in 1855 for William W. White.Speck, the tenement was one of six 4-story buildings that included #19 to #29 Second Avenue (only #29 remains.) In the early 1900s, 27 Second Avenue was a boarding house owned by George Norris. In 1913, the tenements at 23, 25, and 27 Second Avenue were combined to make way for a new marble-front "photo play" theater designed by Louis A. Sheinart, an architect of many theaters of this period. Now, Speck the cat spent much of her time in the basement shop, sleeping peacefully in the cozy box that Frederick provided for her. It was in this box that Speck gave birth to kittens during the week of Thanksgiving 1906. Two weeks later, on December 5, Speck and her kittens were enjoying a nap in the box when a defective gas meter exploded, setting fire to the ceiling and walls. Frederick had already locked up and left for the day when the explosion took place. With the door locked, there was no way for Speck and her kittens to get out. So she did what any ordinary cat would do in this situation: she cried lustily. Roundsman Henry Hellmers of the Fifteenth Precinct on East Fifth Street was making the rounds when he heard the cat crying as he passed by the tenement.Peering through the door leading to the basement, he could see the flames licking the ceiling and walls. Upstairs in the apartments, the members of 16 families who lived in the tiny old-law apartments still had no idea what was happening below.

By the time the firemen from Ladder 9 arrived from their station house at 209 Elizabeth Street, the fire had made rapid progress. Down in the basement, as the fire raged on, poor Speck and her four kittens were still trapped. It was fireman Joseph Hurley of Ladder 9 who smashed down the door leading to the basement. He saw Speck, with one of her kittens in her mouth, at the top of a low landing. Speck ran up the steps and deposited her kitten on the sidewalk. Then she ran back into the building and groped her way back to the corner of the room to save the rest. As Speck rescued her four kittens, the firemen continued to battle the blaze. Following the fire, Roundsman Hellmers said he probably would have walked right by the building had Speck not cried out for help. By late that afternoon, everyone throughout the neighborhood was talking about the hero cat and calling her the best four-footed mother on the Lower East Side. The fire caused minimal damage to the building--about $500 worth--and everyone except perhaps Frederick Turkowsky were able to celebrate and enjoy the holiday season in their homes.