On the Fourth of July, in the Bowery of the 1890's, bumbler Henry Summers attends an outdoor ceremony at which a water-spouting statue of his fire chief father, who died during a heroic fire rescue, is to be unveiled. After he accidentally causes the statue to drench everyone at the ceremony, Henry is fired from his shipping job at Al Morgan's department store, but is made honorary fire chief by the Bowery fire department. During the induction ceremony, a fire breaks out, and Henry is dragged to the scene. Although terrified, Henry finds himself inside a burning building and, through an accident, rescues an unconscious woman from the flames. Henry is declared a hero by the local newspapers and is courted by Morgan, who offers him a new job as the manager of his hat department. Soon after Henry's return to the store, Morgan schemes with racketeer Danny O'Rourke and dancer Dixie Dean to talk Henry into running against Clayton, the crooked alderman of the Bowery. Before Morgan proposes his plan to Henry, however, Clayton offers the clerk a higher paying job as well as an opportunity to expand his fledgling orchestra. Flattered by Clayton's offer, Henry tells Morgan he is quitting and refuses to consider his campaign idea. Dixie eventually persuades the adoring Henry to run against Clayton by telling him that Clayton once had struck her. Before Henry officially announces his candidacy at a banquet, however, Clayton and his gang start a brawl in the banquet room and frighten him into withdrawing from the race. Once again, Dixie changes Henry's mind by telling him that if Clayton is re-elected, he will neglect his civic duties and possibly cause her death in a fire. Thus inspired, Henry declares his candidacy and brings a circus to town to kick off his campaign. While Henry is impressing his potential voters by wrestling a circus bear, his doting mother Ma is kidnapped by Clayton's men. Henry then is notified through an anonymous telephone call that if he wants to see his mother alive, he must pull out of the race. To save Ma, Henry prepares to meet the kidnappers' demands and, after a reformed Dixie reveals Morgan's scheme to him, telephones the newspaper to report his withdrawal. The reporters, however, are suspicious of Henry's call and fail to print the story in their next edition. Before Clayton and his men make good on their threats, Henry decides to act crazy in order to turn the voters against him and, wearing a lampshade on his head, runs screaming through the streets. During Henry's run, Clayton is arrested for the kidnapping, and Ma is saved. Henry then appears in a radio studio summing up the "third act" of his fire chief "opera." After revealing that Ma, Dixie and he lived happily ever after, Henry says goodbye to his appreciative radio listeners.