He twice set ablaze the house in which he was working, and once his own clothes caught fire. His pictures are said to have been one of the reasons President Theodore Roosevelt undertook a number of social reforms when he moved into the White House.
Tā bija diezgan riskanta metode: Rīss divas reizes izraisīja ugunsgrēku mājā, kur viņš strādāja, un vienreiz pat aizdegās viņa paša drēbes.