The first scene was written up in some detail in the Edison Supplement no. 168, published in February 1903, and the description seems to want to 'have it both ways' with regard to the two suggested interpretations. I would, however, say that the prominent use of the word 'vision' in this write-up at least adds a little further weight to the possibility of assigning a fantastic intrepretation to this content:

SCENE 1. --- THE FIREMAN'S VISION OF AN IMPERILLED WOMAN AND CHILD.
The fire chief is seated at his office desk. He has just finished reading his evening paper and has fallen asleep. The rays of an incandescent light rest upon his features with a subdued light, yet leaving his figure strongly silhouetted against the wall of his office. The fire chief is dreaming, and the vision of his dream appears in a circular portrait upon the wall. It is a mother putting her baby to bed, and the inference is that he dreams of his own wife and child. He suddenly awakes and paces the floor in a nervous state of mind, doubtless thinking of the various people who may be in danger from fire at the moment. Here we dissolve the picture to the second scene.