Fire Buffs promote the general welfare of the fire and rescue service and protect its heritage and history. Famous Fire Buffs through the years include New York Fire Surgeon Harry Archer, Boston Pops Conductor Arthur Fiedler, New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and - legend has it - President George Washington.


Saturday, October 13, 2012

OHIO PENITENTIARY - 1930

UPDATED AUGUST 2019




On April 21, 1930, a fire at the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus claimed 320 lives. 

While the warden braced for a riot, "heroism cropped out in unexpected places," according to a Zanesville newspaper, The Signal. "Liberated convicts gasped fresh air into their lungs, armed themselves with sledge hammers and crowbars and rushed back into the burning tiers."

The blaze - which was apparently started to cover an escape attempt - erupted in the top tier of a cell block along Neil Avenue and spread into other blocks. Built in the late 1800s for 1,500 inmates, the penitentiary housed more than 4,000 on the day of the fire.

The magazine Fire Engineering said: "
The large loss of life resulted from delay in opening cells in the doomed sections."

It also said: "At an investigation conducted after the fire, it was learned that no procedure had been drawn for the guards to follow in case of fire. In many instances it was brought out that guards refused to free convicts from cells in the burning sections. Investigators say that if the prisoners were released at once, there would not have been so great a loss of life."


Some inmates won pardons for their acts of heroism, which also led to creation of the Ohio Parole Board in 1931, according to the Ohio Historical Society.


___

Some of the dead were listed as from Springfield and Clark County:

ROBERT BRANNICK
ARCHIE JENKINS
ARCHIE MYERS
CHARLES SHERRICK
THOMAS SHERRICK
ROLLAND J. TAYLOR
FRANK TIMBLIN
EARL YOUNG

Brannick was doing time for possession of liquor. Myers was a burglar. The Sherricks were locked up for robbery. Taylor passed bad checks. Timblin was convicted of larceny. Young stole an auto.

____


Following is from a report on the fire by the Ohio Inspection Bureau:


A gang of convicts engaged in construction work on the new concrete cell block, I and K, had discontinued operations about 4:00 P.M. for the day, or about an hour and a half before the fire was discovered, and the occupants of G and H cell blocks had been locked in for the night.

Just who actually first observed the fire is unknown, but it was presumably seen by several at about the same time.

It is thought that a guard in the tower on the outside wall which is a short distance beyond the north end of the building, where the fire originated, was among the first and called to someone on the street below who pulled fire alarm Box 261 at the head of Dublin Ave., as the first call was received by the fire department at 5:39 P.M. from this location.

 The first fire apparatus to arrive was on the ground in not to exceed two minutes after the call was sent in, and was promptly admitted at the wagon stockade gate at the corner of Dennison and West Spring Sts., from where it proceeded into the grounds.

The first equipment to arrive consisted of one truck and three engine companies and was under the command of Assistant Chief C. W. Ogborn.

The first company to go into action connected to the hydrant at the northwest corner of the new auditorium and directed a stream from a turret nozzle into the north window of I and K cell block.

However, the heavy iron grilling in the window caused the stream to be so broken up as to be rendered ineffective and this line was eventually cut off.

In the meantime, a second pumper had connected to the hydrant directly north of the auditorium and a line was carried through the east door of the cell house directly opposite the passageway between G and H and I and K cells blocks and a stream directed toward the north end of the building.

By this time, the fire was burning fiercely and the entire roof over I and K blocks had fallen in.

It was also at this point that some of the prisoners from the outside, apparently, driven to desperation by the plight of their fellow convicts locked in the cells of G and H blocks, and whom the guards had failed to release, wrested the hose from the firemen and attempted to carry it into the ranges themselves.

However, they were finally persuaded to leave the firemen to proceed uninterrupted with their work.

During this time, also, another line had been run from the second pumper, carried to the foot of the cell block, and two small lines attached to a Siamese, which were carried the entire length of the fifth and sixth ranges, being turned into the various cells to extinguish the fires in the bedding and cell furnishings.

At the same time, firemen and guards aided by convicts armed with axes and sledge hammers, proceeded to knock bars and locks from the cell doors and remove the dead and dying from their cells, carrying them down the stairs or lowering them by means of ropes through holes cut in the outer netting to the floor below, and to the outside.

Following the first alarm at 5:39, fire department officials, seeing the seriousness of the situation upon their arrival, immediately sent in additional alarms, the second going in at 5:42, the third at 5:48, and a fourth at 6:03, the second and third alarms each calling out three engines and one truck company, and the fourth, four engines and two truck companies, or almost all the available equipment in the city, a total of thirteen pumpers and five truck companies.

There were approximately 140 fireman normally responding on the equipment called into service, although this number was considerably supplemented by response of members of the off-shift, so that the total number of firemen working was actually greater than this.

The third pumper to go into action connected to the hydrant on West Spring Street, directly opposite the penitentiary entrance, the lines being carried over the roof of the front office and up a ladder to the top of the front dormitory, as the fire had spread rapidly through the roof structure above G and H cell blocks, eaten its way over the top of the temporary frame partition between the dormitory and the cell block and was creeping into the concealed roof space over the dormitory.

However, the quick and effective action on the part of the department in cutting holes in this roof and directing streams into the concealed space, as well as bringing a hose line in through the barred windows of the south wall on the third range, prevented the fire from spreading into that section.

Lines by this time had also been carried up ladders to the roof from the north side of the dormitory.

Two additional pumpers connected to the two hydrants directly northeast of the Cotton Mill and another to the hydrant north of the kitchen.

There was also a pumper operating in Dennison Avenue through a line over the wall and across the wagon stockade.

Still another machine set up at the next hydrant north, but was not brought into action.

At the height of the fire there were eight pumpers, mostly of 1000-gallons capacity, in actual operation, supplying twenty-three streams directed on all sides of the burning building, and by about 9:00 o’clock, the fire was brought well under control.

When the first companies arrived on the scene, the fire was raging fiercely among the wooden concrete forms at the top of incompleted cell blocks I and K, which had not yet been poured and in the debris of the roof which had already fallen in on this section.

The intense heat and smoke from this section had also been driven, aided by a fair breeze from the north, under the concrete roof slab above G and H cell blocks, the heat being of sufficient intensity to ignite the bedding, chairs, etc., in the sixth range and to burn and suffocate the inmates, and the heaviest casualties occurred in this range.

The heat and smoke that invaded the fifth range, while severe, was less than in the tier above, so that a higher percentage of the men in this range survived.

 A few, but not many, casualties occurred in the ranges below, principally from suffocation.

While the main fire was at its height, outside of the first difficulty experienced by the firemen in having their hose taken away, and while the bodies were being removed, many of the convicts assisted and there was no trouble.

However, some later on became unruly, menaced the firemen, and cut the hose from the pumper north of the kitchen.

 Axes and minor equipment were broken or stolen, rocks were thrown at the apparatus, and one group of convicts attempted to set fire to the large gasoline tank supply wagon of the department by igniting piles of blankets which had been placed under the truck.

The driver, although warned by the convicts not to do so, jumped on the truck and removed it from the grou
nds. 

Friday, October 12, 2012

RUNS & WORKERS - PART 6


In Youngstown on Oct. 1, 1908, a fire at the Knox 5&10 Store fire fatally injured two senior members of the Youngstown Fire Department. Capt. Charles Vaughn died that day and First Assistant Chief Thomas Reilly succumbed to his injuries a day later.



Lovely Cleveland. At least 13 fires have been reported on the Cuyahoga River, the first occurring in 1868. The worst blaze (pictured above) caused over $1 million in damage to boats and a riverfront office building in Cleveland in 1952. Following a blaze in 1969, Time magazine described the Cuyahoga as the river that "oozes rather than flows."



Photo: Private Collection 

"Some Like It Hot" -- Street scene from Dayton, Ohio; outside the Ohio Follies Theatre in the late 1950s or early 1960s.



Photo: U.S. Army

Crash at Wright-Patterson military airfield, between Springfield and Dayton, on Oct. 30, 1935



Post card of oil refinery fire in Findlay, Ohio, in 1911.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

'COVERED WAGON'



It was a revolutionary innovation at the time. In December 1937, the Springfield Fire Division took delivery of a closed-bed American LaFrance sedan pumper. This unique rig was assigned to the Central Engine House as Engine 1. There wasn't a rear running board like most engines of the era. Everyone traveled in the cab or the covered hose bed. Firefighters dubbed it the "Covered Wagon" - like the horse-drawn wagons in old Western movies. It remained a front-line pumper until 1959 and was eventually left to languish in a city park.

ATTACK PUMPER


Photo: Youngstown Fire web site

Engine 1, a 1959 Mack, was dubbed the "Attack Pumper." It's p
ictured here it is in semi-retirement as Reserve Engine 10. The rig was painted safety green after it was scorched at a fire in the late 1970s. The Attack Pumper responded to all working fires in the city with a crew of four or five men following the Jan. 1, 1975 reorganization of the fire division. In some city's such units were known a "Flying Squad."

4's & 5's



Photos: Youngstown Fire web site

These Ward LaFrance pumpers entered service in 1967, replacing American LaFrance rigs assigned to Engine 4 and Engine 5, according to the 1978 book "From Buckets to Diesels" by the late Calvin E. Roberds, a senior officer in the fire division.

6's

 
 
Photos: Youngstown Fire web site

Truck 6 and Engine 6 of the Springfield Fire Division, circa 1970s

8's


Photo: Youngstown Fire web site

1964 Mack assigned to Engine Co. 8 in Springfield, Ohio

LIGHT AND AIR


Photo: Youngstown Fire web site

Light and air unit operated by volunteers of Box 27 Associates in Springfield in the 1970s and 1980s. It was a converted fire division ladder truck.

RESERVE TRUCK


Photo: Youngstown Fire websitez

Reserve Truck 1 on the ramp at Station No. 1 in Springfield Ohio, circa 1970s.

RESERVE ENGINE

Photo: Youngstown Fire website
 
Reserve Engine 12, circa 1980, in Springfield, Ohio

Monday, April 23, 2012

HOLDER OIL - 2012

 



Photos courtesy of Spingfield Fire Lt. Dave Allis

April 19, 2012 was a dark day in Clark County, Ohio.

"More than 50 agencies responded — including every fire department in Clark County — to the fire at the R.D. Holder Oil Co., 2219 Folk Ream Road,
" according to the Dayton Daily News.

The Springfield Fire Rescue Division sent Hazmat 1, operated jointly with the county.

"The blaze produced flames that shot 200 feet up, black smoke could be seen as far away as Dayton and Butler County, and the plume even showed up on weather radar," the newspaper reported

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

'AIRCRAFT CARRIER'

Before

After 

Springfield's original Rescue 1 was dubbed the "Aircraft Carrier" due to its size.

The unique rig started life as a 1966 Peter Pirsch Aerial 1 HC Tractor and was converted into a heavy rescue, still with maneuvered with the original tiller.

A new tractor was added at some point.

Based at Fire Station No. 1 in central Springfield, the hybrid was known for a bumpy ride - especially for the tillerman - as the removal of the aerial ladder lessened its weight. 

Before its conversion, the rig operated as Truck 6. It was retired in the 1990s and replaced with a rescue engine.

Photos courtesy of the Springfield Fire-Rescue Division.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

RADIO SIGNALS

Springfield Fire Division Radio Signals, circa in 1970s
FCC Call Sign KQD-688

Signal 1 - Telephone at once 
Signal 2 - Telephone ASAP 
Signal 3 - Working fire 
Signal 3A - Working fire can be handled with current assignment
Signal 4 - Single company can handle
Signal 4A - False alarm 
Signal 5 - Lights and siren
Signal 6 - No apparent fire 
Signal 7 - Stand by
Signal 8 - Returning out of service
Signal 9 - Returning in service
Signal 9A - Returning for gas/air 
Signal 9B - In service on scene
Signal 10 - Radio silence
Signal 11 - Police requested 
Signal 13 - Coroner requested
Signal 14 - Community Hospital
Signal 15 - Mercy Medical Center 
Signal 16 - Subject armed/dangerous
Signal 17 - Out at scene 
Signal 18 - Return to quarters 
Signal 19 - Out of car 
Signal 20 - Firefighter injured 
Signal 22 - Transmit second alarm
Signal 25 - Check fire station stove
Signal 27 - Request Box 27 Associates

Monday, January 23, 2012

WRIGHT PATTERSON - 1961


Photos: U.S. Air Force

Wright-Patterson Firefighter Williams Collins


Photos: Miami Valley Firefighter/EMS Memorial Association
Wright-Patterson Station Chief Dale Kelcher

On Nov. 21, 1961, fire swept a sprawling office building at Wright Paterson Air Force Base, k
illing two base firefighters. 

Station Chief Dale Kelcher and Firefighter William Collins were last seen entering Building 262-A, headquarters of the Air Force Logistics Command, which took fire at just before midnight Thanksgiving Eve. A backdraft trapped them.

The blaze "reduced a three-story frame building covering nearly the area of a football field to a pile of smoldering charcoal,” according to a newspaper account. 

Firefighters resorted to ground and aerial master streams to battle the blaze and called for mutual aid from neighboring communities.

At a November 2018 memorial, Major Tyler Johnson, commander, 788th Civil Engineer Squadron, said: "They looked danger in the eye and they ran into the flames."

Four days after Kelcher and Collins died, another major fire gutted a building at the air base, between Dayton and Springfield. There were no serious injuries in that blaze.

Two other Wright-Patterson firefighters died in the line of duty.
 Frank A. Smith perished fighting a fire at a motor pool in 1932 and Harold “Sparky” Sparks suffered a heart attack in 2009, according to Air Force records.

RUNS & WORKERS - PART 5

Image: Columbus Public Library
 
- Post card of 1904 oil field fire in Lima; note proximity of spectators to blaze. Printed on upper left of card: "Greetings from Lima, O."

- On May 6, 1895, The New York Times published a brief dispatch from Springfield entitled "AN OHIO TOWN ON FIRE; New-Carlisle Threatened with Destruction -- Opera House and Other Buildings Burning." New Carlisle requested assistance from Springfield's fire department after the fire broke out May 5, the dispatch said. William Francis Stockstill, 1850-1922, built the theater and moved to Dayton when it "aburned to the ground," according to a family history posted on the web.

On Dec. 12, 1906, flames broke out at St. Bernard Church on Lagonda Avenue. The fire "for a time threatened the entire structure, but fortunately it was confined to the organ," according to a 1935 history of the parish. "It was much disputed what caused the fire, but it was thought that a candle was left lighted in repairing the organ. The organ was immediately replaced by a larger one."

- On Jan. 16, 1943, Dallas Groce, 43, died in an explosion and fire at the Crowell-Collier Publishing Co. plant. The blast occurred just before noon in the penthouse atop the sixth-floor of the plant west of downtown Springfield, Fire Chief Grover Frock said. Other workers sustained injuries, according to an Associated Press story printed in the Youngstown Vindicator. Chief Frock blamed the explosion on spontaneous combustion. It caused $25,000 in damages.

On April 4, 1978, a freight train plowed into the Skelgas Co. propane plant in Springfield - forcing the evacuation of homes and businesses by police and firefighters. The derailment was caused by a flatbed truck that collided with the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton train at a grade crossing. The truck was hauling steel rolls. According to news accounts, a quantity of propane gas was released from the Skelgas plant, but there was no fire or explosion, and no one was seriously injured.

On Dec. 12, 1906, flames broke out at St. Bernard Church on Lagonda Avenue. The fire "for a time threatened the entire structure, but fortunately it was confined to the organ," according to a 1935 history of the parish. "It was much disputed what caused the fire, but it was thought that a candle was left lighted in repairing the organ. The organ was immediately replaced by a larger one."

Sunday, January 22, 2012

FRIDAY THE 13TH


It as an unlucky 13th for someone. Firefighters battled house fire on West Grand Avenue in Springfield, on Feb. 13, 1981. Hose lines are in attack mode and the roof and rear of the dwelling are laddered. The blaze went to two alarms.

Friday, January 20, 2012

LOGAN CHILDREN'S HOME - 1907


FIRE ATTACKS CHILDREN'S HOME.


Bellefontaine, O., May 15. -- The Logan County Children's Home was totally destroyed by fire. All of the 42 children were saved.The building was a magnificient three-story brick structure, built nearly 20 years ago, but was without fire protection of any kind.

[Van Wert Daily Bulletin Ohio May 15, 1907]

DAYTON OPERA HOUSE - 1869


LOSS BETWEEN $600,000 AND $800,000

HEARTRENDING SCENE.

Dayton, May 16, 1869.

At one o'clock this morning Turner's Opera House, in this city took fire and was entirely destroyed. The building was occupied by McKEE, WOODWARD & WEEKLY, wholesale grocers; BLACK & FOX, wholesale china and queensware; GROVER & BAKER'S Machine Company, a large restaurant and billiard rooms. Nothing was saved but a few sewing machines.

The fine residences east of the Opera House, on First street, of J. SCHWAB, JOEL ESTABROOK and A. KUHERS, were also destroyed. The fire also communicated to the buildings south, on Main street, owned by M. OHMER, which were entirely destroyed, including the large furniture establishment of MR. OHMER and the grocery store of SARDMIER & BROTHER.

HERMAN SARDMIER, of the latter firm, was endeavoring to save some of his goods, when a portion of the wall fell, crushing him to the floor. His brother and several others endeavored to extricate him, but it was impossible. He lived in this condition for a while, when another crash came, burying him in the ruins. His wife and family were present, but no human power could save him.

The scene was heartrending. The loss is estimated at between $600,000 and $800,000, and the insurance about $100,000. It is supposed to be the work of an incendiary. The Opera House was one of the finest in the West, and was owned by J. M. and W. M. TURNER, whose whole loss will be about $250,000 over and above an insurance of $48,000.

[New York Herald - May 17, 1869]