'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 pictured 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

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

'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.

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

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, killing 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."

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.

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]

XENIA TORNADO - 1974

UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2019

On April 3, 1974, Xenia, Ohio was ground zero for a killer tornado packing winds up to 300 mph - a disaster that took 34 lives and injured more than 1,000 others.

Many of the dead were youngsters.

Hundreds of homes and businesses - even Xenia High School - were destroyed by the twister that crashed into town at 4:40 p.m. - one of about 150 spawned during a 24-hour outbreak across the Midwest and South.

The city operated two fire stations, employing 36 paid firefighters.

"The homes of many firemen and policemen were damaged (13 homes were destroyed) and yet all the off-duty men were back to work within half an hour," the magazine Fire Engineering reported.

The tornado damaged the city's No. 2 fire station, depositing debris blocking the apparatus ramp. The engine company's crew, in turn, responded on foot.

In major emergencies, ``the normal procedure for firemen on a recall is to report to Station 1. However, because it was impossible to travel by car as the tornado damage extended from one end of town to the other, most men started working in the areas nearest their homes," Fire Engineering said.

With lines of communications down neighboring fire and police departments ordered their personnel to the scene.

"The devastation has been likened to World War II saturation bombing," the Xenia Gazette reported. "Xenia was virtually wiped off the map ... At 1 a.m. today there still were distraught parents walking anxiously through the downtown area looking for their children."

The newspaper described some of the ruins:

"All that could be found of what was once the Mr. Donut Shop on N. Allison Avenue were the stools, standing alone like mushrooms, with the building nowhere in sight.

"Across the street, the Kroehler Mfg. Co., exemplified the terrific impact. A tractor-trailer rig was blown approximately 100 yards onto the roof of the Community Lanes Bowling Alley across the street.

"To the east, the wreckage of the Penn-Central freight train gained most attention. It had been lifted from the tracks and thrown into the Kroger Store parking lot and onto a nearby used car lot. Several fatalities are said connected with this. The Kroger store was obliterated."

It continued:

"Undoubtedly the greatest destruction was in the Arrowhead subdivision where block after block of small brick homes were flattened in an area about halfway between Bellbrook Avenue and W. Second Street. In many instances it was almost impossible to determine houses ever existed."

Aggravating matters, gas and water lines snapped citywide.

Firefighter Charles Beason told the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper that "I could see a roof go up, start spiraling, then just explode into thousands of pieces" as he peered through binoculars.

Fortunately Greene Memorial Hospital was spared, and WHIO-TV weatherman Gil Whitney was credited with saving lives for alerting viewers to the tornado's deadly path toward Arrowhead.

Ten days later, tragedy struck again when a fire at a store used as a temporary shelter killed two relief workers, members of the Ohio Air National Guard.

In the aftermath, bumper stickers appeared declaring "Xenia Lives!" and within a year, 80 percent of the homes and half the businesses had been rebuilt, according to Ohio History Central.

On  the tenth  anniversary of the disaster, Harold Horton, principal and assistant pastor of the First Church of the Nazarene, recalled: "People were crying, just lying in the streets." Horton spoke in an interview with United Press International.

Disaster visited Xenia a century earlier.

On May 14, 1886, a tornado killed about 30 people, with houses "picked up as if they were egg shells and carried in this mad rush of water until they were dashed to pieces against bridge abutments and whatever they might come in contact with," the Daily Advocate of Newark, Ohio, reported.

NEW CARLISLE - 2011

Photo: WHIO-TV

New Carlisle Fire Department's Quint 2 at the scene of a ruptured natural gas line along State Route 235 on Oct. 12, 2011. The line snapped below the shutoff valve, WHIO-TV reported.

BLACK MONDAY - 1984

They called it Black Monday.

On Aug. 27, 1984, a general alarm fire struck the old Kelsey-Hayes warehouse on West Columbia Street - belching clouds of black smoke and soot across Springfield.

All off-duty firefighters were recalled per general alarm protocol, and Clark County township fire departments sent mutual aid to fill city fire stations.

These photos from the Springfield Daily News are courtesy of retired Lt. Dave Aills of Rescue Company 1.

In the final frame, it appears an ice cream vendor provided refreshments for the spectators.

B&M FIBERGLASS - 1971

Photo: Springfield Fire Division

On Aug. 9, 1971, a fire at the B&M Fiberglass Co. forced Springfield firefighters to "leap for their lives" from the roof. 

"A series of explosions cut them off from their ladders," Captain Calvin Roberds wrote in the 1978 book "From Buckets to Diesels."

The fire at 350 South Fountain Avenue was fueled by resins and solvents and "caused a large number of injuries to firefighters," Roberds wrote.

The blaze also sent a huge plume of smoke over the city.

Firefighters extinguished the flames using master streams and ladder pipes.

WRONG NUMBER

A telephone call for help was wrongly routed to Springfield on March 22, 1952. The caller reported a fire on Massillon Road. That didn't make sense to the dispatcher who politely responded: "This is the Springfield Fire Division." The caller apologized, saying she wanted the Akron Fire Department - 160 miles away. - Associated Press story in St. Petersburg, Florida, Times, March 23, 1952

CROSS STREETS

An Associated Press story printed in newspapers, including the Free Lance-Star of Fredericksburg, Virginia, suggests Springfield Fire Division dispatchers may have been among the first in the nation - if not the first - to routinely ask callers "What is your nearest cross street?" to pinpoint emergencies. The story was published Nov. 22, 1961.

LINK TO ARTICLE

RUNS & WORKERS - PART 4

Photo: Allen County Historical Society

- In 1945, fire struck the Milner Hotel in downtown Lima, claiming two lives and causing many injuries. Firefighters were hampered by poor water supply. Catastrophic hotel fires were all-too-common across the U.S. in the 1940s, prompting safety reforms. Maintenance had been neglected during the Great Depression and World Wat Two. Early 20th Century hotel designs also allowed for rapid fire spread with open stairwells.  

-On Jan. 10, 1982, a major fire "burned through the hospital wing" of the Ohio Masonic Home in Springfield, according to the Associated Press. Firefighters were hampered by intense flames inside and frozen equipment outside. The fire injured 30 people, including four firefighters. The facility has a long history. The cornerstone of Ohio Masonic Home’s original building was placed in 1892.

- On Oct. 13, 1946, a refrigerated railroad freight car smashed into the lobby of the Frances Hotel in downtown Springfield, Ohio. There were no serious injuries. The car was one of three that derailed from a New York Central train, according to an Associated Press report printed in the Telegraph newspaper of Nashua, New Hampshire. The accident caused damage estimated at $100,000 by William Wendl, manager of the hotel, according to an AP dispatch in the Baltimore Sun. A wrecking crane removed the car from the lobby.

- The Victoria Advocate, a newspaper in Texas, printed an Associated Press dispatch on May 7, 1960 from Springfield, Ohio: "The guest of honor, Raymond Beaty, was left by himself when a fire interrupted his retirement dinner. But Beaty understood. He was a city fireman for 17 years and his farewell dinner was being held in No.6 Engine House when it was interrupted by a general alarm factory fire."

- On the night of Oct. 21-22, 1958, a "fire bug menace" struck the southside of Springfield, according to an Associated Press dispatch published in the Youngstown Vindicator. Fire Chief Willard Compton said fires were set at Springfield South High School, an autobody shop and four garages. "All available policemen and firemen were called," AP said. 

- On June 2, 1873, the shops of the Springfield Agricultural Works went up in flames. The agricultural works - a plant that encompassed 80,000 feet of floor - ``were almost totally destroyed by fire, just when most needed to get out work for the fall trade,'' according to Beer's 1881 history of Clark County. The shops, which manufactured grain drills, cultivators and cider-mills were ``rebuilt at once.' 

- On April 1, 1905, a freight car from the Detroit Southern Railroad jumped the tracks and smashed into the boiler room at the Thomas Stationary Co., causing the Springfield plant's "huge smokestack to tumble to the ground," according to a dispatch printed in The Hudson Independent newspaper of Hudson, Ohio. There were no serious injuries, but some workers "were prevented with difficulty from jumping from the windows," the dispatch said.

- As crews battled a fire at The Peter A. Boggan Co. on Jan. 11, 1932, a floor collapsed ``endangering the lives of the firemen and the chief who were in the basement,'' The Springfield Daily News reported. They escaped without serious injury from the store, which was located at 34 East Main Street, Springfield.

TWIN GENERAL ALARMS - 1925

On May 12, 1925, Springfield was the scene of two general alarm fires - and when the flames were tamed the citizens of Springfield thanked their firefighters with sandwiches and cigars.

 The first blaze occurred at the Springfield Abattoir Co at Mill Run and Buck Creek. (An abattoir is a slaughterhouse.) The fire broke out at 2 p.m. and the flames destroyed the cowshed and barns, according to the Springfield Daily News. The fire also destroyed some livestock.

The second general alarm fire that day broke out at the Brain Lumber Co. at East and Harrison streets. The initial alarm was transmitted at 7:20 p.m. with the general alarm following 10 minutes later, according to the Daily News.

The newspaper reported the fire started when a thick coating of oil on the surface of Mill Run, paralleling the lumber yard, became ignited from an unknown cause.

Flames shot high into the air, and within a few minutes after the first fire company arrived on the scene, the fire had reached one of the buildings of the lumber company and then quickly spread to the others.

From the Mill Run, the flames first spread to a building in which shingles were stored, and numerous other buildings in which finished and rough lumber was stored, were quickly ignited in turn.

The newspaper estimated that the blaze, which was visible from across the city, attracted between 5,000 and 10,000 spectators.

The fire also destroyed three railroad boxcars loaded with lumber.

Firebrands from the lumber company ignited row house roofs along Harrison Street, and firefighters alternately played their hose lines on the lumber yard and the dwellings. Some of the residents turned their garden hoses on the flames.

The citizens of Springfield showed their appreciation to the firemen and ``baskets of sandwiches and kettles of steaming coffee were served to the men as they worked in the cold hours around midnight,'' the Daily News said.

``Boxes of cigars were also passed out to the firemen by the officials of the Brain Co,'' the newspaper said.

EMERGENCY SQUAD - 1953

In 1953, the Springfield Fire Division replaced its original emergency squad - a 1949 panel truck - with an International Harvester Metro that permitted more headroom as well as space for additional equipment. IH operated an assembly plant in Springfield.

CROWELL-COLLIER - 2009

Photo: Springfield News-Sun

On Nov. 27, 2009, Springfield firefighters responded to the old Crowell-Collier building where a section of bricks crumbled to the street and sidewalk. There were no injuries.

FEMALE FIREFIGHTER

Springfield’s first female firefighter retires

By Valerie Lough
Springfield News-Sun
Sept. 8, 2010

 SPRINGFIELD — The first time Diane Arbogast saw a fire engine, it was the day she reported for training at a new job — as a firefighter.

And, all those doo dads on the engine’s pump panel looked pretty intimidating.

“You look at something like that the first time and go ... ‘Ok,’ ” said Arbogast. Twenty-five years later, Arbogast, the first female firefighter at the Springfield Fire Division, retired Wednesday, Sept. 8.

But, as a child, putting out fires wasn’t her dream. She thought she might be a nurse

“I’m not a nurse, but I do take care of people,” she said. Arbogast found her way to the Springfield Fire Division in search of a better job with good benefits.

In other attempts to get a solid job in 1985, some prospective employers told Arbogast flat-out that they preferred to hire a man for the job.

But when she joined the fire division that same year, the climate was much more welcoming, she said. “All the guys were always just super,” she said.

Fellow firefighter John Sells said Arbogast’s nurturing instinct made her a natural in the job. “I think a lot of people will describe her as motherly,” said Sells. “I’ve never seen her get mad.”

Arbogast plans to continue with her second job in the emergency room at Springfield Medical Center and enjoying her eight grandchildren and great grandchild.

 Her voice cracked as she spoke of what she would miss the most about her job — the people she worked with.

“It’s like a big family ... they’ve become my second family,” she said.

COUNTRY CLUB - 1922

Fire destroyed the Springfield Country Club on June 14, 1922.

WINTER'S FIRE - 1892

On April 12, 1892, fire gutted Winter's Art Lithographing Co. in Springfield, Ohio - destroying materials printed for the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, according to the next day's The New York Times.

"Before the Fire Department could arrive the entire three stories were enveloped in flames," the Times reported. "The company had contracted for all the World's Fair lithographing, and part of the orginial stones for the World's Fair work were destroyed." 

The fire orginated in a room of oils and inks, "supposedly by spontaneous combustion," and "the heavy machinery was ruined by dropping to the basement," the newspaper reported. It said "the building is a total wreck."

WOODLAWN HALL - 1928

On May 15, 1928, fire swept the Woodlawn Hall womens' dormitory at Wittenberg College, killing Hilda Sipes, 20, of Shelby, Ohio, according to a dispatch from the Associated Press.

Other women were injured jumping from windows early that Tuesday morning, the campus newspaper, The Torch, reported two days later.

Over the years, the tragedy contributed to ghost stories about Woodlawn Hall.

Ms. Sipes died in a lavatory across from her room, No. 11.

Firefighters located her body, clad in a nightgown, in a bathroom "stretched flat on the floor between the bathtub and the wall," said Fire Captain Ed Garrity of the Central Engine House, quoted by the Springfield Daily News.

The fire was discovered by Lilly Myers, house mother for the 20 residents, at about 2 a.m., according to The Torch.

The Associated Press identified three of the injured students as Alice Olde of Detroit, Helen McClain of Troy, Ohio, and Marie Schneider of Indianapolis.

The AP also reported: "More of the girls might have been trapped in bed had not most of them remained awake longer than usual to listen to a midnight serenade of a campus fraternity."

The AP dispatch was published in the May 16, 1928 edition of the Hartford Courant newspaper of Hartford, Connecticut. The headline of the story on page 6 of the newspaper read: "Co-Ed Killed in Dormitory Fire in Ohio."

The AP reporter identified the dormitory as "Woodland Hall."

FIREMEN'S PICNIC

Photos: Courtesy of family of Harry Huffman

Springfield, Ohio, firefighters at a picnic and outside a firehouse. Harry Huffman is seated at right in the firehouse photo, courtesy of the Huffman family.

OLD ENGINE 2

Advertisement featuring Springfield Fire Chief Sam Hunter and Engine 2's crew at old Fire Station No. 2, which was closed during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

CHIEF HUFFMAN

Harry Huffman was promoted to platoon chief on Jan. 1, 1947. He was appointed to the fire division in 1928 and retired on April 1, 1949.

At the time, the fire division fielded two platoon chiefs, who acted as shift commanders. In the overall chain of command, they answered to the fire chief and the assistant fire chief.

 According to a newspaper article on his retirement, Huffman's pension paid $155 a month or half his regular pay. Huffman was promoted to lieutenant in July 1935 and captain in August 1938.

This photo was provided by the chief's family.

His father and brother were also Springfield firefighters.

OLD ENGINE HOUSE 5

Photo: Cindy Funk via Flickr

Old Fire Station No. 5 on West Main Street, Springfield, Ohio. It housed Engine 5 which was relocated to a new station after the old firehouse closed in 1981.

COAL FIRE - 1917

The Springfield Tire Fire always burns in the hometown of "The Simpsons" television series. In 1917, a coal fire smoldered for weeks in Springfield, Ohio. "Springfield firemen resorted to the use of steam shovels to help fight fire in a 100,000 ton coal pile in the Big Four railroad yards, burning since Aug. 1," according to the Mahoning Dispatch of Canfield, Ohio, on Sept. 14, 1917.