NYC Volunteer Fire Service Line of Duty Death
April 4, 1848 - LODDAssistant Engineer George Kerr
Engine 38
Manhattan, New York
April 3, 1848 - LODD
Assistant Foreman Henry Fargis
Engine 38
Manhattan, New York
April 4, 1848 - LODD
Volunteer Fireman Charles J. Durant
Hose 35
Manhattan, New York
Three firefighters in NYC volunteer fire companies died as a result of injuries sustained on April 2, 1848, when a building collapsed while operating at a fire.
An early morning fire in the sugarhouse at 144 Duane Street spread to 136 Duane and to the foundry in the rear at 106 to 108 Reade Street. The sugarhouse contained large quantities of sugar, molasses and the machinery needed to process it. The building measured one hundred feet by fifty feet with slender walls. The fire-weakened upper floors, containing burlap bags of sugar, gave way without any warning and forced the front wall out burying many firemen in the street. On a ladder was Assistant Engineer George Kerr with other firemen and walking out the door was Assistant Foreman Henry Fargis of Engine 38 (Southwark). Assistant Engineer Kerr was dead when pulled from the rubble and Assistant Foreman Fargis lived until eight in the morning. Fireman Charles J. Durant of Hose 35 (Fifteenth Ward) died two days later from a broken leg and other injuries. (from The Last Alarm, by Boucher, Urbanowicz and Melahn.)
Kerr was thirty-three years old and a native of Ireland. Fargis was twenty-six years old and a native of New York City. (From "The Last Alarm" by Boucher, Urbanowicz & Melahn, 2006.)
RIP. Never forget.
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