Charleston WV Woolworth Fire, March 5, 1949
"Charleston, W.Va. had an eerily similar large loss of life fire on March 4, 1949. Seven firefighters died in an early morning blaze on Capital Street in downtown Charleston. The Charleston Gazette newspaper gave this account of the early morning blaze:
"In the early morning hours of March 4, 1949 patrolman Wayne Casdorph was on duty near the Woolworth's Department Store on Capitol Street when he smelled smoke and noticed a milky color coming from one of the store windows. He called in the report and shortly thereafter, the old Elizabeth Street Fire Department was the first to arrive on the scene.
The fire, having started in the department store's basement, was deceivingly small at first. One squad was sent into the first floor with hoses, while another squad was making their way down a back staircase to battle the blaze at the source. Unfortunately, no one could predict just HOW badly the fire had already gotten out of control. The first floor gave way, sending firemen crashing down into the burning debris of the basement. Witnesses say men were buried up to their armpits in fiery merchandise, stock, and building debris. Two men, Roy C. Hill and Shawkey Jones, managed to escape out of the basement. In interviews after the fire, Jones relates the sad tale of desperately trying to pull a fellow firefighter from the rubble onto what was left of the first floor, but the man slipping from his grasp and plunging back down into the inferno."
In total, seven firefighters lost their lives in the blaze. Those men are:
?Frank Miller
?Freddie Summers
?James Paul (Jiggs) Little
?T. Frank Sharp
?Richard McCormick
?George Coates
?Emory Pauley"
Credit to Firehouse web site:
http://www.firehouse.com/blog/10887884/remembering-the-7-fallen-charleston-wva-ffs
http://www.firefightingnews.com/article.cfm?articleID=62983
Charleston WV FD:
http://charlestonfire.org/about/
"Charleston, W.Va. had an eerily similar large loss of life fire on March 4, 1949. Seven firefighters died in an early morning blaze on Capital Street in downtown Charleston. The Charleston Gazette newspaper gave this account of the early morning blaze:
"In the early morning hours of March 4, 1949 patrolman Wayne Casdorph was on duty near the Woolworth's Department Store on Capitol Street when he smelled smoke and noticed a milky color coming from one of the store windows. He called in the report and shortly thereafter, the old Elizabeth Street Fire Department was the first to arrive on the scene.
The fire, having started in the department store's basement, was deceivingly small at first. One squad was sent into the first floor with hoses, while another squad was making their way down a back staircase to battle the blaze at the source. Unfortunately, no one could predict just HOW badly the fire had already gotten out of control. The first floor gave way, sending firemen crashing down into the burning debris of the basement. Witnesses say men were buried up to their armpits in fiery merchandise, stock, and building debris. Two men, Roy C. Hill and Shawkey Jones, managed to escape out of the basement. In interviews after the fire, Jones relates the sad tale of desperately trying to pull a fellow firefighter from the rubble onto what was left of the first floor, but the man slipping from his grasp and plunging back down into the inferno."
In total, seven firefighters lost their lives in the blaze. Those men are:
?Frank Miller
?Freddie Summers
?James Paul (Jiggs) Little
?T. Frank Sharp
?Richard McCormick
?George Coates
?Emory Pauley"
Credit to Firehouse web site:
http://www.firehouse.com/blog/10887884/remembering-the-7-fallen-charleston-wva-ffs
http://www.firefightingnews.com/article.cfm?articleID=62983
Charleston WV FD:
http://charlestonfire.org/about/
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