Shift change was at 0800 Tuesday morning. Commissioner Robert Quinn had not arrived at the school until after 3 o'clock (he was out his office on the 2-11). To gain a complete understanding of what occurred before he got there, Quinn ordered all members on the still assignment to his office at 9:00 am (18 hours after the first alarm).
The misery was not quite over.
His office was filled with exhausted men and his command staff. A host of reporters were parked outside. It would be a transcribed deposition.. Quinn was as tough a fireman as you could find who loved his city and the CFD. AS a member of the Bridgeport Irish mafia, he was loyal to his boss- Mayor Daley. He was also well known to have an abrasive management style.
Quinn- "There's going to be a million reporters in here. I don't want any bullshit. I want answers, That's why you're down here."
Starting off, Lt. Kamin describes to Quinn the actions his truck crew performed. Next, Lt. Wojnicki relates hooking up on Avers Avenue and stretching into the rear stairwell.
Quinn- "You saw fire in the stairwell?"
Wojnicki- "Yes. It was roaring. It was going straight up. I figured it had to be the seat of the fire."
"Did you try to get any of these kids out?"
"Not at that time. We were too busy with the line."
"What do you mean you were 'too busy with the line'? You're saying you pull up and you've got kids hanging out of the goddam windows, and you didn't try to get kids out? You dumb sonovabitch! What the hell's the matter with you?
"I knew I had the truck coming in behind me. We tried making those stairs, to get up inside there. There was just too much fire for us to get in."
One of the Deputy Chiefs chimes in-" Lieutenant, you say you attacked the fire in the stairwell, that the flames were going up the stairs. Do you suppose you assisted in pushing the flames up the stairwell by directing your hose line in there?"
"No, I think we saved a lot of kids by knocking down that fire in the stairway, I know we did. I don't know what else I could have done."
Chief Fire Marshal Raymond Daley (in charge of the uniformed force) then defuses the situation.
To Wojnicki- "Considering the circumstances, I don't know how the hell you did what you did do."
To Quinn- "That was his job. He did his job, For chrissakes, those people were grabbin' at him. What more do you want?"
Quinn- "All right"
Ten days after the fire the Cook County Coroner convened a public inquest at a downtown auditorium. Reporters and news cameras from all over the world were in front. About 300 spectators with many bereaved parents were behind.
Lt. Wojnicki, in his Class A Uniform was the only witness from the still alarm companies. While describing his actions several crying parents had to be helped from the room. Afterwards, there were no questions.
But Wojnicki, shaking and choking, was not finished.
"I want to say this. There would have been more deaths if we didn't act as fast as we did with the help of civilians and nuns and parents. By the time I got my hose out, the truck was throwing up ladders. People don't realize the work of the Fire Department, We did the best we could. It is a scene that I will never forget in my lifetime."
The book authors were not able to interview Lt. Wojnicki. Years after the fire, he and his wife died in an automobile accident.
