SYRACUSE NY 9 LODD'S COLLINS BLOCK FIRE & COLLAPSE 2/3/1939

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SFD Line of Duty Deaths​

February 3, 1939 - Syracuse, NY Office Building Fire. 9 Firemen plunged to their deaths.

Nine firemen, trapped in the collapse of a burning office building, were given up for dead today as rescue crews searched the still smoking ruins in the heart of the city's business section. "All hope has been abandoned," declared the Fire Chief Edward W. Gieselman "The men are dead -- they are buried under tons of wreckage." Hours after the collapse of the final wall, occasional spurts of flame still came from the blackened ruins hindering the work of weary rescue crews who continued their hopeless effort to reach the entombed men. Gieselman, said it might be hours before the bodies of the firemen were removed. Meantime in a fire station less than a block away, weeping wives and children of the missing men huddled together still awaiting a word of hope. District Attorney Donald MacWhinney already had launched an investigation into the cause of the fire. He said one of the first witnesses questioned was Clifford Keep, operator of a restaurant on the ground floor of the wrecked building, which was known as the Collins block. Mr. Keep had experienced some labor trouble recently, MacWhinney said and that he intended to investigate the situation.

Syracuse (AP) -- Rescue crews searched the smoking ruins of a five-story brick office building at dawn today for nine firemen trapped when the roof of the fire-swept structure collapsed. Amid uncertainty whether any of the six remained alive, the city mobilized its police, fire and public works department forces to speed the work of rescue. A seventh fireman, rescued an hour after the collapse, was taken to a hospital critically injured. Fire department officials reported the missing men were on the third floor of the building, when the roof collapsed with a roar like an explosion, carrying them into the cellar under a mass of falling wreckage. Rescue efforts were hindered by fear that the work of digging in the ruins might bring down one of the walls of the ruined building. All ambulances in the city were dispatched to the scene. The rescued man, removed from the wreckage through a sidewalk grating, was identified as Fireman William F. Moore. Those still missing were listed as: Lieutenant David Lavine. Lieutenant Albert G. Young. Lieutenant Raymond E. Bauder. Fireman John W. Agan. Fireman James E. Diamond. Fireman G. Michael Dixon. Fireman Frank Kerlin

District Chief Thomas J. Dugan was also reported missing. It was not immediately known whether or not he was buried in the debris with the other missing men. Police and fire department officials said the cause of the blaze which was discovered at 1:50 A.M., was uncertain. Scores of fire companies, called out by a general alarm, poured streams of water into the building for 45 minutes before the flames were brought under control. Collapse of the roof occurred at about 4 A.M. as firemen poked through the smoke-filled upper floors. The wrecked building is located on East Genesee Street, near the heart of the business district and a block off Salina Street, main thoroughfare of the city. The first floor was occupied by a restaurant, while the upper floors were untenanted. Officials of the Onondaga County Savings Bank, which owns the structure, were unable to estimate the loss immediately. The operator of the ground floor restaurant, however, estimated her own loss at $7,000 to $10,000. Despite the early hour at which the fire occurred, hundreds were attracted to the scene by the spectacular blaze. For a time, adjoining structures were threatened by a westerly wind which showered them with sparks. Fire Marshall Charles Wilkes said firewalls apparently saved buildings immediately adjoining.

The Daily Messenger Canandaigua New York 1939-02-04

In the end the dead were:

Asst Chief Charles A Boynton
District Chief Thomas J. Dugan
Lieutenant David Lavine Engine 6
Lieutenant Albert G. Young Engine 2
Lieutenant Raymond E. Bauder Engine 3
Fireman John W. Agan Engine 1
Fireman James E. Diamond Engine 1
Fireman G. Michael Dixon Engine 3
Fireman Frank Kerlin Truck 6
Fireman William F. Moore

 

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Throwback Thursday: Remembering the 'dramatic, tragic' Collins Block fire (photos)​

Feb. 04, 2016, 11:00 a.m.
By Jacob Pucci

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- "Here is a dramatic and tragic story of devotion and sacrifice on the part of a faithful public servant -- devotion and sacrifice so great that death was the result."

So begins a Syracuse Herald column about First Assistant Chief Charles A. Boynton, one of nine Syracuse firefighters who lost their lives in the Collins Block fire. The Feb. 3, 1939 fire remains the single deadliest fire in the department's history.


Firefighters were first called to the Collins building, 225 E. Genesee St., around 2 a.m. They were cleaning up and preparing to leave the building when, around 4 a.m., the roof of the cellar collapsed.


The eight men fell to the cellar, pinned underneath tons of bricks and debris.


Rescuing the trapped men, a task fueled by the sounds of moans and voices of the still-alive firefighters, continued until 10 a.m. when the front wall fell into Genesee Street and the side walls collapsed into the cellar.


Chief Edward E. Gieselman spoke following the second collapse.


"Since the falling of the rest of the walls, all possible hope has been abandoned. The men are dead."


The following eight firefighters died at the scene:

• Acting Chief Thomas Dugan, of 313 Bryant Ave.
• Lt. David Lavine, of 259 Leon St. Engine 16
• Lt. Albert G. Young, of 127 Kuhl Ave. Engine 2
• Lt. Ray E. Bauder, of 128 Melbourne Ave. Engine 3
• Firefighter James E. Diamond, of 611 Ulster St. Engine 1
• Firefighter John W. Agan, of 325 Stafford Ave. Engine 1
• Firefighter Frank Kerlin, of 219 Rider Ave. Truck 6
• Firefighter M. Gregory "Mike" Dixon, of 550 Tennyson Ave. Engine 3.

Despite freezing temperatures, more than 10,000 people pushed tight against barriers in the street and onlookers watched from neighboring windows as firefighters, family members, volunteers and workers from the Department of Public Works, the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration began the search for the firefighters' bodies.

About 45 members from the American Legion were on hand to aid in the search and provide donuts and hot coffee as crews worked deep into the early morning of Feb. 4. Four of the firefighters killed and one of the injured were members of American Legion Post 41.

The families of the victims held an all-day vigil in a nearby firehouse until around midnight on Feb. 3, when, without hope of finding their loved ones alive, went home. All left except for Rosemary Dugan, the daughter of Thomas Dugan, who stayed on a cot and mourned for about 24 hours until she left around 3 a.m. on Feb. 4.




The names of the nine firefighters that lost their lives in the Collins Block fire on Feb. 3, 1939 were remembered along with others that had died in the service of their jobs in a ceremony Fayette Firefighters Park in Syracuse. Nov. 3, 2015. Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.com


It took until Feb. 5 for workers to find the firefighters' bodies in the rubble.


A fund established by the Syracuse Herald raised more than $34,000 for the victims' families, the equivalent of more than $579,000 today.



Mayor Rolland D. Marvin, who was on vacation in Florida at the time, hurried back to Syracuse as Police Chief William Rapp and District Attorney Donald Mawhinney opened their investigation of the fire.


At first, the investigation centered around the Keep restaurant, the only tenant in the building at the time. Police investigated tensions between the restaurant's owner, Ada Keep and labor union officials and whether the tensions led to the fire being intentionally set.


The Syracuse Herald reported at the time that Glenn Keep, Ada Keep's husband and president of the Syracuse Typographical Union, had interfered with restaurant employees trying to unionize.


The investigation, which also involved four experts from the New York City Fire Department, determined the fire was accidentally started by defective heating equipment.


On Feb. 6, Charles A. Boynton suffered a heart attack in his bathtub at home and died. A doctor attributed his death to exertion, excitement, shock and long hours of work since the Collins Block fire.


Fire department physician Dr. George Wright told the Syracuse Herald that Boynton had heart problems for about a year, including a heart attack about three weeks before the fire. Despite his health, Boynton kept himself on active duty.


Boynton was on the third floor of the Collins building, only inches away from where the cellar ceiling collapsed and the firefighters fell. He tried to reach for Lavine, but the lieutenant was out of reach.


A snippet from a Feb. 7, 1939 column on Boynton's death reads as followed:


"Men and woman of imagination, who can conjure up in their minds the picture of this experienced fire-fighter with his faltering health fighting to get his men out alive after the Collins Block had collapsed, then struggling for days to reach them, finally dying of an overworked, broken heart, may get just a glimpse of what heroism, devotion and self-sacrifice really mean."


In February 1939, the Scranton (Pennsylvania) Fire Department presented the Syracuse Fire Department with two carved anthracite tablets, one in honor of Boynton, the other in honor of the other eight firefighters who died.


In October 1939, the city erected a monument in Fayette Park in honor of the nine fallen firefighters. The park, which also houses the Phillip Eckel Memorial and the Hamilton White Monument, both dedicated to fallen Syracuse firefighters, was later renamed Fayette Firefighter's Memorial Park.


The Syracuse Fire Department holds a memorial service at the park each year on Feb. 3 to honor the 45 Syracuse firefighters who have died in the line of duty in the department's history.

TBT: 9 firefighters lost in the 1939 Collins Block fire

On Feb. 3, 1939, eight Syracuse firefighters lost their lives in the Collins Block fire.

www.syracuse.com

 

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