Latest news with #TheGreatMemorialDayFireof1945andOtherSchuylkillCountyDisasters
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Yahoo
Fire historians' new book recounts major Schuylkill County disasters
POTTSVILLE — At 2 a.m. on June 15, 1926, several cars stopped in front of the rectory at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Mahanoy Plane. Exiting the cars, several men placed containers on the rectory porch. Then, someone hurled a burning ball of cotton onto the porch, triggering an explosion. 'The beautiful three-story Victorian rectory was a massive ball of fire,' Michael R. Glore and Michael J. Kitsock report in their new book, 'The Great Memorial Day Fire of 1945 and Other Schuylkill County Disasters.' The backstory of what led to the firebombing is why the authors chose the incident as the book's first chapter, 'Divinity and Justice.' At the height of the Prohibition era, Rev. Patrick J. Fleming railed from the pulpit against the Tilly Billy roadhouse, an infamous speakeasy and brothel. He led a protest in front of it the day before the bombing. Father Fleming escaped the rectory inferno in what appeared to be an assassination attempt, and the brothel owner and co-conspirators were eventually arrested due to what might be termed divine intervention. Their car stalled after the firebombing, and they escaped on foot. Clues in the car, including a revolver and business cards from Frank Fotte's Restaurant in Shenandoah, led to their eventual arrest and conviction. At a recent book signing in the Schuylkill County Historical Society, the authors recounted some of the devastating fires in the county over a century or so. * Fire originating in the Oppenheimer Building threatens the entire block on South Main Street in the Borough. Fire apparatus from Pottsville, including the Good Intent Fire Company Oren pumper and the West End Hose Company Seagrave aerial ladder truck, operate on scene that December day. Note the Bangor Ladder with the tell-tale tormentor poles raised to the exposure building in the photo. (GLORE COLLECTION) * The Liberty Fire Company of Schuylkill Haven operates the company's 1927 Hahn pumper at a fire hydrant on Berne Street during the fire. (SCHUYLKILL COUNTY HISTORICAL FIRE SOCIETY COLLECTION) Show Caption 1 of 2 Fire originating in the Oppenheimer Building threatens the entire block on South Main Street in the Borough. Fire apparatus from Pottsville, including the Good Intent Fire Company Oren pumper and the West End Hose Company Seagrave aerial ladder truck, operate on scene that December day. Note the Bangor Ladder with the tell-tale tormentor poles raised to the exposure building in the photo. (GLORE COLLECTION) Expand Aside from documenting the tragic loss of life and property, the book documents the danger faced by firefighters responding to fires, explosions and airline crashes. 'We need to be proud of the rich heritage of volunteer firefighters in the county,' insisted Kitsock, instructor emeritus of the Pennsylvania State Fire Academy and president of the Schuylkill Historic Fire Society. 'Many lives and much property have been saved due to their dedication.' Glore, a Pottsville resident who's Reading's first deputy fire chief, said Schuylkill County is no stranger to disaster. One of the most spectacular, an inferno that consumed 67 buildings in Mahanoy City on Memorial Day 1945, is reflected in the book's title. With many young men in the armed services, World War II was a challenging time for volunteer fire companies. When fire erupted on May 31, 1945, it couldn't have happened at a worse time. Quickly spreading in the downtown business district, the fire consumed homes and businesses, including the landmark Guinan Department Store. When the smoke cleared, 67 structures had burned, 38 families had lost their homes and 200 residents were left homeless. An arsonist confessed and was convicted, sentenced to Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, where he died in 1973. Firefighters faced a lack of water while battling a fire at the Lyric Theater in New Philadelphia on Dec. 15, 1949. Firemen desperately wait for water as flames roar from the Lyric Theater in New Philadelphia. Note the hose line stretched over the porch roof of the property to the right as well as the utility wires burning in front of the theater. (SCHUYLKILL COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY) 'With no water available, the fire quickly turned into a raging inferno,' the authors wrote. 'High-voltage power lines severed by the fire dropped onto the Reading Railroad tracks, electrifying them and raising peril.' When a Reading Railroad locomotive T-boned a truck carrying 4,000 gallons of highly volatile gasoline near her home in Port Carbon on Sept. 20, 1940, Mrs. G. Paul Starr nearby grabbed a telephone and shouted, 'My God, get me the fire department.' The truck driver died, the engineer and three trainmen were injured. Three persons in the train's mailcar got out alive. Aside from $300,000 of damage inflicted by the fire, it was feared that cash in a safe on the mailcar headed for banks in Girardville and Trevorton would be lost. When railroad officials opened the safe, they found the cash intact, though singed by the intense heat. June 2, 1959, was, the authors say, a 'Day of Infamy' in the annals of Schuylkill County firefighting. When a tractor-trailer skidded into a tanker loaded with 7,000 gallons of propane, 12 died and 11 were injured in the ensuing conflagration near Deer Lake. 'Known today as a BLEVE, or boiling liquid escaping vapor explosion, the blast tore the tank off its frame and launched it, like a rocket, off the stone wall near the Red Church,' the authors wrote. Windows were shattered a mile away in Orwigsburg, and utility poles were snapped like toothpicks. Dr. Wagner, an Orwigsburg physician, described the aftermath as a wartime battlefield. Previous books by Kitsock and Glore include 'Pottsville Firefighting,' 'Reading Firefighting' and 'Schuylkill County Firefighting.' Published by The History Press, 'The Great Memorial Day Fire of 1945 and Other Schuylkill County Disasters' is available for $24.99 at the Schuylkill County Historical Society and online at Book signings are scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. April 28 in the Schuylkill Historical Fire Society Museum, 105 Jardin St., Shenandoah; and 1 to 4 p.m. May 31 in the Pottsville Free Public Library.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Irish emigrees formed first fire companies in Schuylkill
POTTSVILLE — Given the oppressive conditions under which they lived and worked, it's hard to imagine how 19th Century Irish immigrants had time to volunteer as firefighters. Yet they did, according to firefighting historians Michael J. Kitsock and Michael R. Glore. In 'Irish Firefighting Heritage of Schuylkill County,' they showed that immigrants from the old sod played a crucial role in forming some of the county's earliest fire companies. The logo on this Phoenix Fire Co. No. 2, Shenandoah, fire truck features the flags of America and Ireland. RON DEVLIN/STAFF PHOTO The social hall at Humane Fire Company No. 1 in Pottsville was filled to capacity recently when Kitsock and Glore presented an hour-long slide show focusing on Irish firefighting heritage. Sponsored by the Schuylkill County Historical Society, the event was held in Humane in anticipation of a large turnout. Kitsock and Glore, authors of several books on firefighting, moderated the presentation. Their work includes 'Pottsville Firefighting' and 'Reading Firefighting.' Their newest book, 'The Great Memorial Day Fire of 1945 and Other Schuylkill County Disasters,' was published last month. Between 1820 and 1860, one in three immigrants to America were from Ireland. Following the Great Potato Famine in Ireland from 1845 to 1852, an estimated 500,000 Irish emigrated to America. In all, by 1875 some 6 million Irish settled in the U.S. An estimated 500,000 people emigrated from Ireland to America after the potato famine of 1845. The migration from Ireland coincided with the rise of anthracite coal, and many came to Schuylkill County to work in the mines. It's said that Irish miners went to work when it was dark, worked all day in the dark and emerged from underground when it was dark. Kitsock borrowed a line from Tennessee Ernie Ford's 'Sixteen Tons' to illustrate the plight of Irish miners: 'St. Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go, I owe my soul to the company store.' The Schuylkill Hydraulians in Pottsville, now Phoenix Hook & Ladder, was the first 'Irish' fire company in Schuylkill County, the authors' research showed. It was founded in 1829, the same year D. G. Yuengling founded the Eagle Brewery in Pottsville. It celebrates its 196th anniversary this year. Irish firefighters had a hand in the formation of Humane Steam Fire Company No 1, Mahanoy City, in 1867. A Gaelic inscription on its logo, a 4-leaf clover, reads 'Na Eireannach At Sabhail,' roughly translated 'The Irish are Safe.' The Independent Hose Company in Minersville, formed in 1869; and Citizens' Fire Company, Palo Alto, formed in 1884, both had Irish roots. A crew from Phoenix Fire Company No. 2, Shenandoah, arrived for the presentation in, naturally, a green firetruck. A plaque in its firehouse honoring World War II veterans, painted by Leo Ploppert, has numerous Irish surnames like Brennan, O'Brien and McDonald. Phoenix No 2 was founded in 1885, the same year a devastating fire swept through 400 homes in a mostly Irish neighborhood in Shenandoah. Irish surnames are common on a plaque in Phoenix Fire Co. No. 2, Shenandoah. Other fire companies with a hint of green in their ancestry included Rescue Hook & Ladder, Saint Clair; East End Fire Company, Tamaqua; Clover Hose Company, Hecksherville, and Rangers Hose Company, Girardville. Joseph Wayne, a lifelong member of Rangers Hose, said the presentation was a fitting tribute to Irish firefighting heritage. Proprietor of the Hibernian House, Wayne is a great-grandson of John 'Black Jack' Kehoe, alleged leader of the Molly Maguires. Wayne served as president of Ancient Order of Hibernians John Kehoe Division No. 1 in Girardville. 'My first cousin, Jackie McDonald, was fire chief at Rangers,' he said. 'It's a well-run fire company.' Kitsock, president of the Schuylkill Historical Fire Society, said Irish immigrants had to struggle to gain acceptance in their adopted country. 'They had to prove themselves,' he said. 'Their mettle enabled them to do the hardest jobs, and devote time to forming fire companies and fighting fires.'
