Boston Collapse Kills Five Fire Fighter
Based on official information provided by the Boston Fire Department
ITS WORST TRAGEDY in 22 years struck the Boston Fire Department on October 1, 1964, when five fire fighters were killed and 13 others injured in a fire and collapse that destroyed an occupied warehouse at 36 Trumbull Street, South End.
The fire which had apparently burned for some time was discovered shortly after midnight when the first alarm was sounded, starting three engines and two trucks to the scene. Lieutenant John Campbell of Ladder 3 which was first on the scene radioed a “working fire” at 12:36 a.m., and in conformance with prearranged response pattern another engine and rescue company were dispatched. Chiel J. McCarthy of District 4 arrived shortly after and sent out a second alarm. By this time the fire which had originated on the second floor had complete possession of this floor and had extended to portions of the first.
Size and area
Constructed in 1888, the building was four-story brick and joist, covered with a tar and gravel roof. It measured 30 by 30 feet in area and was joined to a similar building on West Brookline Street—at the rear—by a one-story extension that made for a clear floor space of 90 feet on the first floor. The second and third floors were partitioned off, but the fourth was completely open. Although unoccupied, the building contained a fairly high floor loading of Class A combustibles such as corrugated cartons, some Chiss B flammables, and discarded trash usual to occupancies being used or having been used as merchandising warehouses.
A fire escape from which the cantilever ladder had previously been removed was secured to the face of the building with balconies on the second and third floors and a 3-foot-by-3-foot platform on the fourth, all connected by metal stairs. At the right side of the building there was a freight door that opened on to another door leading to a wooden stair and the upper floors.
The collapse
Ladder Companies 3 and 13 forced doors leading into the first floor and stairwell and attempted to make the second floor, but were held down by the intense heat and smoke. Others hit the fire from sides and rear.
By this time Deputy Chief Clauss was in command of the Fire. He sent out a third alarm at 12:42 a.m. and ordered all men out of the building. With the structure fully involved except for the first floor he sent out a fourth at 12:45 a.m.
Truck companies had meanwhile raised an aerial to the roof of a fourstory building adjoining at the right; a 35-foot extention to the roof of the two-storv building on the left; two 35’s to the third floor of the fire building— to the balcony, and to window; and a 25-foot ladder to a second-floor window at the left of the fire escape.
While other companies attacked the fire from sides and rear, members of Engines 3 and 24 stretched lines up the 35-foot ladders placed on the fire building. Other units were busy in the narrow street (12 feet) that fronted the fire building, dogging ladders and stretching lines. Chief Clauss was also in this group on the street where he had set up a command post.
Lines hitting at the fire had darkened it down somewhat and smoke and steam shrouded the building. Only the lower portions stood out clearly. Suddenly, the top floor wall pulled out and an avalanche of brick and mortar plunged down, sweeping fire fighters off ladders and burying them and the men in the street in a pile ol debris. Chief Clauss was knocked to the ground and covered with bricks. Even though stunned, he managed to order a fifth alarm.
Other fire fighters on the perimeter of the collapse managed to pull out some of the men covered in the ruins and drag them to safety. Fortunately, they were out of the path of destruction when a second collapse carried the fire escape balconies and tons of brick into the narrow street.
When the scene cleared, a 35-foot ladder still stood against the wall at the third-floor window, with a badly injured fire fighter, Private Enrici of Engine 24, clinging to the top. He slid down the beams, jumped to the pile of debris and clawed his way to safety. Five other men lay dead in the ruins: Lieutenant John J. Geswell, Ladder 4; Lieutenant John J. McCorkle, Engine 24; Private Robert Clougherty. Engine 3; Private Francis L. Murphy, Engine 24; and Private James D. Sheedy, Ladder 4.
The jagged upper portions of the front wall still hung threateningly over the victims and rescue operations proceeded more cautiously under the command of Acting Chief John E. Clougherty who had reported to the scene almost simultaneously with the collapse. Chief Clougherty regrouped his forces and when all the victims of the collapse had been removed, he made the area tenable by using an aerial to knock down the precariously hanging walls. Soon after this, the fire began to appreciably darken down. The chief then turned over command to a subordinate, drove to Boston City Hospital for the grim task of identifying a victim of the tragedy, his son. Robert Clougherty of Engine 3.
A study of the building after the fire brought out two unusual construction features that led to the collapse. The brick side walls consisted of three courses, with the two outer courses bonded together in the usual way. The third (inside) course was separated from the others by a 4-inch space and bonded to them by other bricks at right angles, every 10 courses. Front and back carried this construction only to the second floor.
The second unusual feature was the construction of the floor and roof beams which ran parallel to the sides of the building instead of the usual perpendicular placement. Because of their long span (30 feet) they were braced in the middle by a heavy timber (8 inches by 8 inches) that in turn was supported by the single course of brick on the side walls.
A heavy steel I-beam was attached to the beams and rigged as a track for a hoist that extended through the front wall. Investigators believe that this Ibeam failed first under the effects of the fire and dropped to the floor, causing a portion of the front wall to collapse. This first collapse was followed in about two minutes by the second collapse caused by failure of the 8inch-by-8-inch wooden girder forming the center support.
Two youths who had been observed playing in the unoccupied warehouse earlier in the evening were taken into custody, questioned, and brought into juvenile court, where they were adjudged delinquent.
