Fire Flashback: House Fires Battled, March, 1993

From The Daily News
by Robin Minor

Bowling Green firefighters spent the early morning hours today battling two blazes and searching for the occupant of one house who was feared trapped inside but later turned up at a relative's house. Firefighters were called at 11:30 p.m. Sunday to a fire at 318 W. Main St. when neighbors saw flames shooting out of the windows. By the time firefighters arrived, the house was fully engulfed, according to Bowling Green Fire Department Capt. Edward Moss.

"The initial report we got was that hte occupant was still in the rear of the home," said Capt. Alva May, who also was on the scene, "After we got the fire in the rear under control, we spent 45 minutes searching for the occupant."

Before firefighters arrived, a neighbor was burned while entering the house in an attempt to rescue occupant Wayne Lemmons, who was thought to be home at the time. Lemmons was found later at a relatives home, he said. The neighbor was sent to the Medical Center for treatment. His name and condition were unknown to firefighters and police.

The heat from the fire was so intense that houses on both sides of the building were damaged, May said. The house, owned by Chris Blevins and Paul Mc Farland, was destroyed. Its value was estimated at $30,000.  A house at 314 Main St. sustained about $10,000 damage to its exterior and a house at 320 W. Main St. sustained about $2,000 damage according to reports.

"It is unknown where or how the fire started. We were waiting for daylight before we went back in and looked around," May said.

Eighteen firefighters and seven units were needed to control the intense blaze. A few firefighters remained on the scene until 6 a.m., but most reported back to the station about 3 a.m., just in time to get the call for a fire at 1106 Adams St., May said. Fifteen firefighters and six units were sent to the fire on Adams St.

"We had to send equipment from one fire to the other," Moss said.

The homes occupant, Denzil Ledbetter, was awakened by a smoke detector.

"He suffered from smoke inhalation but refused treatment," May said.

The fire apparantly started in the center of the basement ceiling. It is unknown what caused the fire, but the report noted that Ledbetter had been using paint in the hosue Sunday. It is estimated that about $15,000 in damage occurred to the house, which is owned by Junior Loafman. Firefighters spent two hours at the Adams St. fire.

Local Notables, Floyd Collins

In 1925, Floyd Collins, one of the world’s premier cavers, met a tragic and bizarre end in part of what is now known to be Mammoth Cave. Collins, determined to find a “show” cave as a source of family income, had signed a contract in the middle of January with a man named Doyle and another man named Ed Estes to explore a rock overhang called Sand Cave on Doyle’s farm. Doyle and Estes agreed to give Floyd half rights to anything he found there. There was a story that men who worked for Mammoth Cave had once dynamited the overhang. The day before Floyd went down, he showed Estes a skull he’d found in a cave and then gave it to Estes’ son, Jewell. He said he was afraid of not coming out alive. His fears were well founded.

Floyd Collins examines fossil remains in Great Crystal Cave, several years prior to being trapped in Sand Cave. From commercial postcard.

On Friday, January 30, he went into the cave. He crawled down into the dark, on his belly, into a narrow passage. He slid fifteen feet straight down, then twisted through a hundred feet of loops that sloped at 30 degrees. He dropped straight for eight feet and then crawled for fifty feet more between loose rock walls until he reached a small cavern. He lay on his belly, looking down into a fifty-foot pit, twenty-five feet long and ten feet wide.

He went down into it, looking for a passage, but it was closed. He scaled the walls and headed back the way he had come. He kicked a rock that knocked some stones that started a slide that trapped him. He was caught a hundred and twenty five feet deep in the ground, in a space eight inches high and twelve feet long. The temperature was 16 degrees. He was facing up in the direction from which he’d come, but there was a seven-ton boulder on his left foot. He lay in mud and black night, with water dripping on his head.

Considering Floyd Collins’ experience and reputation as a caver, it is astonishing that he broke what are considered today cardinal rules of safe exploration:

1) Went exploring alone.
2) Had only one light source.
3) Was poorly clothed.
4) Had no helmet or hard hat.
5) Did not tell anybody where he was going or when he would be back.

Relatives eventually noticed that he was missing, and a quick check in Sand Cave confirmed the worst. The rescue effort that ensued quickly turned into a publicity carnival. It lasted for 18 days and captured the interest of the whole nation through the relatively new medium of radio.

Rescuers tried everything—digging and hacking at the passageway, sinking a new shaft, feeding Collins to keep up his energy, and sending down reporter Skeets Miller to chronicle the drama. At one point, rescuers even considered amputation. Nothing worked. Eventually, a passage just above Collins collapsed, cutting him off from aid. Fifteen days after being trapped, Floyd Collins pushed his last crawl.

The authorities decided it was too dangerous to remove the body and left it in the cave. Eventually, his body was put in a glass-topped coffin in Crystal Cave where cavers from around the world paid their respects to him for many years. Then in the most dramatic and grotesque twist to the story, his body was stolen—and later found in a nearby field missing a leg. After this incident his body was placed in a chained casket.

Eventually, the National Park Service absorbed Crystal Cave and closed it to the public. In 1989, Collins was properly buried in Mammoth Cave Baptist Church Cemetery on Flint Ridge. Today Floyd Collins’ final resting place has an extraordinary array of tokens on it — coins, sunflower seeds, stones, and other objects left by cave explorers and others for whom Floyd Collins was, and is, a legendary symbol.

From: http://www.appalachianhistory.net/2010/01/trapped-in-cave-bizarre-floyd-collins.html

Fire Flashback: Downtown Fires Have Investigators Attention

From The Daily News
2/14/98

Although investigators have not found any evidence to link three recent fires on West Main Avenue, the blazes share enough unusual circumstances to "give us some concern," Bowling Green Fire Chief Gerry Brown said. "We're always looking for patterns," Brown said, "That there have been three fires causing substantial damage in four months that were basically within two blocks of each other, and they all started in the middle of the day, is unusual. "We want to know what's going on."

The cause of Wednesday's blaze at 605 W. Main Ave. still is under investigation. The home, owned by Bill Miller and rented by Joyce DeWalt, was destroyed, but no one was injured.

"When people hear a fire is being investigated, they just assume it's arson, but that's not the case," Brown said. "It may or may not be; we haven't made that determination yet."

A fire at 326 W. Main Ave. on Oct. 16th and one at 329 W. Main Ave., on Jan. 5 both were ruled arson, Brown said. Shaun Alvey of Bowling Green and a juvenile were arrested in connection with the first fire, but firefighters are still seeking information about teh second. Both houses were destroyed but no one was injured. Paul McFarland and Chris Blevins own the home at 326 W. Main Ave. and Blevins owns the home at 329 W. Main Ave., Brown said.

"We don't read anything into that at all," Brown said. "That a person would own more than one property in an area is not unusual."

Fire Flashback: First Baptist Church, October, 1991

From The Daily News
by Stan Regan

Arson is being considered in a Monday afternoon fire that destroyed the 78 year old sanctuary of First Baptist Church at 12th Avenue and Chestnut Street. Damage to the building, which was gutted by the fire, is estimated at $2 million  to $3 million. Black, yellow and white smoke bellowed out of the dome and roof top outside while hundreds of church members and onlookers gathered on the streets below.

"I don't see why it had to be this church," said Kevin Bradshaw of 1425 Park St., a church neighbor.

Melted lead poured from between stained glass panes illuminated by the neon orange and yellow flames inside while members of the church, including it's pastor, watched the roof collapse into the sanctuary and send cinders, soot and debris flying into the air. One of two building annexes also was damaged by smoke and water, according to Assistant Bowling Green Fire Inspector Richard Storey.  A complete assessment of the damage, including an arson survey, will not begin until the brick and stone facade of the historic 1913 building is safe to enter, he said. That might occur today.

"As far as any arson, there is none that I know of yet," Storey said, "We don't know about the walls collapsing, and nobody's going in there till it's safe."

Little remains of the Roman Revival structure except its native limestone and brick facade. The sanctuary once provided seating for 1,475 people in a setting of wood paneling, stained glass pictorals and huge ceiling dome. What remains today are smoldering embers and memories of the fire that broke out about 3 p.m. Monday.

All three shifts and all but one unit of the Bowling Green Fire Department responded to the fire, leaving Warren County volunteer fire departments to cover possible fires elsewhere and outside the city limits, Assistant Fire Chief Harold Pearson said. Two firefighters suffered minor injuries and were treated at the scene. Utility companies responded to cut off natural gas and electricity to the church. Several nearby homes and businesses were effected by the power outage.

Seventy-five firefighters were aided briefly by students from Western Kentucky University, who helped extend hoses and later remove furniture from two adjoining church annexes, Pearson said. Rick Brock, building superintendant, found the fire on the second floor of the sanctuar, near the baptistry and dressing rooms. Brock tried to contain the blaze but was almost overcome by smoke, he said.

"I shot three fire extinguishers on it and couldn't do any good," Brock said.

Sherry White, a church computer operator, called the 911 emergency number after Brock ran in telling of the fire. Fire alarms were sounded throughout the building. Marilyn Williams, manager of the church run day care, evacuated 116 children ranging from infants to 6-year-olds after Ms. White made an intercom announcement.

"We have fire drills every month, sometimes even twice a month," Ms. Williams said, "I didn't know if it was real or not, but to be safe I began evacuation. We had the last child out in 4 1/2 minutes."

The children were removed to a parking lot and then taken to the church's nearby International House. Firefighters were on the scene within three minutes of receiving Ms. White's call, according to Assistant Fire Chief Randall Gann, who was the shift commander.

"When we arrived, the fire had progressed through a false ceiling below the attic area," he said. "The ceiling area was so high that we couldn't get water in it.

"The ceiling had begun to fall and we had to pull the men back," Gann said. "After 15 minutes, we had to pull all the men out."

City Building Inspector Ron Tabor said he attended the church for 26 years and remembered playing in its attic as a child.

"It was a metal frame structure with wood that was like kindling," he said.

"It's sad," said Ella Willoughby, member since 1943. "People have worked hard on that church ever since its been built," she said.

David Wiseman, also a member, reacted likewise.

"This is just a building that cannot be replaced," he said. "It's a landmark."

However, the Rev. Richard W. Bridges sadi the church has a future.

"I'm really not worried about it," Bridges said. Leveling his finger at the flaming sturcture, he said, "That is a building and that's all it is. A building is not a church; its members are the church. As far as i see it, we've lost a historic building but buildings can be rebuilt." Bridges said.

The church has an $8.8 million insurance policy on the entire church complex, he said. Arson was suspected in fires set at the church about two years ago, but the person suspected was not a parishoner, he said.

Ben Franklin, Firefighter

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. - Ben Franklin

19th Century portrait of Ben Franklin in Fire Uniform

On a visit to Boston, Benjamin Franklin noted that the inhabitants of his native city were far better prepared to fight fires than the natives of his adopted city, Philadelphia. Upon returning home, he consulted the Junto, a benevolent group dedicated to civic and self-improvement, and asked for their suggestions on better ways to combat fires.

Franklin also sought to raise public awareness about the city's dire need to improve fire-fighting techniques. In a Pennsylvania Gazette article of 1733 Franklin noted how fires were being fought in Philadelphia. "Soon after it [a fire] is seen and cry'd out, the Place is crowded by active Men of different Ages, Professions and Titles who, as of one Mind and Rank, apply themselves with all Vigilance and Resolution, according to their Abilities, to the hard Work of conquering the increasing fire."

Goodwill and amateur firefighters were not enough, though. Franklin suggested a "Club or Society of active Men belonging to each Fire Engine; whose Business is to attend all Fires with it whenever they happen."

For the February 4, 1735 issue of The Pennsylvania Gazette, Franklin sent an anonymous letter to his own newspaper entitled Protection of Towns from Fire. Writing as an "old citizen" he admonished:

In the first Place, as an Ounce of Prevention is worth a Pound of Cure, I would advise 'em to take care how they suffer living Coals in a full Shovel, to be carried out of one Room into another, or up or down Stairs, unless in a Warmingpan shut; for Scraps of Fire may fall into Chinks and make no Appearance until Midnight; when your Stairs being in Flames, you may be forced, (as I once was) to leap out of your Windows, and hazard your Necks to avoid being oven-roasted.

He further urged that chimney sweeps should be licensed by the city and be held responsible for their work. He noted that a neighboring city (Boston), "a club or society of active men belonging to each fie engine, whose business is to attend all fires with it whenever they happen." He noted that via practice and regular meetings, the firefighters' skills improved.

Under Franklin's goading, a group of thirty men came together to form the Union Fire Company on December 7, 1736. Their equipment included "leather buckets, with strong bags and baskets (for packing and transporting goods), which were to be brought to every fire. The blaze battlers met monthly to talk about fire prevention and fire-fighting methods. Homeowners were mandated to have leather fire-fighting buckets in their houses.

Other men were desirous of joining the Union, but were urged to form their own companies so the city would be better protected.  Within a short span of time, Philadelphians witnessed the birth of the Heart-in-Hand, the Britannia, the Fellowship, as well as several other fire companies. Thanks to the matchless leadership of Benjamin Franklin, the dire fear of fires expired in Philadelphia which became one of safest city's in the world in terms of fire damage.

From http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/philadelphia/fire.htm

A Colonial Fire Timeline

Scene at a fire, 1730, New York City Fire Department

1608 - Fire devestates the Colony at Jamestown, Va, destroying most of the colonists lodgings and provisions.

1613 - Fire destroys 'The Tiger' the remaining ship of Dutch settlers in New Amsterdam, leaving them isolated for a year until they could construct a new ship.

1623 - Fire sweeps through the town of Plymoth, Massachusets three years after settlement, destroying nearly all provisions and at least seven dwellings.

1628 - First dwelling fire on the island that is to become Manhattan, Governor Peter Stuyvesant establishes the first fire prevention and building code and ultimately the first volunteer fire department.

1638 - The first law relating to arson enacted in Maryland.

1653 - First fire deaths recorded in Boston.

1676 and 1679 - Fires destroy major portions of Boston.

1700, 1740 and 1778 - Charleston, South Carolina nearly wiped out by fire.

1770 - Boston Massacre begins with the ringing of a fire bell.

1775 - Fire is used in Revoloutionary Tea Parties in Boston and Providence, Rhode Island.

1775 - British set fire to 400 dwellings in Charlestown before marching on Bunker Hill.

1776 - Residents of New York enrage the British by starting and aid in a conflagration that destroyes more than 400 dwellings.

1787 - Fires sweep through a large portion of Richmond, Virginia.

1798 - General Assembly of Kentucky enacts a law allowing formation of five fire companies in Louisville.


300th Anniversary Stamp Honoring Volunteer Firemen, USPS



Fire Flashback: 70 Firefighters Battle Blaze, June 21, 1992

Bowling Green in 1912, when CDS Drug Store was opened.

From the Daily News:
by Stan Regan

Explosions and fire that erupted in downtown Bowling Green early Saturday afternoon were brought under control after up to 70 firefighters battled the conflagration for nearly three hours. The fire damaged a section of one of the city's oldest businesses, CDS No. 1 Drug Store. It had been in business since 1912.

CDS Home Care-Surgical Supply warehouse, which occupied the three-story Charles Building at 407 Park Row, was in flames after something inside the buildign exploded near it's second floor or roof just before 2 p.m. according to city police. The CDS warehouse, which adjoins CDS No. 1 Drug Store at 401 Park Row2, is the former location of Charles Department Store adn the National Store. There apparantly were no serious injuries.

The fire was under control by 4:30 p.m. according to Bowling Green Fire Chief Vindell Webster, but firefighters remained on the scene controlling residual smoke. Webster said the cause of fire is unknown. There was no immediate estimate of damages.

The law office of Jeffrey R. O'Grody at 408 E. 10th Ave., was extensively damaged. The roof of that buildign collapsed after a section of the warehouse fell on it. Firefighters sprayed water into O'Grody's office to prevent the fire from spreading. Businesses in the rest of the block, which lies between State adn College streets, were evacuated, and employees and by-standers hastened to remove records, furniture and other valuables from their businesses.

A WKRN-TV Channel 2 news crew from Nashville was working on an unrelated story and taping part of its report across the street from a warehouse in Fountain Square Park when the explosion occurred.

"There was a loud, clanging sound, like metal pipes falling," said Rodney King, a WKRN videographer, "I thought there had been some kind of construction accident nearby. I turned around and then heard the explosion. It blew out the front window of the building and glass and metal were flying everywhere."

"Everybody heard a loud boom," said Lori Boone, owner of Some Wear in Time consignment boutique at 415 Park Row. Ms. Boone's store is two doors from the warehouse.

"I got my employees and customers out of the store," she said. "We saw black smoke billowing up from there as we came out, and then we heard another explosion."

Ms. Boone said flames then could be seen coming from a window of the warehouse.

Mary Strode of Bowling Green was buying a Father's Day card in CDS No. 1 when an explosion occurred.

"I heard glass flying, and it sounded like an atomic bomb," she said. "It shot glass clear out there in the road."

Mrs. Strode also was a former employee of the National Store, a business that had occupied the destroyed warehouse buildign. People in the drug store were also evacuated when the fire erupted, according to webster.

The owner of the CDS buildings, David C. Hancock, said all the medical equipment - including that stored in the warehouse and on the second floor of the buildings - would be lost to fire or smoke.

"Life goes on. No one was hurt. I've been very lucky," Hancock said.

Hancock said the buildings and their contents - which included such medical supplies as wheelchairs and seat lift chairs - were insured.

"I was in there a few minutes to 1 (p.m.) and there were absolutely no problems. I know of no reason why it would start," Hancock said. Hancock declined to estimate damages.

Firefighters from three Warren County volunteer fire departments - Alvaton, Richardsville and Plano - were called in to fight the blaze, and a ladder truck from Scottsville raced 25 miles to the scene, according to Bowling Green police Sgt. Mari Harris.

"They've had more than 70 fire personnel on the scene," Sgt. Harris said, "They had been trying to contain the fire to that area."

Firefighters fought to contain the fire on Park Row, according to Webster.

"That's our top priority," he said.

The fire occurred on Bowling Green's Fountain Square in teh heart of the city's downtown district. City fire and police personnel blocked most of the downtown area adjacent to the fire.  No one was injured in the blast that started the fire. However, some firefighters sufferred minor injuries and were treated at the scene for cuts and heat exhaustion, according to Sgt. Harris.

Extra police were called in to assist and were expected to remain on the scene with fire personnel throughout the night, Sgt. Harris said.