NEW YORK, NY: MAY 2, 1915 – Members of Engine 31 narrowly escaped being crushed to death when three floors of the four-story loft building at 3 Howards St. collapsed during an early morning fire. Deputy Chief Langford sensed danger and ordered everyone from the building just before the crash. A second alarm sent Rescue 1 and Deputy Chief Smoky Joe Martin to the scene. A roll call showed all men accounted for. The building was being used as a rag shop on the lower floors, and heavy machinery was in place on the upper floors. The department switched to an outside operation that at times filled the street with a 1-foot-deep river of run-off water.
CAMDEN, NJ: MAY 3, 1915 – Firemen faced a difficult blaze in the Michling Brothers Manufacturing Company’s plant on Line Street. The company, makers of chemical sodas and phosphates, lost their entire stock and both their main factory and the storehouse building.
MINEOLA, NY: MAY 8, 1915 – The large general store of Frederick Unser was wrecked by an early morning fire. During their secondary searches and overhauling, firemen found a dark lantern. When asked, Mr. Unser stated he had no such items in stock. This led investigators to believe the fire may have been caused by burglars who accidently set fire to the store. This store, one of the largest general stores on Long Island, was robbed a year earlier. The fire caused $20,000 in damages.
ENGLAND: MAY 10, 1915 – Imperial German Zeppelins dropped more than 60 fire bombs on the seaside resort towns of Westcliff-on-Sea and South Enud. Most of the bombs fell through the heavy clouds and landed harmlessly on the beaches, but several struck homes, igniting them. The fire brigades responded to the early morning blazes and found several civilians seriously burned by fires caused by the incendiary devices. A British plane gave chase to the fleeing airship, driving it out to sea.
CAMDEN, NY: MAY 11, 1915 – Ten minutes after an audience of 600 people had left the Broadway Theatre, a fire started in a dressing room under the stage and spread through the building. One actress, Miss May Walker, was overcome by smoke and rescued by firefighters. A nearby movie theatre filled with people was able to evacuate without incident when the management simply flashed “Good Night” on the screen.
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA: MAY 13, 1915 – Violent anti-German demonstrations in response to the sinking of the Lusitania by German a submarine caused the fiery destruction of numerous German-owned businesses. Crowds of methodical rioters caused the destruction of more than 50 buildings, including 10 warehouses, 10 saloons, 3 hotels and more than 20 shops. The mobs then burned all the books, records and papers of various companies, and made huge bonfires of furniture and other flammables. One large store and a German Club were also set ablaze. Responding firemen were faced with numerous fires in all directions.
NEWARK, NJ: MAY 14, 1915 – While battling a huge fire in a tannery on Weston Avenue, a wall collapsed, trapping firemen who had been operating a hoseline near the rear of the plant. Tons of bricks and blazing timbers covered the men and made their rescue and removal extremely dangerous. Killed in the collapse was Lt. William Flood of Engine Company 6. Two others, Deputy Chief Matthew McDermitt and Fireman John Stuetz, were rushed to City Hospital.
PEEKSKILL, NY: MAY 24, 1915 – An early morning fire destroyed the Raleigh Hotel and took the lives of two guests sleeping inside. One of the dead was a European refugee seeking work in America after being displaced by the war. The other was a young boy who operated the elevator in the hotel. The heavy smoke apparently overcame both while they slept.
SOUTH ORANGE, NY: MAY 25, 1915 – While priests and members of the faculty were on their annual retreat at the seminary of the Immaculate Conception, a fire broke out near the roof of the Seton Hall College auditorium. The seminarians ran for fire extinguishers, ladders and stretched a hose. One priest scaled a ladder with the hose and soon had a stream directed on the fire. The arriving firemen were greeted by the 400 students, teachers and clergy and shown to the now extinguished fire.
