The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1898-02-10
BLAZE IN BOSTON.
Six Firemen, Including a Chief, Cap
tain and Lieutenant, Killed.
Five Others Were Badly Injured-The
Fourth Floor of the Structure Cola psed
The Work of Rescue Dinicult-The
Property Loss Is About $4,000.

Boston, Feb. 1.-THE bodies of six
fireman, among them that of District
Chief Egan, have inst been taken from
the ruins Of the Bent building, which
took fire at o'clock Saturday morn.
ing.'
The dead are: John F. Egan, district
chief; James Victory, captain engines
SO and 80; George j. Cotwald, lieuten.
ant engine 80; Patrick Disken, hose
man; John j. Mulhern, fireman; w. j.
Walsh, hoseman.
Four other firemen were buried in
the ruins, but they escaped with more
or less serious injuries. They are:
Joseph M. Garritty, captain engine z;
Thomas E. Conway, hoseman; L. L.
Doherty. hoseman; Edward Shea, hose
man. The building burned was five-
story structure on Merrimac street,
occupied by G. w. Bent & Co., manu-.
facturers of beds, bedding, etc.
The alarm was sounded at 1858 The
building was filed with infammable
materials. 1t was joined on the cast
by three-story tenement, on the west
was separated by narrow alley from
a similar structure, while in the rear
of the tenement houses, on South Mar
gin street, is narrow light-wall.
So quickly did the flames spread to
the fourth and fifth stories that within
a few minutes the three upper stories
rear and the third story front were a
seething furnace of flame and there
was no prospect that the firemen would
be able to save anything above the Sec
ond story.
The fight was made at the start by
the stairways. but soon the firemen
We're driven back by not air explosions
and q suffocating smoke. and We're
obliged to fight from the other side.
Two aerial ladders were raised on the
front. as were also several long exten-
sion ladders, while streams were car
ried through the South Margin tene-
ments. from the back windows of
which floods were poured into the fiery
furnace.
The fire was nearly under control at
the time of the accident. The men of
Engine were on the fourth floor,
and ofEngines 80 and,39 were on the sec.
ond floor when the rear section of the
roof collapsed, carrying down por-
tions of all the floors through the base
ment and burying the firemen beneath
great mass of debris. A hasty cam
vass of the members of the depart.
ment showed that ten men were miss.
ing
The first man to be taken out was
Edward Shay, who was found about
forty feet from the front of the build.
ing on the extreme end, pinned be.
tween the timber about midway be.
tween the first and second floors, hav.
ing fallen from the fifth floor. AS he
was taken out he said to those who
were removing him: Don't bother
about me. Get the other fellows that
are in there"
Capt. Clarity was found within few
feet of Shay, pinned under some heavy
timbers and was brought out in semi
conscious condition. Tom Conroy was
pinned under some timbers which held
his legs in such a manner that timbers
had to be sawed through before he
could be released. Next Phil Doherty,
Of Engine No. was taken out. He
was apparently the worst injured o1
the lot. His left leg was utterly use
less
Lieut.. Mccarthy, of Protective No. 1,
was struck in the leg by falling bricks
when the floors fell.