Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1904-11-24
TWELVE ARE DEAD
IN BROOKLYN FIRE
Two Entire Families Smothered in
Burning Tenement Buildings.
WORK OF FIREMEN HAMPERED
Frightened Italians Filled The
Streets With Their Household
Goods. and With Them Blocked
the Way of Fire Apparatus.

New York, Nov. 21.-Smothered he
fore they could reach the rear fire es-
cape in a burning tenement building
at 1S6 Troutman street, in the Will
iamsburg district of Brooklyn, u per-
sons met death shortly before two
o'clock Sunday morning.
Two entire families. those Of Ma
ranio Triolo and Charles Polognio are
wiped out, the last living member be-
ing now in a hospital, with no hope
Of their recovery. They are Charles
Polognio, 35 years old, and Tony TIi-
olo, % years, both of whom are ter
ribly burned. Although, in the opinion
of the coroner, all the dead were suf-
located, the bodies were badly burned
before they could be taken from the
ruins by the fireSoen.
The burned tenement house is in the
center Of a row of three-story tene-
ments extending the length of the
block, and was occupied by Italians.
The fire is supposed to have started
in the cellar of the grocery store of
Antonio Giambalvos, on the ground
floor. The cellar was stored with in
fammable material, and the flames
spread with lightning-like rapidity. All
the occupants were asleep at the time,
and there was considerable delay in
sending in the first alarm.
The G~iambalvos family lived in the
rear of the store, and succeeded in get
ting out of the building, but before the
occupants on the two other floors were
reused their escape had been cut of.
Before the firemen arrived, the fire
had communicated to the adjoining
tenement, but here the occupants had
sufficient warning, and all escaped.
Work of Firemen Hampered.
The work of the firemen was greatly
hampered for a time by the crowds of
frightened Italians who filled the
streets. The tenents in nearly all
the n%eighboring buildings dragged their
household goods out of the buildings,
and with them blocked the way of the
fire apparatus.
All the bodies were found in the rear
room of the third floor, and it was evil
dent that all had been ~suffocated i'll
their effort to reach the fire escape at
the back of the building. The two who
were rescued were found in tina lower
hallway soon after the tiremen reached
the scene. Working their way through
the building the rescuers discovered
the heap of dead on the third fooor,
and within a short time succeeded Ia
taking out nine bodies, but the last
was not found until after eight O'Clock
Sunday morning. In his intervals OF
consciousness, Polognio cries for lis
wife and children, but the physicians
fear the knowledge of their death
would kill him, and have not told him
of their fate.
In their investigation as to the org
in of the fire, the police have been I'M
able to obtain a statement of any kind
from neighboring tenents. The
street about the burned building has
been crowded with Italians all day, b'it
the police report that everyone ques-
toned regarding the persons burned or
the occupants of the building, has re-
fused to make any answer. 1t was
with great difficulty that wen the
names of the victims could he OBJ
tanned.