The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1917-04-19
TROY FlREMEN KILLED
Three Buried Under Falling Walls
Following Explosion.

Fire which started Tuesday nigh
and which destroyed the store of The
| Mohican Company at 365 River St, IL
| Troy not only caused property damage
estimated at $4,000, but resulted IN
! the loss of three lives and injury tc
ten firemen Battalion Chief William
Bailey, jr., who had been prominent
figure in local tiremanic circles since a
boy, was one of those killed. John T.
Hoar. ladderman at Truck and a
son of former Police Sergeant Thomas
/. F. Hoar and Albert DeCourtville were
also killed Ten other firemen receiv-
ed injuries or suffered from shock
/ The explosion OF an ammonia tar In
the cellar of the building caused the
structure to collapse. Battalion Chief
Bailey was descending, ladder in
the front of the building and was
buried beneath the falling walls.
Hoar and De Couryille were on the
sidewalk and were also caught under
the avalanche OF bricks
Capt William J. Cunningham of
Truck and Capt Cornelius A. Casey
of the Read Steamer Company were
on the roof OF the building at the time
and their escape from death is con
sidered miraculous. They went down
four stories with the falling walls, but
with the exception OF several cuts and
bruises were not seriously hurt. Sew
eral other firemen who were working
on line OF hose in front of the store
were injured by flying bricks.
Chief Engineer Patrick Byron was
knocked down and it was at first
thought he was seriously injured
There was considerable satisfaction
expressed later when it was found
that aside from laceration of the left
leg the Chief was in good condition.
Six fremen are in the Troy Hospital.
bnt it was said at the institution that
none of the men was in serious con-
ditiOn.
The explosion of the thirty.gaflon
ammonia tank. which caused the loss
of life. occurred after the firemen had
been fighting stubborn fire for about
six hours The explosion came with
out warning. The front wall of the
four-story structure toppled over and
the roof and upper floors fell with
crash The report of the explosion
followed ythe crash of falling bricks
and timber could be heard throughout
the city.
Chief Bailey had been working with
Battalion Chief Ranken on the one
story extension in the rear of the
building and just before the collapse
left fer the front of the building, re-
marking to Chief Ranken that he
could not stand the effects of the am
monia fumes any longer.
Chief Bailey descended ladder in
the front of the building and had just
reached the bottom when the wall
toppled over. He was buried beneath
the avalanche OF bricks
Ladderman Hoar and De Courville,
who was working with the Ranken
Steamer Company, were also standing
on the sidewalk. They were also
caught by the falling debris.
Captain Cunningham and Captain
Casey were working on the roof at the
time together with Laddermen Strang
and Jacobs, OF Truck 2. The men
crswled to an adjacent building under
orders from Captain Cunningham for
the purpose OF notifying the Chiefs
that the ammonia fumes were becom-
ing dangerous. Captains Cunningham
and Casey remained on the roof, how
ever and went down with the walls