New-York tribune., 1920-11-21
Nine, Including, s,
Five eChildren.
Perish i'm / ire
Glowing Cigarette Dropped
Into Perambulafor Under
Stairs Suspected Cause of
West I46th Street Blaze
One Family Wiped Out
Man Leaves Wife. Sister and
Niece to Save Pay Enve-
lope; All Three Are Lost

Nine persons, five of them children,
were killed yesterday in a fire which
rushed up the stairway of hve-story
tenement at 307 West 146th Street.
The flames mushroomed on the fourth
and fifth floors. OF the three families
on the fifth floor, one was wiped out,
another has only a single survivor and
the third escaped by way OF the roof.
The dead are:
FRANK, ADA, thirty-nine years old
sister Of Mrs. Reynolds. with whom
she lived and bride of Charles Frank
GEBBIA, RAPHAEL. .hirty-hve.
GEBBIA, ANNA, twenty-seven, his wife
GEBBIA, CARMELA, seven, their
daughter.
GEBBIA, FRANK, five, a son.
GEBBIA, LENA, three, daughter
GEBBIA. JENNIE, the baby. one and q
half years Old
REYNOLDS. BERTHA, forty
REYNOLDS, RUTH, sixteen. her daugh-
The only person to survive injuries
suffered in the fire IS Mrs Dora
Schoenfeld, jantor Of the building.
She lived on the ground floor Aroused
by the roaring OF flames IN the hall,
she flung r. blanket over her head and
ran the gantet to the street to give
the alarm. She was burned aoout the
body and was taken to Columbus Hos
pital.
Glass Panels in Doors
The house is at 146th Street and
81 l.
structure Its floors are OF wood and
the entrance door of each apartment
has glass panel in 1t. Tenants We're
accustomed to keep their perambu-
lators in the ground floor hall under
the stairs.
1t was in one of these perambu-
lators, it is thought, that the fire
started probably from glowing Gig
arctic flung into it. A night working
tenant who returned TO the building
about 4:30 a. m. saw no sign of fire.
Half an hour later the stairway was
ablaze from hall to roof and flames
were cracking at the doors OF all six
teen apartments. The glass panels
in the doors could not Withstand the
heat and cracked and gave way. admit
ting smoke and flames
The. roar and crackle of the Gre,
sounding like fierce hailstorm,
6~ snelieu lIe tenants. SNatCnlng uD
their children and few garments and
valuables they started for the : St sea;rs ',,+1
Stlhlng smoke, shot with ominous red,
met and drove them back. With the
exception Of Mrs. Schoenield it is be-
lieved that not an occupant Of the
house reached safety by way Of the
hall
The shreks of Mrs. Schoenfeld who
nad reached the street, and alarm shots
fired by tenants Of neighborine build
lngs were heard by a patrolman, who
turned IN a fire alarm. BY tina. time
flames were darting from windows Of
the fourth and ffth floors, and two
more alarms quickly followed the first.
Two Fire Escapes Available
There is a fire escape on the Brad
hurst Avenue side Of the building
which was available to tenants whose
apartments were on the west side
Those living on the east side of the
building sought the fire escape in the
rear. leading 70 the yard.
James Crosse, whose apartment was
on the third floor, was the first to reach
the last platform of the rear fire
escape. He had two children in his
arms. Behind him was his wife. who
had their third child. The drop ladder
was rusted, Crosse said, so that he
could not bulge it. At a safe distance
in the street ne perceived two men in
uniform, whom he took 10 be patrol
men.
They were shouting helpfully. he
said, Come down. Come down.
Mrs. Crosse, on whose fingers refugees
crowding from above were treading,
was shrieking similar advice at HIM.
Crosse saw a chairback looming in the
window beside him. He smashed the
glass, dragged out the chair and with
1t pounded the drop ladder free.
AT the same moment rescue squad
Of neighbors, led by Edward and Harry
Morgan, Of 2729 Eighth Aven.e. arrived