New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1921-09-03
Blaze in
First Avenue Tenement
Wipes OutHousehold of
Couple and 2 Children
Youth Goes Mad
When Parents Die
Firernen Overcome Fight
ing Smoke; Volunteers
Save Many From Panic


aged father and mother of another
family perished in fire which early
this morning destroyed the tenement at
2407 First Avenue. Several fremen
were overcome by smoke and twenty
year-old youth sustained a fracture of
the skull in jumping from the third
floor of the burning building. He was
driven temporarily mad and escaped
from Harlem Hospital, returning to the
scene of the blaze, where he was found
and taken back to the hospital by am
bulance surgeons.
The dead:
Vincent Catalano, forty-nine years
old.
Assunta Catalano, his wife.
Ralph, their sixteen-year-old son.
Assunta, their eight-year- daugh-
ter.
Bernard de Luca, tifty-five years old.
Mrs. Anne de Luca, his wife, who died
later in Harlem Hospital
The fire was reported simultaneous
ly by group of young men who were
returning to their homes in the neigh
borhood and two members of the
Street Cleaning Department who were
flushing First Avenue. One of the
young men turned in the first alarm,
whi1e tho ctroo+ c1aopor, rooortod 4Lo
blaze to patrolman.
Before the arrival of the first fire
apparatus the young men made a vain
attempt to gain entrance to the burn
ing building while the two street
cleaning men played the hose on the
structure.
Four engines and members of truck
company Ii responded to the first
alarm. The tenement was already
glowing and its walls threatening to
fall. Two other alarms were sent in
at once and another was turned in
later.
Four members Of truck company Ia,
under Lieutenant Lehman, were the
first to enter the building The rick
ETY. stairs were ablaze and they made
their way to the third landing with
difficulty and at great risk.
A moment before the firemen entered
the house, those who were gathered in
the street blow saw g young man crawl
out on the ledge of a window on the
third floor, and without warning iump.
This was Frederick de Luca. He was
rushed to Harlem Hospital
On the third floor of the building
the members of Truck COMPANY "a
found the entire Catalano family.
They were huddled in a heap at the
front window. The two children were
dead and the father died on the side
walk where he was carried by Firemen
flanagan. Mrs. Catalano died on the
way to the hospital.
Two Others on Same Floor
On the same floor the firemen found
MIR. and Mrs. de Luca AS were the
Catalanos, they had been overcome in
vain attempt to reach the windows
of their small quarters. De Luca was
dead. Mrs. de Luca, who was about
to become mother, was removed to
Harlem Hospital, where her son, Fred
erlck, was being treated. She was
suffering from severe burns and ner-
vous shock.
She was placed in the same ward
with her son. She died shortly after,
while the surgeons were at work.
When Frederick learned the fate of
his mother and fathers, he jumped
up and rushed from the ward, and sue
ceeded in making his way from the
hospital, and back to the scene of the
fire.
His queer actions in front of the
burning building attracted the atten-
tion of the police who sent him back
to the hospital, where his condition
The neighborhood was abed, but
hundreds of persons poured from sur
rounding apartment buildings, and po-
lice reserves were summoned to main
tain order.
More than score of families were
ordered out of adjacent buildings that
appeared to be endangered. Many
families emerged in their nightclothes IS
and were cared for by the occupants
of other apartments
Rescue work was hampered by dense
smoke that filled the Railways. Sew
eral persons were carried out in
state of semi-asphyxiation, to be re-
vived by ambulance surgeons.
Volunteer rescues did effective work
and helped avert panic in helping
many persons to escape from buildings
adjacent to the burning structure.
The house which was destroyed was
one of string of tenements and the
houses on either side were constantly
ian danoar