The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-11-14

By T. F. WAGNER
 Bridgeport's lone active fireman who helped fight the famous Wa terbury connagratioi on Feb. 2, 1902, wrote finis to his career as fIrefighter here last night.
 The fireman, Henry P. Kallmann, of Engine Go. No. z, was retired by the Board of Fire Commissioners after rounding out 4l years of serv- Ice to the city. He is the last mem- Der of a crew Of il men that made @ record-breaking trip to the Brass City abroad a flat car 30 years ago,
 Recalls Ride on Flat Car
 Seated in a chair at No. ' station or Bostwick avenue this morning, Kallmann related a thrilling story of the flat car ride Up the Nauga- tuck Valley through the biting wind of a winter night to aid a sister city in distress.
 Kallmann and ten other local firemen of that time, under the command of the late Chief Daniel E. Johnson, then captain of No. l house or John street, were picked to make the hurried dash to the fire which threatened the entire business district of Waterbury.
 We'll let the veteran Kallmann take 1t from this point:
 T was only youngster then," he said. "A big fire is a big day In any firemen's language, but to be a youngster picked to journey 32 miles on a flat car in zero weather when an entire city is threatened with destruction is something fro any yourg man to mark Up in his memory book as a red letter day.
 Trip Became Famous
 The thrilling ride behind a snorting locomotive around the curves and turns of the Naugatuck Valley, as the engineer of the special train held the throttle with ore hand and the whistle rope with the other, was an episode which was told throughout the East. It was an event long talked about by the flremen of pre-motorized fire departments at a time when there was hand-drawn apparatus still in use in towns nearer to the burn ing Brass City than Bridgeport.
 "No. Engine Company, of which I was callman, was designated by the then Mayor Denis Mulvihill as the company to go to the aid of the stricken Waterbury. A hose wa- gon from Engine Go. No. 4 was also sent along with our apparatus in case more hose was needed.
 "It was about o'clock at night when the two machines were load ed on the New Haven railroad flat car at the foot of Union Square and went hurrying up the valley. That run at night was the longest and most exciting I ever made to a fire. It was also an interesting trip. We could see the illumina- tion of the fire in the sky before we reached Derby, fully 20 miles south of Waterbury.
 1.5OO Feet of Hose Laid
 "When the special train arrived at the Bank street railroad station in Waterbury and our two pieces of apparatus had been removed from the flat car, we were located in the heart of the fire and hooked through to hydrant on Harrison alley at the rear of the Scovill house, one of the best known hotels in Connecticut of that era.
 Captain Johnson and our crew laid in l,5O0 feet of hose and re- mained at the scene all night and the greater part of the following day.
 '9The mere thought of the Water bury fire. by far the greatest con- migration In the history of the state, sends chill up and down my spine. I can still see the heroic Water bury firemen nearly exhausted from pulling and tuggirg at hose lines while the burning embers were fiy- ing from ore building to another. At times it appeared that the entire city was doomed to fall in ruins.
 'aThe fire ragged for two days in . bitter wind ard wiped out a large portion of the business section along Bank street. The wind car- ried the fire along South Main street, Exchange Place and other lnearby streets.
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