Evening star., 1946-12-12
Eight Are Killed
38 Missing, in
New YorkFire
BIoze in Icehouse
CoIIupses Walls Of
Adjoining Tenement
BY the A.soeioted Press

eight persons were dead and 8,
others, including a number ol
children, were believed buriec
under tons of debris following 6
f1ve-alarm fire early today ir
an abandoned ice house on Man
hattan's upper West Side, which
caused a five-story wall to col
lapse, crumbling an adjoining
tenement building.
Police and f1remen, digging fran
tically against time, removed four
bodies from tf1e wreckage and said
they had sighted four more. Nearby
hospitals admitted more than a
score of injured. Ambulances were
rushed to the scene and a first-aid
station was set up.
No sounds could be heard from
the rubble IA hours after the
tragedy.
The identified dead are Frank
Moorehead, 27-year-old fireman; An
thony Biancardi, IL; Daniel Corrado,
Is, and Thomas Phillips. 10. All ex-
lCCPt Giic III cIlldd WClC 1CoiOC1lCo VI
the tenement building.
Children Are Questioned.
Fire Marshal Thomas P. Brophy
said the cause of the fire was not
known. A small rubbish fire had
been extinguished yesterday after
noon in the ice plant, located at 484
West 184th street.
Six children between the ages of
4 and IL years, who had played
in the ice house yesterday, were
questioned by police in an effort to
learn whether they might have
started the fire.
The noise of the toppling walls
caused first reports to list the dis
aSter as an explosion.
The pile of debris from the tene-
ment building was as high as the
second story. One portion of the
tenement was flattened, and another
wrecked by the force of the collapse,
which virtually sheared the build
ing in half.
Blood plasma units were avail
able at the scene. Priests from a
nearby parish clambered over the
debris to administer last rites as
two derricks bit into the wreckage.
Boy Pulled From Wreckage.
Police pulled Joseph Poper, jr., 9,
from the wreckage. He had cried
and shouted until help reached
him. He said his brother and sister
still were trapped.
Nick Sloan, 29, also was pulled
out alive. He guided his rescuers
by shouting and throwing stones
and rubble. His wife, brother and
two little daughters still were miss
ing under the rubble.
Special emergency crews tearing
at the wreckage with bars, picks
and bare hands came across the
pitiful remnants of gayly wrapped
Christmas packages, holly and bits
Of tinsel.
One priest, the Rev. David Rea,
climbed ladder to reach a broken
body and gave last rites. He also
saw the legs and feet of two others
protruding from the wreckage.
Mayor on Scene.
Mayor William O'Dwyer rushed to
the scene and promised an investi-
cation. Crowds watched rescue ef-
forts from nearby rooftops and
police roped off nearby streets.
Among those listed as missing
were a mother, Mrs. Edith Dirica,
81, and three children, Charles, IL,
Margaret, S, and Mary, months.
The collapse came Is minutes
after the second fire broke out at
1910 am. Charles Whitecrof.
nearby resident, said the falling wall
'felt like an earthquake" and was
followed by terrible screaming of
children"
After the collapse firemen heard
frantic cries from the ruins and were
able to drag out number OF vic
tins.
Woman Clasps Dead Boy.
DR.. Harry M. Archer, fire depart
ment surgeon, said he had crawled
into the rubble and had given
hypodermic injection to woman
who clutched the dead body of a
young boy.
The Rev. Joseph A. Boyle, fire
department chaplain, also went into
the ruins. He said he heard a woman
calling weakly, Please get me out
OF here. I'm all right" Firemen
worked toward her.
Many of the more than 200 fire.