The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-12-12

tContinued rom Page ID lander said that boys had been caught setting fires in the aban- doned ice house during the last few years. Yesterday. there was a fire in the structure at 5:s5 P. M 1t was quickly put out.
 At ti.45 P. M. firemen again were called to the structure which this time was blazing flercely. Bremen crawled to the roof and began to battle the flames from there when they heard a muffled blast inside. They began immediately to scramble down, and all but six of them made it.
 Roof Falls Four Flights
 Then the roof oG the structure caved in and fen four flights, @ moment before the rear wall cel- lapsed and crashed against the tenement house.
 Police were unable to determine how many tenement occupants managed to escape before the wall caved in. Others rushed out and sought first aid in the homes of neighbors. Priests from three nearby Catholic churches braved death to administer the last rites.
 A nearby tavern was turned into first aid station. Anthony Alex ander, bartender. said he was stand ing behind the bar when an alarm clock fell from Q shelf at i2:45 A. M. because of the vibration. He said he thought it was an earthquake and ordered half . dozen customerS into the street.
 About e minute later. Alexander said, a terrific roar went up tol- lowed by the crush of falling brack. He said he thought 1t was his own building at first.
 Cause Undetermined
 Alexander said he knew there had been 6 fire in the ice house yesterday afternoon, but never sus- uected there had been a series oi them in the last few years.
 The cause of the explosion could not be determined immediately' but it was believed escaping ann rnonia fumes from several tanks in the building had been igniteo:
 Mayor William F O'Dwyer. who watched the rescue work, said T am directing the police commis- sioner. the fire commissioner ana the commissioner of buildings and housing to get the facts of the oc- currence and the condition of the building before the fire. It had been believed sound and safe. Was # an explosion or wasn't 1t. I want them to give me all the pertinent facts"
 Chief Fire Marshal Thomas Bro phy said, i've don't know what hap" pened." The building, an all-hrick structure, was said to have been
 Work Goes slowly
 Bremen employed cranes, bull dozers and other equipment in an all-night fight to rescue the vic- tins. But the work went slowly because of the packed condition ol the debris and because they feared others might die in sudden cave ins.
 At A M. firemen. now digging with their hands and throwing brick back of them into the gaping hole of the still burning ice house. estimated that 39 persons stu were unaccounted for. The fire appeared to be smouldering on the top floor of the ice house whose brick walls were lined with wood.
 At portions of the debris where they thought there no longer were any victims alive the firemen used alternately a o0-foot and a sO-foot crane.
 Pneumatic drills were used to break up big chunks of the brick walls so they could be scooped away.
 Pour Streams Into Hulk
 Meanwhile, the fire in the Ice house broke out several times and firemen stretched long lines of hoses from the Harlem River drive near West ig4tn Street and Am sterdam Avenue to the rear of the structure. They poured streams of water into the smouldertng hulk constantly.
 The entire scene appeared as though a rocket had struck the area and cleared out a space in the mid die of the block. leaving e three wall shell of a building.
 Bedsprings which looked as though they had been twisted by a giant hand were strewn about. Clothing lay in a victory garden at .he rear of the tenement.