Remembering Conshohocken and West Conshohocken (11 page)

Considered the greatest catastrophe ever suffered by the borough of Conshohocken, a steam boiler exploded at 4:20 p.m. The tank went through the wall and flew across the canal and through the wall of another factory. Hunks of metal and shrapnel penetrated residents' walls and windows along Elm Street. The death toll would eventually rise to sixteen, with dozens more injured.

August 21, 1875: “Fire Totally Destroys Albion Print Works”

Washington Fire Company chief Frank Beaver nearly lost his life in the burning building caused by an exploding pressure tank.

June 10, 1879: “Fire at S&J Lees Nearly Destroys Entire Plant”

Daniel Foley, a Washington firefighter, was injured when he fell from a ladder while fighting the fire. Foley's unconscious body was carried back to the hotel he owned along the canal, and a physician determined that no broken bones could be found. Firemen worked for more than six hours to extinguish the blaze.

September 8, 1898: “The Conshohocken Brewery on Fire”

The Conshohocken Brewery, later the Gulph Brewery, was reported on fire by Mrs. B. DeHaven, who lived across the creek from the brewery. The tragedy at this fire was that the main building containing all the beer in storage was destroyed, and if that wasn't bad enough, all the beer in the process of being completed was also destroyed. On the upside the firemen had never before worked so hard to save a building. It was perhaps this fire that caused the formation of the George Clay Fire Company a year later.

September 10, 1917: “Explosion of Gas Rocks Whole Town”

Conshohocken and surrounding vicinities were rocked on a quiet Sunday morning when a ten-thousand-cubic-foot gas bag filled to capacity at the plant of the Process Oils Company, formerly the Henderson Supplee & Son flour and feed mill located on the berm bank, exploded with terrific force, leveling the building, shattering glass windows in buildings and homes for a distance of more than half a mile and rocking houses off their foundations. Borough officials called it a miracle when the three workers at the plant escaped injury.

June 1, 1920: “Moose Home Badly Damaged by Fire”

The headline for this fire was rather insignificant, as was the fire itself. However, Washington firefighter Miles Stemple was on the third floor of the Moose home, located at First Avenue and Harry Street, when the flooring gave way and Miles fell to the floor below. An injury to his arm was attended to, but Stemple said nothing about his internal injuries that damaged his liver. Miles Stemple, one of the first members of the fire company, died ten months later on August 20, 1921, due to injuries from the fall.

Miles responded to his final fire alarm on March 14, 1921, at the age of seventy-two years old. He is the only Conshohocken fireman to die in the line of duty.

May 22, 1923: “Early Morning Fire Destroys Harry St. School Building”

Mrs. George Westwood of East Third Avenue reported a fire at the Harry Street school that caused more than $60,000 in damage. Schoolchildren were given off until September. Both Conshohocken fire companies fought the overwhelming blaze and called in surrounding fire companies for assistance.

January 18, 1927: “Fire Destroys F.W. Woolworth's Building”

Firemen battled a blaze at the Woolworth's building on Fayette Street for more than seven hours and managed to save all adjoining businesses on the block. Residents from four apartments above the Woolworth's Store had to be rescued and taken out in nightclothes into the blinding snowstorm. Nearly a dozen firemen were injured at the scene, including George Wright of the Spring Mill Fire Company; Walter Pope of the Washington Fire Company; William Dewees, a seventy-year-old Washies firefighter; Edward McGuire of the George Clay Fire Company; and many more.

January 28, 1928: “Washies Assist at Villanova College Fire”

With more than a foot of freshly fallen snow on the ground, the Washington Fire Company rushed to Villanova College to assist twenty-four other fire companies in extinguishing a blaze that threatened to burn the entire campus to the ground. (Keep in mind that Villanova consisted of three buildings in 1928.)

Dozens of firefighters were injured, including Washies assistant chief Johnny Riggs, who fell through a skylight into the burning building. Two other Washies firefighters were among dozens who had their hands frozen to the nozzles of the hoses that they were holding.

December 6, 1929: “McFadden's Feed Store Burns to the Ground”

George McFadden's feed store located on Elm Street near Poplar Street burned to the ground. The issue for Conshohocken's two fire companies was saving the entire row of houses as sparks landed on adjoining buildings throughout the blaze. Vincent Bonkoski, a member of the Conshohocken football team, reported the blaze. Clarence Strychirz, a twenty-one-year-old employee, risked injury when he saved the company truck. Unfortunately, there were no goods left to haul.

October 2, 1936: “Campbell's Furniture Store Destroyed by Fire”

The worst fire in the business section in the history of the borough totally destroyed the four-story store, dwelling, warehouse and garage of the Campbell Furniture Company at Hector and Ash Streets. The fire damaged more than a dozen buildings and caused about twenty-five families to flee from their homes in a driving rain. Patrolman Kirkpatrick discovered the early morning fire and aroused neighbors with revolver shots.

January 31, 1938: “25 Residents Escaped Fire at St. Mary's Home for Aged”

Twenty-five residents were forced to flee in nightclothes from an early Sunday morning fire at the St. Mary's Home for the elderly in West Conshohocken. The structure was formerly the home of George Bullock before becoming St. Mary's Orphanage and, later, St. Mary's Home for the Aged. Chief Herman Adams of the George Clay Fire Company stated that it was the worst fire in fifteen years and perhaps the worst nonindustrial fire in the borough's history. Washington Fire Company firefighter Johnny Riggs was overcome with smoke and was later treated.

December 27, 1956: “$400,000 Fire Wrecks Ancient Mill Property”

Four small industries housed in the Jim Hall Mill on River Road in West Conshohocken were gutted by an overnight fire. The explosion of six acetylene and oxygen tanks in two of the industries fed the flames. Companies responding included George Clay Washington Fire Company, Conshohocken Fire Company No. 2, Gladwyn, Bryn Mawr, Swedeland and the second alarmers of Willow Grove.

January 27, 1971: “Explosion on Front Street”

A cracked gas pipe on Front Street in West Conshohocken led to an explosion that shot flames more than one hundred feet into the air. Without a doubt, this was and will be remembered as West Conshohocken's worst disaster.

The explosion occurred at 9:45 p.m. on January 27, 1971, and when the ambulances finished carrying the bodies to four different hospitals by early the next morning, the worst had happened. Joseph Powers, nineteen, of 521 Ford Street and a George Clay firefighter, was killed; his twin brother, James, was treated for injuries and released. Four other residents of Front Street were also pronounced dead: Calvin Rupp, Michael Pruitt, Michele Pruitt and William Blair. Twelve houses were leveled, and the four hospitals combined reported that sixteen people were admitted, and thirty-five people were treated and later released.

May 10, 2005: “First Baptist Church Destroyed by Fire”

A fire at the First Baptist Church turned into a multi-alarm blaze when seven fire companies responded as the flames shot high into the air on a bright, sunny spring day in May 2005. Sparks from a contractor's torch accidentally started the blaze that eventually leveled the church. With the community's help, Reverend Brad Lacey reported that the church was being rebuilt as of 2010, with the outside completed and the interior expected to be completed in the near future.

August 13, 2008: “Fire of the Millennium”

It was the fire that no firefighter wanted to fight. On Wednesday, August 13, 2008, a fire later ruled accidental broke out at the construction site of the Millennium Stables. The fire quickly spread to two occupied buildings in the Riverwalk at the Millennium complex, forcing more than 300 firefighters to work through the night to bring the fire under control more than seven hours after it started. The fire affected 375 residents in 150 units; 1 firefighter was treated for injuries.

By 1900, the town's population had swelled due to more mills operating within the borough. The new population forced residents to build family dwellings up the hill and on the side avenues. Conshohocken's population swelled so fast that by 1908, many of the immigrants were sleeping in tents throughout the borough on vacant lots. Town council considered building tent cities until the construction of new homes could catch up to the population. One
Conshohocken Recorder
headline declared, “The Town Has Run Out of Houses.”

A series of fires in the upper end of town brought a group of citizens together to discuss a second fire company for Conshohocken. The Washington Fire Company, when formed in 1873, built its firehouse in what was the center of town at that time. However, as time passed, the town expanded, forcing the Washington Fire Company to do the impossible. The early fire water wagons were all hand pulled and pushed. The weight of the wagon when filled with water made it nearly impossible to respond to a fire call up the steep grade of Fayette Street if it had rained or snowed. Keep in mind that Fayette Street was a dirt road back then, and rain made the street inches deep with mud for several days until the dirt would dry out. And we all know that when it snowed, of course there were no snowplows, making any trip up the hill impossible for the firemen.

When the Conshohocken Fire Company No. 2 was formed, it operated out of a garage at Toner's Hotel, located at Seventh Avenue and Maple Street. By early 1904, it had moved to the east side of town and responded to fire calls from a garage at Ninth Avenue and Harry Street. Three members of the No. 2 Company show off their horse-drawn water carriage.

In the fall of 1902, sixteen interested citizens gathered in the cigar store of Irving Nuss, located on West Sixth Avenue. The group of men determined that the borough residents needed a second fire company to work with the Washington Fire Company in an effort to keep the borough residents safe. Company meetings were later moved to Toner's Hotel, located at Seventh Avenue and Maple Streets. The men acquired a small hand-drawn hose carriage and operated from Toner's Hotel. In January 1903, the group filed for a charter, and on April 27, 1903, the State of Pennsylvania granted the charter. From that day on, the company was recognized as Conshohocken Fire Company No. 2.

Within a year, the company had moved to a garage on the corner of Ninth Avenue and Harry Street and, by 1906, had rebuilt the garage and replaced the small wagon with a chemical wagon. Conshohocken Fire Company No. 2 was known as the quiet fire company around town for more than a century. The Washington Fire Company always seemed to grab the headlines for fighting fires, marching in parades or just throwing one or more of its famous block parties. But in 1907, Company No. 2 became number one in grabbing headlines, hosting a parade and throwing a major block party.

In the fall of 1907, the No. 2 Fire Company's new chemical engine arrived in Conshohocken at a cost of $2,700. No. 2 Fire Company decided to show the rest of the county how to celebrate with a “housing” party. Invitations were sent out to every fire company in eastern Pennsylvania. Charles Parker was chairman of the event, with help from Harvey Shaw, Hugh Blair, Harry Logan, Louis O'Brien and Edward Grimshaw, just to name a few.

Officials mounted on horses led the parade, followed by members of town council and many county officials. The Washington Fire Company led the parade with apparatus drawn by ten horses. Eighty members of the company marched, and they were hosted by the Allentown thirty-five-piece band. Other bands included Philadelphia Drum Corps, Independent Drum Corps, East Greenville Band, Spring City Band, Columbia Drum Corps, Merion Square Band and Spring Mill Band. Dozens of fire companies and more than one thousand firemen attended. Included was J. Elwood Lee Company's Auto Truck, decorated and filled with children.

Talk about a parade route where every house and building was decorated! The parade formed at East and West Sixth Avenue and moved on to Fayette Street, Fayette to Eleventh Avenue, counter marched to Hector Street, to Oak, to Elm, to Fayette, to Hector, to Poplar, to Elm, to Cherry, to Hector, to Jones, to Spring Mill Avenue, to Fourth Avenue, to Harry Street, to Sixth Avenue, to Maple, to Seventh, to Hallowell, to Eighth, to Harry, to Ninth Avenue, to Fayette and finally to the firehouse.

The Human Fire Company of Norristown was given the honor of housing the new apparatus. Parties were thrown at both the Washington Fire Company (you knew there was a party in it for Washies somewhere) and No. 2 Fire Company before, during and after the parade, and No. 2 hosted a major banquet in the evening hours in honor of the event.