Introduction
Engine Company 2 was organized on September 2, 1869 as one of the original units of the paid fire department, and entered service on December 7, 1869 at the old fire headquarters, 29 North 5th Street at Arch Street, in the heart of Camden’s center city district. A new building was erected in 1899 which served as Fire Headquarters and the home of Engine Company 2 until 1961. In that year, Engine Company 2 relocated to a factory building that had previously been occupied by the Camden Courier-Post newspaper, at 3 North 3rd Street.
On November 7, 1978 Engine Company 2 moved once again, to the current Fire Headquarters at 2 North 3rd Street, at Federal Street. After 131 years of service, Engine Company 2 was disbanded on April 13, 1981.
Engine Company 2 — Original Members, 1869
When first organized, Engine Company 2 consisted of an Engineer, a Driver, a Stoker, and ten extra men (call members). Annual salaries for the members of the paid force in 1869 were $600 for the Engineer, $450 for the Driver and the Stoker and $50 for the extra men. All but the extra men were paid monthly. The Chief Marshall received $800, and the Assistant Marshall $200 per year as well.
Engine Company 2 Roster
Camden Fire Department Engine Company 2, 1869
Officers
| Name ↕ | Position ↕ | Badge ↕ |
|---|---|---|
| William J. Ross | Engineer | |
| George Liebecke | Driver | |
| William T.G. Young Sr. | Stoker |
Extra Men
| Name ↕ | Position ↕ | Badge ↕ |
|---|---|---|
| Isaac Middleton | Extra Man | 11 |
| Samuel Patton | Extra Man | 12 |
| Elwood Cline | Extra Man | 13 |
| George W. Bates | Extra Man | 14 |
| Robert Pine | Extra Man | 15 |
| Theodore Zimmerman | Extra Man | 16 |
| Benjamin H. Connelly | Extra Man | 17 |
| Richard Houghtaling | Extra Man | 18 |
| Abraham Bradshaw | Extra Man | 19 |
| Richard Githens | Extra Man | |
| John Graham | Extra Man | 20 |
History
On May 16, 1870 Camden City Council authorized a contract with builder Abram Lower to build a brick stable adjacent to the Engine Company 1 headquarters at 409 Pine Street. The building cost $1,650.
The first major fire that the new paid Camden Fire Department confronted was on December 20, 1869 at the R.M. English & Company oilcloth factory at Cooper’s Point. Almost a year later, on Christmas Morning, December 25, 1870 fire destroyed St. John’s Episcopal Church at Broadway and Royden Street. This had formerly been a floating chapel anchored on the Philadelphia side of the Delaware River. The wooden church burned to the ground in an hour. A second St. John’s was built, only to be lost to fire in 1892, and was replaced by the current building.
Leadership in the Fire Department at this time was not subject to Civil Service regulations. When the Democrats gained control of City Council in 1876, future mayor Claudius Bradshaw was elected Chief Engineer for the City of Camden. William H. Bassett was named as foreman of Engine Company 2. James M. Lane succeeded him the following year.
With Republicans regaining control of the city in 1879, Samuel Buzine of Engine 1 was named foreman of Engine Company 2. He remained in this position until March 27, 1882.
William H. Bassett was named foreman once again in 1883, and James Lane again in kind in 1884. Henry Grosscup was named Assistant Engineer at that time. When the fire department was reorganized on July 7, 1885, Henry Grosscup was promoted to foreman.
Less than a month later, on August 4, 1885, a tornado struck Camden. The twister knocked over the firehouse bell tower at Engine Company 2’s headquarters. There were also three fires and six deaths as a result of the twister.
An 1886 account revealed that Engine Company 2 was quartered on the northeast corner of Fifth and Arch Street, a location that would house Camden Fire Department units into the early 1960s. The two-story brick building at 19 North 5th Street was shared with the Camden Hook and Ladder Company, now known as Ladder Company 1. This building also was the headquarters of the Camden Fire Department.
Engine Company 2’s apparatus in 1886 consisted of an Amoskeag second class steamer (maker’s plate #319), a hose wagon and a supply wagon.
Engine Company 2 Personnel — 1886
Engine Company 2 Roster, 1886
Camden Fire Department Engine Company 2 personnel, 1886
Personnel
| Name ↕ | Position ↕ |
|---|---|
| Henry C. Grosscup | Foreman |
| William Morris | Engineer |
| C.B. Harvey | Driver |
| Frank Turner | Stoker |
| Charles Robinson | Hoseman |
| Isaac Shreeve | Hoseman |
| Logan Bates | Call Man |
| James Carey | Call Man |
| William Lyons | Call Man |
| Howard H. Currie | Call Man |
Philadelphia Inquirer — October 9, 1872
Resigned.
Yesterday all the regular members of Engine No. 2, belonging to the Paid Fire Department, of Camden, resigned. Their places will be supplied by appointments from the Board of Fire Commissioners.
Philadelphia Inquirer — December 19, 1881
Fire in a Clothing Store.
About half past one o’clock yesterday morning a show window in the clothing house of Mr. J. Schumacher, on Federal Street, east of Fourth, Camden, was discovered to be on fire. The members of Engine Company No. 2 were promptly on the spot and suppressed the flames before they communicated with the main building. About $400 worth of clothing was destroyed, and the bulk window, with side portions of the building, sustained damage amounting to $200, making a total of $600. The loss is said to be covered by insurance. The fire was caused by the explosion of a gasoline lamp which had been placed in the window to light it.
Philadelphia Inquirer — September 8, 1885
Frank Turner — Amedee Middleton — John Gray — William McKinley
The Camden Fire Commissioners last evening elected John Gray an extra fireman from the Second ward, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Amidee Middleton, and Francis S. Turner, of the Third ward, stoker of Engine No. 2, in place of William McKinley, removed. They decided to ask City Council to allow them to advertise for proposals for the erection of the fire tower on Engine House No. 2, which was destroyed by the recent tornado.
Headquarters Building
Old-Time Fire Laddies
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Abraham E. Jackson — Abraham Matlack — Charles M. Baldwin — William Penn Hook and Ladder Company No. 1 — Engine Company 2
OLD-TIME FIRE LADDIES.
They Ran With a New Machine and Revived Memories of Former Service.
The old-time volunteer firemen of Camden renewed their youth last night, when they donned their uniforms, and amidst the clanging of bells and cheers and fireworks, dragged proudly through the streets a handsome new hose carriage.
Although the volunteers have been out of active service since 1869 they keep up their organization, and have headquarters at Broadway and Mount Vernon streets, where they meet to swap stories of the halcyon days when they were young and ran with the machine.
The new carriage was built in Reading and brought to Philadelphia last evening. A committee from the Philadelphia Volunteer Firemen’s Association escorted it to the Market Street Ferry. On the Camden side a parade was formed.
First came Marshal Charles M. Baldwin, with Abraham E. Jackson and Alfred Matlack as his aids. Then the line was made up of Woodbury and Friendship Companies, from Woodbury; Haddon Fire Company, of Haddonfield, with a handsome hose carriage; William Penn Hook and Ladder Company, No. 1, of Stockton, bearing a handsome banner, and finally, the escort of Philadelphia volunteers and the Camden firemen dragging their new carriage, which bore the date “1815” and was decorated with flowers.
The police authorities had suspended the order against fireworks, and the volunteers were greeted with pyrotechnics all along the line of march. The decorations and display at No. 2 Engine House, the headquarters of the Camden Fire Department, were especially lavish.
After the carriage was paraded and housed the visiting firemen were entertained at the headquarters of the Camden Volunteers.
Tossed From an Engine
Philadelphia Inquirer —
George B. Wade — Jacob Kellum — Engine Company 2 — Temple College Academy — Penn Street — North 2nd Street — Cooper Street — Cooper Hospital
TOSSED FROM AN ENGINE
One of Camden’s Brave Firemen Hurt While on Duty.
George Wade, an extra driver of Engine Company No. 2, of Camden Fire Department, had his left leg broken and was otherwise seriously injured yesterday while responding to an alarm. Wade was driving the engine, and while going at rapid speed up Second Street above Cooper, one of the horses shied at a trolley car. A front wheel of the engine struck the curb, and Wade was thrown from his seat.
As he fell one of the wheels ran over his left leg, crushing it just below the thigh. He was removed to the Cooper Hospital. Engineer Jacob Kellum took Driver Wade’s place on the engine.
The fire was at the Temple College Academy, at 534 Penn Street. It was caused by a gasoline stove, and was extinguished with a loss of $100, covered by insurance.
Apparatus and Photos
June 15, 1952 — 1951 GMC Combination at Camden Fire Department Headquarters, 5th & Arch Streets.
Engine Company 2 operating near North 5th and Elm Street — May 31, 1967.
Roy Moffa — paint factory fire, fall 1967.
About 1975 — In the kitchen at the old fire headquarters, North 5th Street & Arch Street. Left to right: Bill Wickward, Jim Cusick, Capt. R. “Randy” Brooks, Howard “Skip” Murphy, Hank Keubler, Bill Colucci, Ed Decker. (Photo courtesy of Robert “Sonny” Frett)
Late 1970s — Robert “Sonny” Frett and Bill Colucci in the new headquarters bunk room during construction.
Ralph Roberts with the Muscular Dystrophy Association Poster Child with Engine Company 2’s 1967 American LaFrance pumper, early 1980s; and the late 70s–early 80s American LaFrance Pumper.
4 Firemen Hurt Fighting Blaze in Apartments
Camden Courier —
William Chambers — Leonard Megee — Thomas J. Nicholas — David Ellis — Dr. Thomas B. Lee — Dr. David F. Bentley — Engine Company 2 — Ladder Company 1
4 FIREMEN HURT FIGHTING BLAZE IN APARTMENTS
Four Families Forced to Flee Down Fire Escape in Cooper St. Blaze
INVALID WOMAN CARRIED TO SAFETY BY RESCUERS
Flames Scorch Rubber-Coated ‘Smoke-Eaters’ on Narrow Stairs
Four firemen were burned, an aged invalid woman was carried to safety and four families were driven down a fire escape to the street when fire swept an apartment house at 620 Cooper Street late yesterday.
The blaze started at 5.30 o’clock from unknown origin in a wardrobe in the hall on the third floor, burst through the roof, ate its way into the second floor, and spread to several apartments on the third floor. Hundreds of spectators gathered in the street to watch, and rush-hour traffic on Cooper Street was blocked.
The firemen were scorched on the faces and hands by a blast of flame from the burning wardrobe, as they fought their way up the narrow, enclosed staircase to the third floor with chemical lines and hand-extinguishers, while a water line was being run up a ladder to third floor windows in the front of the building.
Despite the protection afforded by rubber coats and helmets, the men were driven down the well-like stairs time and again, their faces, hair and eyebrows scorched from the intense heat.
While they were fighting to get at the source of the blaze, five women, six children and two men, living in second and third floor apartments, made their way to a fire escape in the rear of the building and escaped safely to the ground.
Dr. Lee’s aged aunt, Mrs. Thomas Wescott, convalescing from illness, was in a third-floor room as smoke filled the building. She had to be assisted to the street by other members of the household.
The injured firemen are Deputy Fire Chief Thomas Nicholas, his chauffeur, David Ellis, and Hoseman William Chambers and Leonard Magee, of Engine 2, which company, with Truck No. 1, responded to the one alarm sent in by occupants of one of the third floor apartments. All were treated for burns by Dr. David F. Bentley, Jr.
“If the fire had occurred in the middle of the night,” said Chief Nicholas, “there would surely have been loss of life. The narrow stairways make that type of house a very difficult one in which to fight a fire.”
$225,000 Fire Ruins 5 Uptown Plants
Camden Courier-Post —
Thomas Nicholas — James Tatem — Manuel Kane — Harry M. Leigh — David Ellis — Engine Company 2 — Engine Company 4 — Engine Company 5 — Engine Company 6 — Segal Street
$225,000 FIRE RUINS 5 UPTOWN PLANTS
HOW FLAMES GUTTED BIG INDUSTRIAL BUILDING
RESIDENTS FLEE AS FLAMES RAGE IN BIG BUILDING
Factory of Evans Leather Co. Saved by Valiant Work of Firemen. APPARATUS IS DISABLED; DEBRIS BURIED FIRE PLUG. Metal Stamping Firm, Textile Concern Heavy Losers; Pattern Shop Saved.
Sweeping through the Varoma Building on Erie Street and driving 80 persons from their homes, a spectacular fire early today wrecked the quarters of five industrial concerns and caused damage estimated at $225,000. Responding to three alarms, every piece of fire apparatus in the city, with the exception of the “cover-up” companies, fought the blaze for hours.
Handicapped by the location of fire-plugs and the breakdown of several pieces of apparatus, the firemen prevented the flames from spreading to the huge building of the Evans Leather Company. Twenty dwellings on the east side of Segal Street, separated from the Varoma building only by a narrow alley, were also saved after their occupants had fled to the street.
Fire Chief Thomas Nicholas announced that he would begin a rigid investigation into the blocking of Segal Street by a high board fence and the piling of refuse around a fireplug at the head of the street.
The other industries that suffered in the blaze: Blue and Gray Textile Company ($30,000); Allied Metal Stamping Company ($75,000); James A. MacMillan & Co., manufacturing chemists ($10,000); MacIntosh Printing and Lithographing Company ($10,000); Philadelphia Metal Stamping Company ($50,000). Total damage to the Varoma building itself: $50,000.
Arriving in response to the watchman’s alarm, Chief Nicholas immediately sounded the second and third alarms, bringing almost every piece of apparatus in the city to the scene. Hose lines were taken to the flat roof of the Evans Company, high above the burning building, and water poured onto the flames from this altitude.
While carrying a hose line into the structure, Firemen Harry Lee and David Ellis were knocked down when a coupling blew off the hose. Emanuel Kane, of Engine Company No. 6, was struck on the head and knocked down by a 12-foot length of steel bar. Companions ran to his aid, lifted the bar and revived him.
The fire today was the fourth big blaze that had occurred on the site. The first was in 1867, when a roller mill and nail factory were destroyed. In 1908, flames destroyed the morocco plant of R. H. Evans Company. In 1919, with the temperature at the zero point, firemen again fought a disastrous blaze in the Evans plant.
Early Donor in Aluminum Drive Hopes 'Gift' Will Be Sent to Hitler
Camden Courier-Post —
George E. Brunner — William C. Schriver — Leo G. Stephans — Sgt. Ray Smith — Fred Vogel — Samuel Shapiro — James H. O’Brien — Albert C. Becker — Roy C. Adams — Burnell S. Hartman — Michael Mungioli — Carrie R. Bean — Anne D. Spooner — Engine Company 1 — Engine Company 3 — Engine Company 7 — Engine Company 8 — Engine Company 9 — Engine Company 10 — Engine Company 11 — Engine Company 2 (Fire Headquarters)
Hitler’s anti-Semitic nation may receive a “gift” in the near future from a South Camden Jewish resident. The gift may attain the form of aluminum bomber parts.
Last night the city opened its drive for old aluminum from homes for use in national defense work. Not to be late in handing in his donation, the South Camden Jew of German birth, who remains unidentified, walked into headquarters of Engine Company No. 8 at Sixth Street and Kaighn Avenue, his arms laden with old aluminum.
“Here, I want to give this aluminum to you now and not wait until Thursday,” the donor told firemen. “These pots and pans came from Germany with me many years ago, and now I want the United States to make something out of them to send back to that — Hitler.”
The Camden city districts, and those in charge of collection: First district, firehouse, Fourth and Pine Streets, Leo G. Stephans. Second district, fire headquarters, Fifth and Arch, Sgt. Ray Smith and Fred Vogel. Third district, Engine No. 3, 1800 Broadway. Fourth district, Engine No. 6, Front and Linden. Fifth district, Engine No. 7, 1115 Kaighn. Sixth district, Engine No. 8, Sixth and Kaighn. Seventh district, Engine No. 9, Twenty-seventh and Federal. Eighth district, Engine No. 10, Ninth and Morgan. Ninth district, Engine No. 11, Twenty-seventh and Hayes, Michael Mungioli.
Firemen Here Get Advanced First Aid Course
Camden Courier-Post —
More than 40 members of the Camden Fire Department completed the Red Cross course in advanced first aid. Instruction sessions were under the direction of Fire Chief William V. Pfefferle, Drillmaster Anthony Dzinski, assisted by Nicholas E. George. All members of the graduating class were personnel of several units housed at fire department headquarters, including the Headquarters Company, Engine Company 2, Rescue Squad 1 and Truck Company 1.
Rescue Squad: Captains Arthur Batten, Philip A. Stinger and Albert Weller; Edward Brendlinger, Harrison MacNier, Robert Olesiewicz and James W. Smith.
Headquarters Company: Raymond Banford, John K. Voll and John W. Yates.
Truck Company 1: Captains Daniel Jiannetto, Robert E. Dukes and Otto V. Kaiser; William Watkin, Chester Gedrich, George Baxter, John Mogck, George C. Hennessy, Charles Devlin, Ambrose W. Faust, Joseph McTaggart, Howard R. Taggart, William G. Winstanley and Elmer Johnson Jr.
Engine Company 2: Captains James R. Asher, Thomas Winstanley; Carl Wirtz, James McGrory, Edwin V. Decker, James Stewart, Francis X. McTaggart, Anthony T. Orme, Mario D. Fattore, James O. Jones, Francis P. Stibi, William Hopkins, Robert E. Briggs, John Guiliano, Casper Martelli, Harold H. Pike, John J. Vane, William Stibi, John DiMaggio and Harry Kleinfelder.
Two Camden Toddlers Die As Fire Razes Row House
Camden Courier-Post —
Robert Troutman — Engine Company 6 — James McGrory — Engine Company 2 — Theodore Primas — Inez Brown — Stanley Brown — Blair Murphy — Dorothy Lyles — James Lyles — John M. Lyles — Fern Street — North 9th Street
TWO CAMDEN TODDLERS DIE AS FIRE RAZES ROW HOUSE
A Camden man was in critical condition at Cooper Hospital and two children were dead after a fire swept through a North Camden row house. Stanley Brown, 25, was burned over 58 per cent of his body in the blaze at 825 Fern Street that took the lives of James Lyles, 3, and his brother John M., 2.
The first alarm was called at 1:48 p.m. Six minutes later a second alarm was issued as heavy winds whipped flames and the blaze spread throughout the small two-bedroom row house. The fire apparently started in the kitchen in the rear of the home.
“The gas stove was lit,” Deputy Chief Theodore Primas explained, “but to help take the chill away.”
Brown leaped from the second floor window and told firemen that the two boys were trapped inside. Firemen found the two children in the bathroom at about 2:15.
Firemen said Troutman and Capt. James McGrory, 44, of Engine 2, tried to enter the home when they arrived. An explosion of undetermined origin apparently sent them flying to the sidewalk. High winds threatened two adjoining homes as flames and smoke spread along the roof eaves. Firemen cut through the ceilings of all three homes to combat fire spreading through the roof crawlspace.
Credits
Many of the Fire Department photographs on this website are from the limited edition book Fire Department Camden NJ 125 Anniversary 1869–1994. Many were shot by Department photographer Bob Bartosz. Thanks to Joel Bain of the Camden Fire Department for making many of the images on the website available.