Introduction
This unit was originally organized as Engine Company 7 on July 1, 1910 and entered service on the same date at 1115 Kaighn Avenue in South Camden, where it has remained in service in its original building ever since. The unit was re-organized from an Engine to a Squad Company on August 1, 2003 at 0700 hours. Squad Company 7 has recently been re-equipped with a new Seagrave Rescue Pumper, and many power tools for heavy-rescue assignments.
On July 1, 2010 Squad Company 7 celebrated its 100th anniversary at the Kaighn Avenue firehouse. Retired Camden firefighters, firefighters from other municipalities, friends and members of the press were made welcome by the on-duty firefighters.
1914 Chief Engineer's Report
Engine Company No. 7. Location 1115 Kaighn Avenue. Second-class Metropolitan Engine and Combination Chemical and Hose Wagon. Went into service July 1, 1910. Carries 900 feet of 2½-inch hose.
| Name | Rank | Age | Residence | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles A. Todd | Captain | 52 | 618 S. Fourth Street | $1,140.00 |
| Joseph Sparks | Lieutenant | 31 | 624 S. Fifth Street | $960.00 |
| John A. Dold | Engineer | 53 | 1301 Park Boulevard | $1,140.00 |
| Elmer Burkett | Stoker | 47 | 1009 Penn Street | $1,020.00 |
| Roy Smith | Driver | 30 | 607 Carman Street | $960.00 |
| William Hunsinger | Driver | 37 | 741 Walnut Street | $960.00 |
| George Boone | Hoseman | 38 | 605 Mt. Vernon Street | $960.00 |
| Sylvester McGrath | Hoseman | 35 | 605 St. John Street | $960.00 |
| Horace Cairns | Hoseman | 42 | 621 Newton Avenue | $1,020.00 |
Engine Company No. 7
Chief Engineer's Annual Report — 1914
1115 Kaighn Avenue
Engine Company 7 — circa 1914
Camden Courier-Post —
Engine Company 7 on Kaighn Avenue, circa 1914
Apparatus
1910 — 1115 Kaighn Avenue
1911. Pictured with 1910 American LaFrance combination hose and chemical wagon are George C. Boone, driver; and William Buzine, engineer. Driver Edward Simpson is atop 1902 Metropolitan second class steamer, Stoker James Navin standing in front of the engine.
1912–1914: Engine Company 7 and its 2nd Class Steamer.
circa 1916. In June of 1915 the city contracted to have ten of its horse-drawn fire apparatus refitted with electric-powered motors. This is the 1902 Metropolitan second class steamer pictured above, after conversion. Thanks to Anthony Buono of Valatie NY for clearing this mystery up! — December 16, 2014
circa 1916. 1910 American LaFrance combination hose and chemical wagon, rebuilt by The Commercial Truck Company of America. This business was founded around 1907 in Philadelphia PA. It commonly was referred to as The Commercial Truck Company and advertised itself as such. The company principally built battery powered electric vehicles. The company introduced a gasoline-electric hybrid tractor in 1915. The company built buses and commercial trucks with capacities ranging from a quarter ton to five tons. Most larger models had four-wheel-drive with an electric motor mounted on each wheel. These usually were General Electric motors.
About thirty pieces of fire apparatus were built on Commercial Truck Company chassis. Camden had 11. Philadelphia also operated at least three.
circa 1930. Wagon Operator: Ray Burgess. Motor Pump Operator: Russell Benson. Officer Standing: Captain Henry Zook.
circa 1950 — 1927 American LaFrance Pumper. 3 firemen were injured in this accident.
June 15, 1952 — 1928 American LaFrance Combination #6305
1954 — 1954 American LaFrance 1000 GPM Pumper
1957 — 1957 Dodge-American LaFrance Hose Wagon 200 GPM
1960 — 1951 GMC
Engine Company 7 at 1115 Kaighn Avenue, late 1960s to early 1970s.
March 27, 1977. Fire at The Hurley Store, Broadway & Pine Street, with Ladder Company 1 & Ladder Company 2
1976 — 1976 Pierce Squirt 1000 GPM
Engine 7 members in 1978. Left to right: William Huelas, Captain Robert Van Istendal, Mike Galasso, Richard Prosser. “Back in the 70’s Captain Van Istendal, Dick Prosser, Mike Galasso, Bob Gibson and me ran our butts off and yes, a lot of repeated alarm boxes. We were the pivot company and ran with everybody. I started at headquarters in 1968 when i first came in and it was at its busiest, seemed like at least one house fire a night.” — William Huelas, 11-15-2018
1986 — 1986 Hahn 500 GPM
1992 — 1992 American LaFrance Pumper 1500 GPM
1994 — 1115 Kaighn Avenue
1990s — 1115 Kaighn Avenue
July 14, 1995. Arriving first with reported people trapped, Engine Company 7 starts water on heavily involved row dwelling at Rose Street near Atlantic Avenue, Whitman Park. First Alarm with an extra engine for working fire in this occupied building resulted in one civilian fatality. The fire was the result of a domestic dispute in which the female partner firebombed the home.
(News Brief — Fire House at Kaighn and Mt. Ephraim)
Philadelphia Inquirer —
A new fire house will be erected at Kaighn and Mt. Ephraim avenues, to cost $10,595.
Deno Is Captain of New Company
Camden Post-Telegram —
At last night’s meeting of the Fire Committee of City Council the following appointments were made for the new fire house at Tenth street and Kaighn avenue, to take effect July 1: Captain, William Deno; lieutenant, John H. Lutz; engineer, William K. Buzine; stoker, James Navin; drivers, Richard Master, Joseph Sparks; hosemen, Boone, Simpson, Smith.
Thomas Nicholas, of the Eighth Ward, was made captain of Broadway fire company, and John H. McTaggart, of the Eighth Ward, one of the recent appointees, was sent to the fire house on Kaighn avenue near Sixth street.
Camden News Notes
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Alfred L. Sayers — Seventh Ward Republican Club
A handsome portrait of Street Commissioner Sayrs was yesterday suspended from the wall at the headquarters of recently installed Engine Company No. 7. It is the gift of the Seventh Ward Republican Club.
Six Hurt, One May Die as Result of Collingswood Fire
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Assemblyman John B. Kates, of Camden, One of Injured
Enterprise Wall Paper Plant Burns to Ground, Carrying Loss of $100,000
Special to The Inquirer. COLLINGSWOOD, N. J., Feb. 6.—Six men severely injured, one probably fatally, was the toll of the human damage done this evening when the Enterprise Wall Paper Company’s plant burned to the ground, entailing a loss of more than $100,000, which is thought to be covered by insurance.
The injured are Assemblyman John B. Kates, member of the local fire department, head and face cut by fragments of falling wall, Harry Grasenor, Collingswood, head and legs injured and hurt internally, thought to be serious, taken to Cooper Hospital, Camden; Charles Frech, Collingswood, slightly hurt, taken home; Captain George B. Wade, Sr., Engine Company No. 7, Camden, broken ankle, taken to Cooper Hospital, Camden; William Laird, Engine Company No. 7, Camden, broken hip, taken to Homeopathic Hospital, Camden; Howard Matthews, Camden, broken knee, taken to Cooper Hospital, Camden.
The fire started about 5 30 on the lower floor from unknown causes. The local department was called out, but soon found that it could not cope with the blaze, which was fast eating its way through the building. All the employes had gotten out when the fire was discovered. A call was sent to Camden and Engine Company No. 7 and Kaighn Avenue Truck responded. It was soon seen that the building could not be saved and attention was turned to the surrounding buildings. In this the firemen were successful.
It was while bending their efforts toward saving the adjoining buildings that the west wall fell while firemen were near it. Six men were caught and the bricks covered them, but they were pulled out of the burning debris by forces of willing hands.
Nearly one hundred men are thrown out of work. The owner of the factory, Phillip Isaacs, of Philadelphia, is undecided whether or not to rebuild here. The West Jersey and Seashore Railroad to Atlantic City runs close to the building, which puts passenger trains in great danger.
Captain Todd Placed on Pension
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Camden Council’s Fire Committee yesterday granted the application of Captain Charles Todd to be placed on pension February 28. Lieutenant Charles Watkins, of No. 5 Company, was advanced to a captaincy, and Harry Chambers, of No 2 Truck, was made a lieutenant. Alfred Lasby, of the Fourth ward, was made a fireman to fill the vacancy in the department. Captain Todd has been in the department for twenty-two years and is head of No 7 Engine Company.
$225,000 Fire Ruins 5 Uptown Plants
Camden Courier-Post —
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
Taken shortly after daylight today, this photograph shows firemen still pouring water on the ruins of the Varoma building on Erie street from the roof of the Evans Leather Company building adjoining. Five industries were wiped out in the blaze which caused damage estimated at $225,000.
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, which forms an “L” on two sides of the burned structure.
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 later today, after the flames had been brought under control, 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 wrecked building is owned by the Varoma Corporation of which Thomas Van Osten, of Palmyra, is president; William MacIntosh, 3[?]7 Vine street, vice president; Alfred Van Osten, of Palmyra, secretary, and David B. Robinson, of West Collingswood.
Building Loss $50,000
MacIntosh today estimated the damage to the building alone at $50,000. He is also president of the MacIntosh Printing and Lithographing Company, of which James J. Stinson, of Merchantville is secretary. Damage estimated at $10,000 resulted from the fire in the quarters of that concern.
The other industries, all located in the big brick building, which suffered in the blaze, with official estimate of the damage to each, are as follows:
Blue and Gray Textile Company, of which T. A. Carr, of 302 Porter road, Fairview, is president, $30,000.
Allied Metal Stamping Company, of which Joseph A. Skublicki, of 115 State street, is president, and William Daugherty, vice president, $75,000.
James A. MacMillan & Co., manufacturing chemists, headed by James MacMillan, of 809 North Third street, $10,000.
Philadelphia Metal Stamping Company, of which firm Clement A. and Mrs. Florence Perrin, of Collingswood, and Edwin L. Seabrook, of 566 Benson street, are members, $50,000.
Other Concerns Escape
The fire was discovered at 5.35 o’clock by a watchman who sounded the first alarm. The flames had started, from causes as yet undetermined, in that portion of the building occupied by the Blue & Gray Textile Company. The building, which housed nine separate industries, covered an area 100 by 300 feet. Part of it was one story in height and another part two stories. Four of the industries in the two-story section of the building escaped serious damage. They are Kruse & Slattery, tool-makers; the Camden Hardware Manufacturing Company, the Wolf Company, manufacturers of advertising novelties; the Thomas C. Van Osten pattern-makers, headed b[illegible]dent of the concern w[illegible] building.
The structure, at 105-107 Erie street, extends back almost to Segal street and has a frontage covering most of the block on Erie street between Second and Burns streets.
Arrivnig [sic] in response to the watchman’s alarm, Chief Nicholas visioned the danger of repetition of the fire nine years ago when buildings at the same location were wiped out by flames. He immediately sounded the second and third alarms, bringing almost every piece of apparatus in the city to the scene.
Carr, president of the textile company, estimated the loss there at $30,000, stating that a large shipment of intricate machinery from Germany had arrived only a few days ago. The concern was anticipating removal, in a short time, to larger quarters at Ninth and State streets, Carr added.
From the two large rooms occupied by the Blue & Gray textile firm, the flames swung over to the quarters of the Allied Metal Stamping Company. Daugherty, the vice-president of this concern, said his company was filling a large order for electric switch-boxes and had been working at capacity for several weeks. Switch-boxes valued at $40,000 were destroyed by the fire, with machinery and other equipment valued by Daugherty at an additional $35,000.
Blasts Add to Perils
Moving northward, the flames next struck the MacMillan plant, where chemicals are manufactured for paints and drug companies. Here the flames reached a number of containers of chemicals and, for a time, the blaze was punctuated by a series of explosions. Here, firemen risked imminent peril to their lives by carrying other containers of chemicals out of reach of the flames.
Still continuing northward; the fire next reached the MacIntosh lithographing plant and spread through the cutting and shipping rooms, causing damage estimated at $10,000 before firemen succeeded in dragging two lines of hose into this section of the building and driving back the flames.
The Philadelphia Metal Supply Company went next as the fire swept eastward. In this plant, metal cornices and valuable hand-made dies were destroyed at a loss estimated by Perrin, a member of the firm, at $50,000. Arriving at the scene, apparatus from Engine Companies No. 1 and No. 7 developed boiler trouble and were unable to work. Firemen were further handicapped by the fact that the Evans Leather Company has blocked off Segal street at the north end by a high board fence. A fireplug at this point was also blocked by a pile of chemical containers, declared to have been placed there by the leather company.
Declaring that he could have attached at least four more hose lines had this plug not been blocked, Chief Nicholas announced that he would conduct an investigation. He said also that the leather company had failed to place gates in the Segal street fence, as city officials required them to do when permission was given for erection of the barrier.
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. Hundreds of persons were attracted to the scene by the spectacular nature of the fire, which was visible from the Camden bridge and for miles around. A police detail led by Chief James E. Tatem and Inspector Lewis Etehr [sic] kept the crowds in check.
Firemen escaped injury while fighting the flames at their height, but while they were still pouring streams of water onto the ruins shortly before noon today, the first casualty occurred. Emanuel Kane, of 703 North Third street, a fireman attached to Engine Company No. 6, was struck on the head and knocked down by a 12-foot length of steel bar, six inches thick, which pinned him under it as he fell. Companions ran to his aid, lifted the bar from him and revived him. Hospital treatment was not necessary.
Eight other firemen narrowly escaped serious injury a few minutes later when a section of the east wall fell. The eight men were standing under the wall when one of them saw it totter. They dashed from the spot just in time to avoid being buried by the falling debris. Three of these firemen were from Engine Company No. 1 at Fifth and Arch streets; three from No. 4, Fourth and Vine streets, and two from No. 2 Company, Front and Linden streets.
Jack Sperry, an Evening Courier photographer, was walking along the roof of a part of the burned building when he fell through a portion of it which had been burned from beneath. Pinned at his arm-pits, he was dragged out. He got his picture.
While carrying a hose line into the [illegible] structure, Firemen Harry Lee [illegible] David Ellis were knocked down when a [illegible]pling blew off the hose but [illegible] hurt.
[illegible] wild confusion was [illegible] street when members [illegible] whose homes were threatened by the flames, rushed to the street, many of them clad only in night clothing. Carrying screaming children with them, occupants of the dwellings also dashed out with furniture and personal belongings which they piled in the street. Cellars of the score of houses on Segal street were flooded by water from the firehoses, which was knee-deep amid the ruins.
Families whose homes were menaced and who were driven from the dwellings were those of Paul Warner, 1002 Segal street; Frank Bosco, 1004; Giles Beebe, 1006; Howard Pratt, 1008; Mrs. Mary Sweeten, 1010; Charles Randall, 1012; Harry Burr, 1014; John Sweeten, 1016; Leona Moore, 1018; Dora Annastasio, 1020; John Hamilton, 1024; Abe Granis, 1026; George Stewart, 1028; Arthur Wilkins, 1032; Charles Stutzenburg, 1034; George Wilson, 1036; George Bowers, 1040, and A. W. Dickinson, 1042 Segal street.
The fire today was the fourth big blaze that has occurred on the site. The first was in 1867, when a roller mill and nail factory were destroyed.
In the second, in 1908, flames destroyed the morocco plant of R. H. Evans Company.
In 1919, with the temperature at the zero point, firemen were again called out to fight another disastrous blaze in the Evans plant that had been rebuilt.
Iron Bars Prevent Rescue of Boy Who Dies in Camden Fire
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Six Firemen Injured in Heroic Attempts to Save Little Victim
Doomed Lad Stares Piteously Out Windows as House Is Blazing Furnace
Iron bars built into the window sills when the place was used as a bank prevented the rescue of a boy who perished in a blaze at 1009 Broadway, Camden, last night.
In desperate endeavor to rescue the boy, Harry Armbruster, Jr., 11 years old, six firemen were seriously injured. All are in the Cooper Hospital with various injuries.
The firemen on their ladders could see the boy through the window in his little sleeping room at the rear of the second floor. They tried to wrench out the bars, but, built to resist burglars, the staunch pieces of iron resisted all their efforts.
The front of the house was an inferno of flame and smoke, and entrance to the doomed boy in that way was impossible. No one could have lived in the furnace a moment.
The frenzied firemen, stung to deeds of super-heroism by the sight of the little chap staring white-faced through the iron bars that were to cost him his life, broke into the building on the ground floor and groped their way through the smoke to his room.
Help Comes Too Late
But it was too late. The flames and smoke had licked their way to him, and when the firemen fought their way through he was unconscious. He died on the way to the hospital.
The names of the fire heroes who are in the hospital are:
CAPTAIN WILLIAM PRICE, No. 2 Truck.
FIREMAN JOHN HUNT, No. 8 Engine Company.
FIREMAN IRWIN BISHOP, No. 2 Truck Company.
CAPTAIN CHARLES WATKINS, No. 7 Engine Company.
FIREMAN WILLIAM MERRIGAN, No. 7 Engine Company.
FIREMAN WILLIAM REYNOLDS, No. 2 Truck Company.
The two firemen who carried the boy out were Captain Price and Hoseman Reynolds.
Replete with dramatic details, the story of the rescue will go down in the annals of New Jersey’s fire-fighters’ heroism in golden letters, for the firemen who tried distinguished themselves in their brave attempts.
The building where the fire occurred is owned by Harry Ambruster, the boy’s father. It was formerly occupied by the Broadway Trust Company, but is now a store building.
Ambruster maintains a cleaning establishment in the basement of the building and lives above the store. He is a widower and his son was motherless. Shortly before 11 o’clock, Ambruster, preparatory to closing his cleaning establishment, went into the yard behind the store, and smelling smoke, investigated. He found that the smoke came from the cellar and he knew that his son was asleep in the front room of the second-story.
Because the building was formerly occupied by the banking company, all the windows are protected with heavy iron barrings. Ambruster was torn between two duties. He wanted to run upstairs to get his son safely out of the burning structure and he wanted to turn in an alarm. Shouting “Fire! Fire!” he ran to the front part of the building, and tried to go upstairs.
Staircase Mass of Flames
The staircase was in the midst of a roaring mass of flames, however, and he could not get upstairs. Distraught, the father frantically ran hither and thither outside. The fire engines had been summoned and firemen had raised ladders to the second story window, having been told of the presence of the sleeping boy.
The bars were immovable. Captain Price pried with an iron crowbar, but in vain. In the meantime Firemen Hunt, Bishop and Merrigan and Captain Watkins had tried to make their way through the burning first floor to the staircase and the sleeping boy.
Two Overcome in Building
Bishop and Merrigan were overcome and lay inside the burning building unknown to the firemen on the outside. It looked as though the floor would collapse at any minute.
Captain Price and Reynolds, staggering through the hall with the almost dead boy, passed the unconscious Bishop and Merrigan on the way.
Price Goes It Alone
At the foot of the stairs, Reynolds, overcome by the dense smoke, collapsed. Captain Price continued alone, carrying the boy over his shoulder.
The lad’s father was by this time frantic with excitement. When Price appeared in the doorway framed against a background of rolling flames, he ran forward and seized his son. They were placed in an ambulance and rushed to the Cooper Hospital. There doctors pronounced the boy dead.
Captain Price in the meantime had told of the three unconscious firemen inside the burning building who were in imminent danger of death should the floor fall in.
Rescuers immediately dashed into the burning structure and brought out their comrades and all were rushed to the hospital.
The building, a two-story brick edifice, was directly behind the Lyric Theatre, where a crowded audience was witnessing a motion picture performance. Realizing the proximity of the fire, and fearing a panicky stampede, the orchestra continued to play, and the operator was given orders to continue the picture then showing for ten minutes. Then the smoke became noticeable within the theatre, and the performance was ended. The audience left the theatre quietly, without any sign of fear or panic.
Three alarms were turned in during the fire, and the building was practically destroyed.
Early Donor in Aluminum Drive Hopes ‘Gift’ Will Be Sent to Hitler
Camden Courier-Post —
Campaign Opens Here with Distribution of Pamphlets on Details; Metal Collection Listed for Thursday at Nine City Centers
Editorial: “Pans and Patriots” appears on page eight.
Hitler’s anti-Semitic nation may receive a “gift” in the near future from a South Camden Jewish resident, but the Fuehrer will not send back a “thank you” note.
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. Only pamphlets giving details about the canvass were distributed with the old pots, discarded pans and other outmoded aluminum utensils to be collected Thursday.
However, 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 (several words censored) Hitler.”
Seized Cooker in Gifts
A Boy Scout’s pint-size cooking pan was taken into police headquarters by Norwood Greene, a Secret Service Agent, who said the utensil was confiscated in a counterfeit raid a short time ago at Wilmington, Del.
Greene was instructed by a superior to turn the pan over to the Camden aluminum drive. In doing so the agent had to request a receipt signed in triplicate from police headquarters since that is the required procedure in disposing of any seized articles by the Secret Service.
Beginning at 7 p. m. approximately 300 Boy Scouts, veterans and volunteers, began their systematic house-to-house canvass delivering the pamphlets explaining the drive and requesting contributions. The same workers will return Thursday to pick up whatever aluminum the householders care to give.
Anyone may take his contributed articles to any one of the collection centers. From the nine centers the aluminum will be taken to Fifth and Arch streets where a large wire enclosed bin has been constructed.
Mayor Heads Group
Mayor George E. Brunner heads the campaign as honorary chairman and William C. Schriver is general chairman. Heading a group of World War veterans engaged in the effort is Edward J. Quinlan. The veterans laid out the nine districts of the city for the collections. The Scouts are directed in the drive by Scout Commissioner Thomas Norris.
Schriver reported last night when the workers called at many homes the housewives had already collected the old utensils and had them ready for collection piled in boxes. The workers told the residents, however, the donations would not be collected until Thursday.
The nationwide appeal for gifts of aluminum will end July 29. Similar drive plans have been made in every community in the county. In many municipalities, property owners have donated the use of vacant buildings as collection centers.
The Camden city districts, and those in charge of collection, are:
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 Company No. 3, 1800 Broadway, Eugene Conlin.
Fourth district, Engine Company No. 6, Front and Linden, Samuel Shapiro.
Fifth district, Engine Company No. 7, 1115 Kaighn, James H. O’Brien.
Sixth district, Engine Company No. 8, Sixth and Kaighn, Albert C. Becker.
Seventh district, Engine Company No. 9, Twenty-seventh and Federal, Roy C. Adams.
Eighth district, Engine Company No. 10, Ninth and Morgan, Burnell S. Hartman.
Ninth district, Engine Company No. 11, Twenty-seventh and Hayes, Michael Mungioli.
Mrs. Carrie R. Bean, past department president of the Veterans of Foreign Wars auxiliary, and Mrs. Anne D. Spooner, president-elect of the Camden County American Legion auxiliaries, have appealed to members of all county auxiliary posts of both organizations to assist in collections.
Albert Barker of Engine Company 7 at 1535 Mt. Ephraim Avenue — 1950s
Albert Barker of Engine Company 7 at 1535 Mt. Ephraim Avenue — 1950s
Engine Company 7 Hose Wagon Accident
— Photo by Bob Bartosz
Camden Fire Department Engine Company 7 hose wagon vs. 1941 Plymouth at Baird Avenue and Park Boulevard; Police Department Sergeant John Ferry at far right
Nov 8, 1952 CFD Eng 7 hose wagon
vs 1941 Plymooth at Baird & Park blvd
PD Sgt John Ferry on far right
Captain Charles E. 'Ed' Mayo — 1994
Captain Charles E. “Ed” Mayo — 1994
Squad Company 7 — 1995
1995
2419 Arnold Street — April 20, 2005
A reported dwelling fire with a report on an infant trapped was dispatched in Camden City at 0042 hrs. Engine 10, Squad 7, Engine 8, Ladder 2, Rescue 1, and battalion 1 responded to 2419 Arnold Street. Camden County Radio advised crews a neighbor reported that an infant was still inside on the 2nd floor. Engine 10 arrived on location with heavy fire showing from division 2 of a 2 story middle of the row occupied dwelling. Battalion 1 arrived and struck the all hands. Battalion 1 also requested another engine and ladder crew. Rescue 1 arrived and searched the dwelling with negative results. Secondary searches also were negative. Crews contained the fire to 1 unit with no exposure damage. The cause of the blaze is under investigation by the Camden Fire Marshals.
Story and Photo: Ted Aurig
2419 Arnold Street — April 20, 2005
620 Sycamore Street — June 17, 2006
Busy 24 Hours in Camden NJ — 6 Working Fires along with a Rescue
Camden Firefighters had a busy 24 hour tour starting on June 16th and ending on June 17th with four all hands fires and two second alarms all in the South Camden section of the city. The first job was a working fire in a row of two story dwellings in the 1200 block Morton Street. Later that day they had a working fire in the middle of a row of two story dwellings in the 700 block of Spruce Street. A few hours later in the am hours they were called to the 700 block of Cherry Street.
First in companies found heavy fire showing in a large 3 story brick dwelling that put all companies to work within minutes; part of the structure collapsed and Battalion 1 called for a second alarm. A few minutes later while the fire was going, another alarm came in for a working fire at 908 Haddon Avenue, about 6 blocks away. As the companies were coming in they found another blaze a block away from the first job, in a row of 2 story dwellings at 903 Haddon Avenue.
Fire Radio put in a special call to Camden County Fire Units to respond into the City. Fire Companies from Gloucester City, Oaklyn, Westmont, Collingswood, Pennsauken Township were put to work fighting these blazes. By 4:30 AM all the fires were placed under control.
A few hours later firefighters were dispatched to 620 Sycamore Street for an explosion and fire with reports of people trapped. Engine 8 was first in with Captain Dan Baker. He reported he had the end of a row brick 2 story dwelling that had exploded and had numerous people injured and one victim still trapped on the collapsed second floor and he requested the second alarm to be transmitted. Rescue 1 was arriving with Captain Frank Sandrock and Battalion 1 Chief Daryl Lewison along with Squad 7 and Engine 1 and Ladder Companies 2 and 1 and Battalion Chief 2 Mike Dipascale on the second alarm with Engine Company 6 and 9, Ladder 3 and Special Operations Rescue unit and Car 3 with Deputy Chief Mike Harper and Chief of Department Joseph Marini in Car 1.
Firefighters could hear a female calling for help from the collapsed second floor. Firefighters went to work shoring up the collapsed building. Captain Sandrock of Rescue 1 was OPS Officer. About 30 minutes later firefighters were able to get to the badly injured woman. She had burns over 70 percent of her body. Rescue 1 firefighter Eli Hall was sent up the ladder to bring her down. Camden EMS removed her to Cooper Hospital Trauma. Two other males were blown out of the second floor of the building onto the street and were taken to the hospital by Camden EMS. Two of the victims were admitted in critical condition.
The explosion is under investigation by the Camden Fire Marshal Office and Camden Police Arson Unit along with the ATF. Cherry Hill Twp Canteen Unit RIT team and Rehab Unit, and County Fire Police and Camden County Field Com units were special called. This was a busy 24 hours with 4 all hands and 2 second alarm fires and a life saving rescue.
Story and Photo: Bob Bartosz
620 Sycamore Street — June 17, 2006
July 1, 2010
July 1, 2010
ALLEY CATS
ENGINE 7 SQUAD
1910 2010
CAMDEN, NJ
“100 YEARS ON THE AVENUE”
CFD
JULY 1, 1910 - JULY 1, 2010
'100 Years on the Avenue' — July 1, 2010
Firefighters David Goree and Daniel Seybert
Captain Brian Emenecker and Firefighter David A. Smalls
Firefighter Daniel Seybert
Firefighter David A. Smalls
Captain Brian Emenecker and Ernie Santone, CFD retiree
Visiting Firefighters
Dave Hernandez, staff photographer from www.phillyfirenews.com, and Firefighter Daniel Seybert
“100 Years on the Avenue” — July 1, 2010
Firefighter Gerry Medina, Fire Department Chaplain — July 6, 2010
Squad Company 7 — December 2010
Captain Bryan Emenecker, Firefighters Dan Seybert, Joel Thompson, Tony Smalls
Squad Company 7 — 2010
Captain Bryan Emenecker, Firefighters Joel Thompson, Dan Seybert, & Tony Smalls
February 22, 2013
Photo taken from second floor of Squad Company 7, February 22, 2013. Parking the Cadillac in front of the firehouse is selfish and rude. Seeing this car being towed to the impound lot has to make one smile.
Squad Company 7 — April 27, 2013
Squad Company 7 — April 27, 2013
Credits
Many of the photographs on this website are from the limited edition book “Fire Department Camden NJ 125 Anniversary 1869–1994” and were taken by Department Photographer Bob Bartosz. Others are courtesy of Joel Bain of the Camden Fire Department. More recent photos were taken by Phil Cohen.
Gives Medal to Veteran Fireman
Camden Post-Telegram —
One of the happiest men in Camden is Engineer John A. Dold, who to-day retired on a pension after twenty-five years of faithful service in the Camden Fire Department.
To-day the “boys” at No. 7 Engine Company, where Dold was stationed as engineer for several years, presented him with a handsome gold medal as a mark of their esteem and respect.
The medal is suitably inscribed with Mr. Dold’s name and his history in the department. On the reverse side is an engraved fire engine in action. The medal is a very fine example of the engraver’s art. He was also presented with a silk American flag.
Fireman William Peters presented the flag and medal. The affair was a great surprise to Dold. He spoke with feeling when he thanked the firemen.
As “Gus” took his departure from the fire house the alarm box sounded a farewell. He placed the flag on his shoulder and with the medal pinned on his chest he marched proudly out Kaighn avenue as the boys gave him a rousing send-off.
William Buzine succeeds Dold as engineer at No. 7 Engine Company. Robert Whitley succeeds Buzine at No. 5 Engine Company and Arthur Wingate will be travelling engineer.
Engineer Dodd Retires
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Formally retiring yesterday after twenty-five years of service in the Camden Fire Department, John A. Dodd, engineer of Engine Company No. 7, was presented with a gold medal by his comrades in the company. On one side of the medal is an inscription briefly setting forth his record and on the other side is a reproduction of a fire engine in action. William Buzine takes his place as engineer of No. 7. Robert Whitley goes to No. 5, in Buzine’s place, and Arthur Wingate takes the assignment of traveling engineer.
Four Firemen Are Trapped in Collapse of Brick Wall
Camden Evening Courier —
Flames Sweep Warehouse in South Camden
Fire Fighters are Rescued From Beneath Heaps of Hot Bricks
Burning Tires Send Up Clouds of Dense Smoke
Bantivoglio Junk Yard Destroyed — Loss Runs Into Thousands
Four firemen were buried under a falling brick wall, two of them believed to have been seriously hurt, and thousands of dollars worth of property was destroyed in a spectacular fire at the two story brick warehouse of Bantivoglio & Son, junk dealers, 252 Division Street, at 9:00 o’clock this morning.
The injured firemen attached to Engine Company No. 7, all of whom were taken to West Jersey Homeopathic Hospital, were:
Captain Watkin, 45 years old, 927 North Front street. Four fractured ribs and a punctured lung. He may die.
Nicholas Romaine, 43 years old, hoseman, 1271 Chase Street, lacerations of scalp and possible fracture of right ankle.
Louis Quinton, 25 years old, hoseman, 626 Viola Street, probable fracture of right shoulder.
Lester Anderson, 24 years old, hoseman, 1917 Niagara Road; lacerations of scalp and forehead and fractured left wrist.
None of the four were able to walk when they were lifted from where they had been struck down by the falling bricks. They were carried to the police ambulance and hurried at once to the hospital.
Residents of the neighborhood sat that a flash and a roar, as of an explosion, was their first warning of a blaze. The burned building has a frontage of 75 feet on Division Street. In a yard behind it there was a shed piled high with baled paper and three piled of used automobile tires. These caught fire and sent up black smoke that was visible for miles.
Smoke Hampers Firemen
A huge crowd of spectators already had gathered to watch the fire in this thickly populated section when the firemen arrived. The flames were threatening surrounding buildings, and the smoke was so dense that the men had difficulty finding their way out in the vicinity of the burning structure.
Captain Watkin and the three other fire fighters started along a driveway beside the building with a length of hose which they intended to use on the blazing sheds in the rear. They were passing a window when there was a muffled roar and a blast of dense smoke blinded and confused them. By shouts to one another they heard that their number was still intact. The blast of black smoke had been caused by the collapse of a loft and the falling of several bales of paper.
100,000 Tires Burn
More than 100,000 used automobile tires were destroyed in the blaze. The flames jumped a hundred feet into the air at one stage. Commissioner Hitchner watched the firemen at work from the roof of a nearby garage.
When the blaze had been extinguished Mr. Hitchner left to visit the injured firemen in the hospital. He commended the four men on their bravery and wished them a speedy recovery. Quinton is driver for Battalion Chief Wade.
The flames threatened to spread to the large garage of Louis Vananeri, on Spruce Street, directly in the rear of the junk yard. Firemen mounted the roof of this building and drove the flames back.
Today’s blaze was the fourth that had visited the warehouse this year. The fire today is believed to have been caused by spontaneous combustion.
Carter Directs Rescue
The quarter were stooping to take up their hose line again when there was a crack like the report of a pistol, followed by a terrific roar.
Fire Chief Carter, personally directing his men, was about 50 feet away, and saw the four men buried as the bricks thudded down from the crumbling wall.
“Come on boys, there are four men under here,” the chief yelled, and soon a score of hands were tearing frantically at the heaps of hot brick.
Bus Delays Ambulance
The police ambulance in which the injured men were placed was delayed for five minutes on its way to the hospital by the refusal of a Public Service bus driver to give it the right of way. According to Policeman Howard Fisher, the busman was arrested. The police say he will be prosecuted to the full extent of the ordinance in such cases. The ambulance was forced to remain behind the bus for a block and a half, according to the reports.
The pillar of smoke sent up by the blazing warehouse, sheds and 50-foot high piles of auto tires, drew thousands of spectators from all directions. Three alarms were turned in to the fire department in rapid succession. The police were called upon at once to establish lines for keeping back the crowd.
Bales of paper stored in the main building, as well as in the shed behind, absorbed tons of water poured into the place by the firemen’s hose, and the added weight snapped off fire-weakened floor beams like burning matches. The falling timbers and masses of packed paper added to the danger and difficulty of the firemen’s task.
Only by a long and stubborn fight were the firemen able to prevent a conflagration among surrounding buildings.
The big warehouse became a red hot furnace. The heat was so intense a half-hour after the fire was discovered that telephone and electric light poles on the other side of Division Street were ignited. “Trouble crews” from the telephone and electric companies were rushed to the place to guard their wires against falling and injuring persons below.
Loss Placed at $50,000
It was roughly estimated that the damage to the junk sheds and warehouse would reach $50,000.
Mrs. Leona Brown, who had just moved today into the house at 264 Division Street, just east of the burned plant, was driven from her new home by the dense clouds of smoke from a blazing of automobile tires that towered above the west wall of her two-story dwelling.
She was unable to return for any of her belongings when the flames began to eat their way through the west wall of her house.
The fire was the second within a month in the junk yard, which is closely surrounded by frame residences, a frame negro church and other buildings on all sides.
Romaine Seriously Hurt
Hoseman Romaine was reported by surgeons at the West Jersey Homeopathic Hospital as the most seriously hurt of the firemen caught by the falling wall. He was cut above the head, badly bruised about the back, and one of his ankles is believed to have been fractured.
Captain Watkin suffered several fractured ribs.
Hoseman Anderson was cut and burned about the face and his right wrist.
Hoseman Quinton suffered burns, cuts and bruises, and it is believed that one of his shoulders was fractured.