Introduction
Albert E. Collum Jr. was born in Camden, New Jersey on September 18, 1936 to Albert E. and Florence Mack Collum. The 1947 Camden City Directory shows the family at 348 Atlantic Avenue, with the elder Collum working as a driver.
After graduating from high school Albert E. Collum Jr. served in the United States Navy, then worked for 10 years at the Brooklawn Shopping Center, prior to gaining an appointment to the Camden Fire Department on November 23, 1964. He entered the New Jersey Police and Fireman’s Pension Fund on March 1, 1965.
Albert E. Collum Jr. lived at 2409 Howell Street at the time of his appointment. When residency restrictions were lifted in the 1970s, he moved to Edgewater Park in Burlington County, and later lived in Delran and Riverside.
Albert E. Collum Jr. was promoted to Captain on December 30, 1969. He served with honor and distinction for over 26 years, retiring on March 1, 1991. He and his wife Peggy moved to Florida after his retirement. He passed away in Hudson, Florida on August 15, 2016.
6 City Firemen Take Oaths
Camden Courier-Post —
Department Rolls Now Total 176
Six new members of the Camden Fire Department yesterday were sworn into office by City Clerk Odorisio at ceremonies in the office of Director of Public Safety Kauffman.
The men and one other, to be sworn in Dec. 7, complete the present list of eligibles for the fire department. Kauffman said he will request the Civil Service Commission to set dates for new examinations for fire candidates. The city now enrolls 176 men in the department.
The new members are Daniel J. Sheppard, 22, of 1340 Dayton Street; Joseph W. Convery, 27, of 157 Eutaw Avenue; John R. Hertz, 23, of 2916 Congress Road; Albert E. Collum Jr., 28, of 2409 Howell Street; David W. Sanders, 31, of 821 Line Street, and Albert Jones, 24, of 220 North 11th Street. The seventh man is Daniel O. Mulvey, 24, of 23 North 25th Street.
The men will be assigned to the fire training school for one month and for one week at a fire school at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.
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Police, Fire Tests Take Heavy Toll
Camden Courier-Post —
The high rate of failures on police and fire examinations was repeated yesterday in the Civil Service Department’s announcement of the results of tests for fire captain and patrolman in Camden City.
In the captain’s test, 23 passed, 64 failed and two did not show up for the test. In the test for patrolman, 10 passed, 32 failed and 14 failed to show. In the non-residents’ test for Camden patrolman, six passed, eight failed and five did not appear.
In the fire captain’s test, Kenneth M. Clark of 111 North 26th Street, Camden, a veteran, qualified with a score of 92.6, highest for the seven veterans who qualified. Joseph R. Gfrorer of 3040 N. Constitution Road, Camden, was highest of applicants with a score of 96.5.
Others who passed the fire captain’s test were: George D. Getty of 1111 N. 34th Street, 95.4; John DiMaggio of 319 Beckett Street, 84; Joseph J. Anderson of 2406 Denfield Street, 92.96; Philip A. Maycott of 2836 Lincoln Avenue, 90.5; James McMaster of 402 N. 37th Street, 90.2; William D. Hillman of 3071 Constitution Road, 89.4; Joseph Arensberg of 1041 N. 32nd Street, 88.3; Robert E. Briggs of 2861 Congress Road, veteran, 86.3; John S. Brzozowski of 371 N. 34th Street, 86.2; Edmund J. Gorczynski of 272 N. 33rd Street, veteran, 85.4; Anthony F. Orme of 3317 River Avenue, veteran, 82.4; William B. Young of 1126 N. 33rd Street, 80.5; William D. Ayers of 2846 Pierce Avenue, veteran, 79.1; Joseph Dowhy Sr. of 866 Beideman Avenue, 78.9; James O. Jones of 3214 Mitchell Street, 78.3; Joseph Chelhowski of 1324 Sheridan Street, veteran, 75.8; James T. Robinson of 504 Trenton Avenue, 75.5; Anthony D. Moffa of 23 Leonard Avenue, 73.3; Robert E. Davenport of 1026 Reeves Avenue, 73; John F. Gaffney Jr. of 78 S. Dudley Street, 72.8, and Albert E. Collum Jr. of 2409 Howell Street, 72.6.
Patrolman (residents) who passed: Joseph A. Fox of 2117 Mount Ephraim Avenue, 77.1; Charles W. Cahilly 2d of 2015 Westminster Avenue, 75; Edward B. Bush of 3210 Mitchell Street, 78.9; John F. Oppmann of 550 N. 30th Street, 77.7; Gary E. Miller of 486-A Rand Street, 77.4; Donald J. Tymusczuk of 2737 Concord Avenue, 75.1; Joseph A. Broccoli of 1467 Pershing Street, 74.2; Richard W. Merta of 1641 Pulaski Street, 72.9, and Robert G. Gibson of 572 Clinton Street, 72.6.
Patrolman (nonresidents) who passed: Flem J. Hopkins Jr., 78; Elwood L. Ridge, 75.4; Joseph E. Benton, 74.7; David Vautier Jr., 74.1, and Frank R. Pedano, 73.5.
825 Fern Street Fire
Camden Courier-Post —
Body of child, one of two young victims of Camden blaze, is carried from a row house at 825 Fern Street by Captain Al Collum of Engine Company 1
Fatal Fire Truck Crash Is Blamed on Their Sirens
Camden Courier-Post —
By Tony Davis, Courier-Post Staff
A Camden fire official said he believes Saturday’s collision of two fire trucks that killed one person and injured 14 others was caused by the inability of the drivers to hear each other’s vehicle over their own sirens.
However, Acting First Battalion Chief Joseph Anderson stressed that he was only “theorizing” and that a full investigation of the crash would begin today. The two trucks, Engines One and Eight, collided at 6th and Pine Streets at about 5:15 pm, Saturday, Anderson said.
The impact of the crash sent Engine Eight, which was heading north on 6th Street, into the Livecchi grocery store while Engine One, which was heading east on Pine Street, stopped safely about one block north on 6th Street, Anderson said.
The two vehicles were en route to the scene of a minor fire in a vacant house about two blocks from the scene of the collision. Anderson said another truck was called to extinguish the blaze.
Dead was 65-year-old Wilkins Tisdale, of 583 Line Street, Camden, according to Blair M. Murphy, an investigator for the Camden County Medical Examiner’s office. Murphy said the causes of death were internal injuries and a severed arm.
Tisdale, a retired construction worker who had just walked out of the grocery store, was pinned for 90 minutes under a large freezer in the store, Anderson said.
Juanita Dorsey, 34, 704 Pine Street, Camden, who had been standing inside the store, was pinned under the freezer when it was hit by the truck, Anderson said. The woman was listed in satisfactory condition in Cooper Hospital with back injuries.
Richard Sorenson, a hoseman for Engine Eight, was in critical condition at Cooper with a punctured lung, broken ribs and a broken nose, right shoulder and right arm.
Paul Delfing, driver of Engine One, and James Peterson, driver of Engine Eight, were both pinned inside the cabs of their vehicles for 20 minutes, and later treated and released from Cooper for head and facial injuries, Anderson said.
Sorenson and five other firemen on the two trucks were all thrown from them by the crash. The other firemen injured were Joseph Chelhowski, captain of Engine Eight, who was in satisfactory condition in West Jersey Hospital, Northern Division with ankle injuries and bruises.
Albert Collum, captain of Engine One, who was in stable condition at Cooper with a concussion, a broken finger, contusions and bruises.
William Smith, a hoseman for Engine Eight, who was being held for observation at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital with head and facial cuts and bruises.
John Asher, a hoseman for Engine One, and Paul Capazola, a hoseman for Engine Eight, who were treated and released from Cooper for cuts and bruises.
Five other persons were injured, none seriously, in the crash. One, Leonard Medford, of 611 Line Street, Camden, was in satisfactory condition at Cooper Hospital with leg injuries. The others were all treated and released from Cooper and Lourdes hospitals.
Anderson said the diesel engines of the two trucks both received “extensive” damage and that he did not know if the eight-year-old trucks, which he said usually last 15 years, could be used again.
Chief Edward V. Michalak said the department has pressed two of its older, auxiliary pumpers into service to keep the city’s nine engine companies and three ladder companies at full strength.
Michalak said, however, that the two trucks damaged were among the newest the city owned.
Although he would put no dollar estimate on the damages, he said they were “excessive” and that it would not be known until at least Tuesday whether they could be repaired.
The city will not be receiving any new fire trucks until next April, when delivery of four pumpers is expected.
Although the city has experienced fire truck mishaps before, the chief, a 33-year veteran of the force, said this was the most serious.
He would not comment on the cause of the accident pending completion of the department’s investigation.
Fire Truck Crash Photos
Camden Courier-Post —
Spectators peer solemnly at Camden fire truck that crashed into corner grocery at 6th and Pine Street, Camden killing one man and injuring 14 other persons after collision with another fire truck at intersection
Cab of fire engine lies atop freezer where it came to rest after slamming through grocery store wall
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Fire Department Personnel Card
Albert Edward Collum, Jr. Obituary
Tampa Bay Times —
Age 79, originally of Camden, NJ, died Aug. 15, 2016, in Hudson. Albert served in the U.S. Navy and as a Captain with the Camden Fire Department. He was preceded in death by his parents and two sisters. He is survived by his brother, Bill; son, Albert; wife, Peggy; daughter-in-law, Lorie; sister-in-law, Nancy; nephew, Brad; step-daughter, Stephanie; and his grandchildren, Cameron, Cody, Caleb, and Ava. Beloved father and grandfather, Albert will be laid to rest at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell.