Introduction
Benjamin C. Walters Jr., known as “Benny” Walters, served the Camden Fire Department for over five decades. He was appointed to Engine Company 1 in September 1920 and rose through the ranks to eventually serve as Camden Fire Marshal in the 1970s.
Throughout his career, Walters responded to countless fires across Camden, from routine calls to tragic incidents that claimed multiple lives. His service spanned from the early days of the department through the challenging urban fire crisis of the 1960s and 1970s.
Many Transfers of City Firemen
Camden Daily Courier —
Forces At Various Stations Changed By Most Recent Orders
16 GO TO FAIRVIEW HOUSE
Recent changes in the fire department announced have provided for the transfer of twenty men and the appointment of fourteen during the week to various fire houses in the city.
Sixteen of the men were transferred and given appointments to the two new companies formed to protect Fairview and Yorkship Village. The transfers and appointments went into effect Wednesday.
The following men received transfers and appointments to Engine Company 10, one of the new companies: Horace Cairns, captain; William Miller, lieutenant; Harry Selby, engineer; Charles Gaul, stoker; Spencer Smith, H. Walker, Rocco Fanelli and H. J. Zanders, hosemen.
Truck Company 4, the other new company, at Ninth and Morgan streets, received the following men: Mordecai Clark, captain; James McDermott, lieutenant; James Durkin, driver; Frank Burt, George C. Wade, Samuel Patton, William Reynolds and Harry Hallowell.
H. F. Ferrington and H. Bomgartel, new men, were appointed to Hook and Ladder Company 1, to fill the vacancies left by James McDermott and George C. Wade.
Go to Company No. 1
The following men received appointments to Engine Company 1: Walter Carter, George Henry Johnson, Lewis D. Stevens, Rosco Tribbett and Benjamin Walters. W. Scott Franklin was transferred from Company 9 to Engine Company 1 as lieutenant. George Cattell was transferred from Company 1 to Company 5 as stoker. Joseph Daley, of Company 5, was transferred to Engine Company 2 to fill the vacancy left by Harry Selby, who was transferred to Company 10.
Anthony Valentine and David Smith were transferred to Company 3, in place of William Miller and Charles Gaul, who were transferred to Company 10.
J. Lumbago was transferred to Company 7, in place of David Smith. George Pursglove and John Hunt were transferred to Company 8. Robert Gicks was transferred from Hose and Chemical Company 2 to Company 9, in place of William Reynolds, who was transferred to Company 10.
Nelson Till was appointed to the place left vacant by Robert Gicks, of Hose and Chemical Company 2. Herman Kreher was made lieutenant of Hose and Chemical Company 2.
Fire Service Photos
Fire Department service card for Benjamin C. Walters Jr.
Personal Notices
Camden Post-Telegram —
Mrs. John Hunt and children, George and Ruth, of 1009 South Sixth street, are spending the month of August with Mrs. Hunt’s mother in Atlantic City.
Fireman Benny Waters [sic], of No. 1 engine house, Fourth and Pine streets, leaves to-day for a vacation at the seashore.
William Taylor and Captain Lennox, both of No. 8 Engine Company, are spending their vacation at Atlantic City.
3 Boys Killed in Camden Fire
Camden Courier-Post —
2 Row Homes Destroyed
By EDMUND J. CHELLAND and JAY APT Courier-Post Staff
Three small boys died and four other persons were injured today as a flash fire swept two Camden row houses at 317-319 Mechanic Street.
One of the injured persons was hurt after leaping from a second floor window. Another was injured dashing through flames and smoke to safety. Two other persons escaped unharmed from the burning buildings.
Fire Marshall George Baxter and Fire Chief Edward Michelak said a kerosene space heater apparently malfunctioned and set off the blaze in the two-story frame home at 317 Mechanic Street shortly before 9 a.m.
Pronounced dead on arrival at West Jersey Hospital was Thomas Carter Ratcliffe, 9, of 317, and his nephews, Randy Smith, 1, of 319, and the latter’s brother, Robert, 2.
The baby was found dead in his crib. His brother and uncle were found dead in the uncle’s bedroom. The older Smith boy was believed to have run from his home through a second floor door to the adjacent home.
Treated at the same hospital were Mrs. Emiline Green, 66, of 321; Edwood Sharp, 39, of 317; Philip Borelli, a fireman attached to Ladder 2; and Patrolman James Snyder, 25, of 835 N. 35th Street.
Mrs. Green, a great-grandmother of the Smith brothers, was admitted for treatment of shock.
She tried to dash through a second-floor door linking her home to 319, but flames drove her back. She was led to safety by her husband, James, 60, custodian of a Glassboro dress factory.
Green also carried to safety the Ratcliffe boy’s sister, Shirley, 4, who had spent the night with them. Green and Shirley were unhurt.
Leaps 2 Floors
Sharp was admitted for treatment of a broken right ankle suffered when he leaped to the pavement from a second-floor window. He told police he was aroused by the fire, made a futile effort to rescue the Ratcliffe boy, then was forced to jump because of the intense heat and flames.
Borelli was overcome by smoke while battling the blaze. He was treated at the hospital and then returned to the scene.
Snyder was treated for an ankle injury. He and Patrolman George Pugh discovered the fire as they cruised in the neighborhood in Car No. 23.
They radioed an alarm, then tried to force their way into the house at 317 to rescue its occupants. A blast of heat and flame forced them to retreat as they opened the front door.
Firemen Find Bodies
More than 15 pieces of fire and rescue equipment responded to two alarms. They managed to keep the flames from spreading to the house at 321, although it suffered heavy smoke and water damage.
Five firemen searched the flame-and-smoke-filled buildings for the trapped boys and carried the bodies out.
The firemen were Benjamin Walter of Truck 2; William Kamman of Engine 3; William Stibi of Rescue 1; John DiMaggio, acting captain of Rescue 1 and John McGregory, a fire captain.
Three other occupants of the burned buildings were away at work at the time the fire broke out.
Coal Stove Out
Chief Michelak said they are Mrs. Emma Lou Ratcliffe, of 317, who is employed by a Swedesboro cleaning establishment; Mrs. Patricia Smith of 319, who is employed by a Pennsauken cleaning establishment, and William Roane, 25, of 319, who is employed by a Camden barrel reconditioning firm.
Mrs. Ratcliffe is the daughter of Mrs. Green. She is the mother of Shirley and Thomas Carter Ratcliffe and of Mrs. Smith. The latter is the mother of Randy and Robert Smith.
The fire chief said that Mrs. Smith told him that she had found a cellar coal stove had gone out when she awakened to go to work. He said she told him she lit the kerosene heater and left for work about 8:25 a.m.
—Courier-Post Photo by Sam Kushner
SHROUD-COVERED body of one of three boys who died in row house fire on Mechanic Street near 4th is carried out by firemen while neighbors look on from nearby porch.
—Courier-Post Photo by Sam Kushner
SMOKE SWIRLS around fireman as he leans from second-floor window of row house on Mechanic Street near 4th where three small boys perished in blaze.
—Courier-Post Photo by Sam Kushner
CAMDEN POLICE lead woman tentatively identified as grandmother of three children killed in fire from scene of tragedy on Mechanic Street.
Cops Quiz Firebomb Suspects
Camden Courier-Post —
Camden police today were questioning several suspects in last night’s fire bombing of a home at 976 Woodland Avenue in which two persons escaped serious injury.
Witnesses told police they saw three or four juveniles running from the home of William Knoth Sr., shortly before a beer bottle containing either gasoline or kerosene exploded in the living room of their home.
Camden Fire Marshal Benjamin Walters said William Knoth, Jr., 46, and his mother, Martha, 74 were sitting in the living room watching television when the bomb was thrown through a window and exploded.
Harry Walker of 264 Branch Village and Thomas Jennings, of South 8th Street, who were walking in the area heard the bomb explode and rushed to the home and helped evacuate Knoth and his mother, Walters said.
Walters said he recommended that Mrs. Knoth be taken to a hospital for treatment of minor burns received in the bombing but that she declined and instead was taken to another son’s home in National Park.
Acting Bat. Chief William Hillman said 25 firemen and five pieces of equipment responded to the 8 p.m. alarm and brought the blaze under control in about 10 minutes.
He said the fire was confined to the living room of the home, and exterior of the two-story wood frame home. Some smoke and water damage was done to a neighboring home at 974 occupied by Willaim [sic] Hill, and his wife and 17-year-old son, Charles.
Police said Knoth could not think of any reason someone would want to firebomb his parents’ home.
Police said this was the first firebombing in the city since a bomb was thrown through the living room window of Camden County Municipal Judge William M. Rosenblatt on Aug. 22, 1972. There were no injuries.
Named: Personnel mentioned: Woodland Avenue, Benjamin Walters, William “Dean” Hillman, William Knoth Sr., William Knoth Jr., Martha Knoth, William Hill, Charles Hill, Harry Walker, and Thomas Jennings.
Fire Department Service Cards
Fire Department service card for Benjamin C. Walters Jr., page 2
Fire Department service card for Benjamin C. Walters Jr., page 3
Fire Department service card for Benjamin C. Walters Jr., page 4