Introduction
George Dixon Jr. was born in Camden, New Jersey on September 2, 1932 to George and Ellen Dixon. The family was living at 777 Division Street in the late 1940s.
George Dixon Jr. was appointed to the Camden Fire Department on March 15, 1958. He was promoted to Captain on September 1, 1967. After over 37 years of distinguished service, George Dixon Jr. retired on November 1, 1995.
George Dixon Jr. was living at 1554 Ormond Avenue in Camden’s Parkside district by the fall of 1959. He appears to have made his home at that address until his death on February 4, 2000.
Photos
George Dixon Jr.
Graduation of Probationary Fireman
1959
Graduation of Probationary Fireman (from left) Chief John Graham, Captain Anthony Dzinski, Assistant Training Officer Nicholas George, Firemen Herman Reed, Bertram Dahl, Joseph Dowhy, Joseph Simpson, Edward Morgenweck, Charles Christensen, Joseph Wolfinger, George Dixon, Edward Ulrich, Reginald Laws, Grant Keller, and Chief Edward MacDowell
Fire Pumper Crashes Into Camden Office
Philadelphia Inquirer —
A fire engine crashed through the front of an automobile insurance office in Camden on Saturday, cracking the entire brick face of the three-story building and leaving it in danger of collapse.
All traffic was halted in the area of Broadway and Pine sts. in fear the rumble of buses and trucks would bring the building down. The fire engine was left inside the bulk glass front of the Basin & Basin Insurance Co. office for nearly three hours until city workers could shore up the building so the vehicle could be removed safely.
COLLIDES WITH AUTO
The apparatus, a pumper of Engine 1, 4th and Pine sts., was responding to a mattress fire at 434 S. 6th st. at 2:30 P.M. when it collided with an automobile.
Both vehicles mounted the curb at the southeast corner of the downtown intersection.
Mrs. Maria Gruber, 74, of 505 Pine st., who was walking by the building was brushed by the fire engine and knocked to the sidewalk, where she was showered with glass from the smashed window and door. She was admitted to West Jersey Hospital with fractures of the right ankle and lower right leg and cuts of the face and legs.
FIREMAN INJURED
Fireman Isaac Muns, 36, of 717 State st., driver of the pumper, suffered a fractured right foot and leg cuts and was admitted to Cooper Hospital. Fireman George Dixon, 31, of 1554 Ormand ave., Camden, who was riding on the pumper, was treated at the same hospital for cuts of the right leg and right hand and then released.
Two young people in the automobile also were treated for injuries at Cooper Hospital. They were Charles Wilson, 24, of 407 Monmouth st., Gloucester City, N. J., and Janet Mayhew, 17, of 210 Mercer st., also of Gloucester city. Both received head cuts and the girl suffered a back injury.
Raymond McClintock, 25, of 530 Lester Terrace, Camden, a Camden Public Works Department employe, was treated at the Cooper Hospital for lacerations of the neck and left hand.
He was assisting in the placing of shoring to brace the building against collapse after the crash when struck by a piece of glass that fell from one of the shattered windows.
CROWD GATHERS
Owen Ribble, manager of the insurance office, said he worked there alone Saturday afternoon and left just 15 minutes before the accident occurred. He returned to the scene after police summoned him from his home at 340 Coles ave., Cherry Hill.
Police moved back a crowd of several hundred persons who gathered at the intersection. Then they cordoned off Broadway at Spruce and Line sts., a block north and south of Pine, and barricaded Pine st. at 5th and 6th, a block east and west of Broadway.
William H. Harker, Camden city director of public works, reached the scene at 4 P. M. and immediately declared the building condemned.
The Fire Department’s heavy-duty rescue squad built heavy lumber supports against the building and cautiously removed the fire engine at 5:20 P. M.
Fire Engine Supports Damaged Building
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Camden fire engine supports building at Broadway and Pine sts. after pumper rammed office front following collision with automobile. Impact cracked walls, leaving building in danger of collapse.
Six Injured in Crash Of Fire Truck, Auto
Camden Courier-Post —
A city fireman and five other persons were injured Saturday when a fire engine collided with a car at Broadway and Pine st. and then plunged into an insurance office on the corner, according to police.
Admitted to Cooper Hospital with severe cuts was Fireman Isaac Muns, 36, of 710 State rd., identified by police as the driver of the engine. His condition was listed as serious. George Dixon, 31, of 1554 Ormond ave., the other fireman riding the engine, was treated at the hospital for cuts.
Mrs. Maria Gruber, 74, of 505 Pine st., who police said was standing on the corner waiting for a bus when the accident happened, was admitted to West Jersey Hospital with multiple fractures of the right leg.
Others Treated
Also treated at Cooper Hospital for multiple injuries were Charles Wilson, 24, of 407 Monmouth st., Gloucester City, identified as the driver of the car, and his passenger, Janet Mayhew, 17, of 210 Mercer st., Gloucester.
Workmen began shoring up the front of the building occupied by the Basin and Basin Agency Inc., automobile insurers, as fears were expressed the building might collapse from the impact if the engine were moved. Raymond McClintock, a city employe, of 530 Lester ter., sustained a cut that required four stitches in his neck when a piece of glass fell from the second floor while the shoring operation was underway.
Agency Was Closed
The agency was closed when the engine plunged into the three-story brick office building on the southeast corner.
Police said it had not been determined whether Mrs. Gruber was hurt by falling debris or by the engine itself as it jumped over the curb.
The engine was responding to an alarm sounded for a minor fire at 434 S. 6th st. It was confined to one room of a private house.
Half Hidden
Camden Courier-Post —
HALF HIDDEN after plunging into building at Pine st. and Broadway following collision with a car, a fire engine acts as a support for the shaken structure. Six persons were injured, one seriously, when the engine ran out of control after the crash.
Fire Department Card
George Dixon Jr. – Camden Fire Department