Introduction
Howard L. Gick
HOWARD LAMBERT GICK was born on August 22, 1895 in Camden NJ. His father, Robert Gick, was a firefighter, beginning his career as a volunteer with Pavonia Hose Company No. 3 at Cambridge Avenue and River Road. Robert Gick was elected Chief of the Stockton Fire Department in 1897, and joined Camden’s paid fire department when Stockton was merged into Camden, eventually becoming Lieutenant of Hose and Chemical Company Number 2.
Howard Gick grew up at 924 North 26th Street. He followed his brother Joseph Gick and his father into the Camden Fire Department in 1923, and stayed with the department until his retirement in 1956. Fire Department records from 1931 show him living at 73 South 24th Street. By 1940 he had reached the rank of Captain, and was living at 2781 Stevens Street in East Camden, not far from his command, Engine Company 9, quartered at 27th & Federal Street. Before his retirement he had risen to District Chief.
After retirement Howard Gick took a post as the Fire Inspector at the Garden State Racetrack in Delaware Township (present-day Cherry Hill) NJ, where he remained employed until his death on June 4, 1968.
Hook & Ladder Co. 3, Hose & Chemical Co. 1 & Engine Co. 9 — 1924
Hook & Ladder Company 3: Captain Joseph B. Ayres, FF Dave Humphries, Al Dukes, John Mulligan, Bill Mountney, Bill Hopkins. Hose & Chemical Company 1: Captain Charles H. Robinson, FF William E. “Pud” Jaeckel, George Townsend, Ken Naylor, Howard Gick. Engine Company 9: Captain John H. Vickers, FF Irv Lederman, Newton Ash, Joe Gentlesk, Al Palmer
Engine Company 9 — December 1928
John Voll, Edward Peraria, Howard Gick, Captain Eli Hunt and George Townsend, firefighters from Engine Company 9, based on Twenty-seventh Street, take a moment together following a fire on a rainy night in December 1928, seen here in the first row from left to right. The blaze involved the offices of Leon E. Todd at 2623 Westfield Avenue. Todd was a realtor who helped develop Medford Lakes.
Engine Company 9 & Ladder Company 3 — circa 1946
John Mulligan passed away on July 28, 1947.
E9: Tim Shanahan,
Howard “Waxie” Harrington,
Howard Gick, unknown, Newton Ash
L3: Johnny Mulligan,
Dave Humphries,
Clarence Madden,
Harry Allebach,
unknown, Henry Zook
2 East Side Homes Damaged by Fire; 2 Firemen Injured
Camden Courier-Post —
Mother and Son in Burning House Unaware of Blaze Until Alarm
Two firemen suffered puncture wounds last night while fighting a fire which damaged two semi-detached frame dwellings at 125 and 127 North Twenty-third street.
The blaze, of undetermined origin, damaged the homes of Owen Carrigan, 125 North Twenty-third, and of John Winter next door.
The injured firemen are Junior Captain Howard Gick, of No. 9 Engine Company, who suffered a nail puncture through the right foot, and Edward Peira, Jr., of No. 3 Truck Company, wounded in the right hand by a nail. Gick was treated at Cooper Hospital and Perira at West Jersey Hospital.
Mrs. Carrigan and her son, Eugene, 23, were unaware of the fire which started in the rear of their home, until an alarm sounded. They fled quickly when neighbors turned in an alarm.
The flames were discovered by John James, 7, of 134 North Twenty-third street, who was playing in the street.
The blaze was mostly confined to the center partition between the homes but spread to the first floor rear of the Carrigan home and to the second floor of the home of John Winter next door.
Mrs. Carrigan’s husband, Owen, and two children, Agnes, 18, and James, 13, were absent at the time. No one was at home in the premises occupied by Winter, whose family consists of Esther, his wife; and two daughters, Doris, 11, and Barbara, 4.
Deputy Chief William Harring after directing firemen for 15 minutes summoned more help in fear the flames would get beyond control. Damages would not total $1000, he said.
The excitement attendant upon the fire, however, caused George Bruin, of 123 North Twenty-third street, to suffer a fainting spell. He has been under treatment for a heart condition.
Three Children Rescued, Three Firemen Injured
Camden Courier-Post —
Three small children were rescued Monday after almost being trapped in their smoke-filled apartment, while in another blaze, two firemen were injured when caught in a shower of broken glass.
The children were rescued by their father, David Kaluhiokaleni, 27, after he made his way up a stairway heavy with smoke and carried them from the third-floor bedroom of their home at 216 State street where they were taking their afternoon naps.
Kaluhiokaleni, employed by the Riverside Metals Co., told police he and his wife put the children — Jacqueline, 4; David, 3 and Joseph, eight months, to sleep about 1:30 p.m. and went downstairs to the apartment of his wife’s sister, Mrs. Cora Pantella, for lunch.
Leads 2 to Safety
At about 2:15 p.m., smoke was detected and Kaluhiokaleni groped his way up the stairway to the room where his children were sleeping. He led the two eldest down the stairway and carried the youngest.
Firemen, under the direction of Battalion Chief Harold Gick, confined the fire to the bedroom. Gick said it apparently started in the mattress of a bed adjoining the one in which the three children were sleeping.
The two firemen were injured while fighting a blaze that gutted a second-floor bedroom and damaged a gift shop at 1073 Haddon avenue.
3 Companies Fight Blaze
Traffic was detoured off Haddon avenue for more than an hour while firemen from two engine companies and one truck company battled the flames.
The injured firemen were Capt. John Hensen, 40, commander of Truck Co. No. 2, and Ladderman James Creato, 52, of the same company.
Hensen suffered a cut on the back of his left hand that required two stitches at West Jersey hospital. Creato was admitted to the hospital for treatment of a puncture wound of his right foot, suffered when he stepped on a nail.
The injured fire captain, who was sent home after treatment, was caught in a shower of glass when a window exploded from the heat.
The gift shop is operated by Mrs. Etta Kocher, 51. With her husband, Fred, general sales manager for a Philadelphia fruit produce company, she occupies the apartment above.
The two-story brick and frame building was vacant when firemen arrived. They had been summoned by a passerby when clouds of smoke began pouring from the upstairs bedroom window.
According to Battalion Chief Winfield Leviseur, the flames started in one of the bedrooms of the upstairs apartment, scorched the walls of an adjacent bedroom, and were threatening the gift shop below.
One Room Is Total Loss
One bedroom was a total loss, the other sustained water and smoke damage, and the gift shop was damaged by water.
Chief Leviseur said his men were hampered by dense smoke from the blazing mattress. He was unable to estimate damages, but said the cause was “possibly a careless smoker.”
Mrs. Kocher and her son, Sgt. Donald Kocher, 23, were away making a bank deposit at the time of the fire. They returned at the height of the blaze.
Sgt. Kocher, on a 20-day furlough from the Indiantown Gap Military Reservation, said he was on orders to report to Officers’ Candidate School at Fort Sill, Okla.
In addition to Truck Company 2, Engine Companies 8 and 7 responded to the alarm. Truck Company 2 and Engine Company 8 are located at 6th and Kaighn avenues; Engine Company 7 answered the alarm from its headquarters at Mt. Ephraim and Kaighn avenues.
Fire Sweeps Mickle Street Coat Factory
Camden Courier-Post —
50 Workers Idled; Damage Placed At $40,000
Fire swept through a considerable portion of a woman’s coat manufacturing plant at 210 Mickle street early today, causing damage estimated by the owner at between $40,000 and $50,000.
About 50 women employes of the Progressive Garment Co., Inc. were thrown out of work as the result of the fire. The company is owned by Benjamin Schwartz, of Fifty-second street and Montgomery avenue, Philadelphia.
Firemen were summoned at 4.57 a. m. when an automatic alarm was touched off by the heat. Three engine companies and one truck company had the fire under control in about one hour, but firemen remained at the scene until after 8 a. m. District Chief Howard Gick directed the fire-fighting.
Heat Intense
Gick said a portion of the front of the shop, which is on the second floor, was enveloped in flames when firemen arrived. He said the heat was so intense that a wire-glass skylight cover, which can resist temperatures up to 1600 degrees, had melted.
Chief Engineer William Pfefferle, who visited the scene said the fire had “probably been caused” by a defective motor in a soft drink dispensing machine.
Plant Insured
Schwartz, who gave an estimate of the damage, said he was insured. He reported 150 bolts of uncut cloth, many finished coats, 3000 zippers and hundreds of buttons were either destroyed or damaged beyond use. He also said the fire seriously damaged a number of cutting and sewing machines.
The first floor of the building is occupied by Nick Fiorentino’s garage. The flames did not reach those premises.
Fire Captain in Pearl St. Blaze
Camden Courier-Post —
One man was rescued and 14 persons were routed early Sunday when fire damaged three two-story houses in the 200 block of Pearl st., North Camden.
Anthony Burzynski, 31, of 218 Pearl st., rescued by Fire Capt. John Gryckiewicz, 35, of 934 N. 19th st., after the former returned to the house in the mistaken belief his son was trapped inside, was treated at Cooper Hospital for smoke inhalation and cuts of the right hand and right foot. Hospital attendants administered oxygen to Burzynski for two hours.
District Chief Howard Gick said the blaze, cause of which was undetermined, started in the kitchen of the home of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Juckett, 218 Pearl st., where Burzynski, a relative, and six others were asleep. All were forced to leave the house in their night clothing.
Neighbors Forced to Flee
When the blaze spread to adjoining properties, five persons were forced from 220 Pearl st. and a woman was routed at 216 Pearl.
The fire was discovered about 7.30 a. m. when Mrs. Elizabeth Juckett, 49, sleeping on a sofa, was awakened by smoke pouring into the living room at 218 Pearl. Her screams roused her husband, 64, and the others in upstairs bedrooms and Juckett ran barefoot to an alarm box at 3rd and Pearl sts.
Also routed from the Juckett house were their daughters, Mary, 22; Mrs. Anna Mae Ganyor, 25, and Mrs. Elizabeth Perry, 20; Mrs. Perry’s daughter, Elizabeth, 7 months; Burzynski and his wife, Catherine, 27, another daughter of the Jucketts, and the Burzynski’s son, Lawrence, 4.
Burzynski was overcome when he ran inside and up to the front bedroom on the second floor, thinking his son had been left behind. He collapsed on the window sill after breaking the pane.
Gryckiewicz, who arrived with Engine Co. 6, saw the inert figure and raised a ladder. Gryckiewicz ran up the ladder and lifted Burzynski, a Yellow Cab Co. driver, through the window.
50 Birds Saved
At 220 Pearl st., William E. Schloendorn, 31; his wife, Shirley, 27; their children, Barbara, 8, and William, 6, and Schloendorn’s brother, Francis, 23, were able to don clothing before being forced out by smoke.
Schloendorn and his brother, both brakemen for the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines, made several trips through the smoke to rescue from a rear shed about 50 canaries and parakeets, which William raises. The birds were in 17 cages.
Miss Edith Johnson, home alone at 216, ran out in her night clothing with her pet cocker spaniel, Chips, and went to a nearby house to telephone her father, William B. Johnson, custodian at Cassady School, who then returned home.
Gick said the fire was confined to the rear sections of the three homes by members of Engine Companies 2 and 6 and Truck Co. 1. Those living at the Juckett home were given temporary shelter by friends and relatives.
50 Routed by Fire In Storage Room Of Garden Hotel
Camden Courier-Post —
Mickle St. Structure Filled With Smoke; Blaze Probe Set
Approximately 50 persons were routed from the Garden Hotel at 6th and Mickle sts. Tuesday night when flames destroyed stored goods in the basement and sent clouds of dense smoke rolling through the four-story structure.
District Chief Albert Gick said a “major fire” was averted by prompt arrival of firemen, since a few minutes delay would have made entrance into the smoke-filled basement impossible.
At 10.25 p. m. Herbert Wachowski, hotel manager, telephoned an alarm when fire extinguishers failed to slow the blaze centered in mattresses, furniture and lumber stored in the basement.
Gick said the structure lacks fire walls and there was a serious threat the blaze would rise through walls to the upper floors.
Several residents, awakened by the smoke and noise, fled to the street in the belief the hotel was burning down. Firemen broke a large basement window and dragged burning debris into the street where it was watered down.
Gick said he plans an investigation to determine cause of the blaze. No estimate of damage was available.
Engine Companies 1 and 2 and Trucks 1 and 2 responded.
H. L. Gick, Ex-Camden Fireman
Camden Courier-Post —
Howard L. Gick, 72, fire inspector at Garden State Race Track and a retired Camden district fire chief, died yesterday in Cooper Hospital, Camden.
Mr. Gick, who lived at 2781 Stevens St. in Camden, was employed by the Camden Fire Department for 33 years prior to his retirement in 1956. He then assumed the fire inspector’s job at Garden State and was still employed there at the time of his death.
He was a member of Christis Evangelical Lutheran Church in Camden, Crescent Temple in Trenton, Mozart Lodge 121 F&AM and Local 676 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Mr. Gick is survived by his wife, Louise; three sons, Lambert and Robert M. of Camden and Raymond V. of Pennsauken; a daughter, Mrs. Gloria L. Hlinicky of Bethany, Okla.; a brother and 10 grandchildren.
Funeral services will be Friday at 11 a.m. in the Christis Evangelical Lutheran Church, 26th Street and Hayes Avenue, Camden. Arrangements by the Gustav Roedel and Sons Funeral Home, 804-06 N. 27th St., where friends may call tomorrow night. Burial will be in Arlington Cemetery in Pennsauken.