Robert K. Troutman
Robert K. Troutman
Camden Fire Department
ROBERT K. TROUTMAN was born on April 6, 1929 in the small town of Hickory in Mt. Pleasant Township, Pennsylvania to Frances and William Troutman Jr. He was third of at least three children, coming after William III and James. His father worked as a lineman.
After serving with the United States Army during the Korean War (from March 13, 1951 to March 15, 1953), Robert Troutman moved to South Jersey. By October of 1959 he and his wife, the former Dorothy Bloome, had made their home at 435 North 41st Street in East Camden, where they remained through at least the fall of 1970.
Robert Troutman worked at the Blackwood Lanes bowling alley for a year and at Baker Lanes in what is now Cherry Hill, New Jersey for a year prior to being appointed to the Camden Fire Department on February 1, 1960. His brother James H. Troutman was already a fireman with the Department. Robert Troutman served the City of Camden for 27 years, retiring on January 1, 1987.
By October of 1977 the Troutman family had moved to 1609 49th Street in Pennsauken. Sometime after 1980 Robert K. Troutman and family relocated to Cinnaminson, New Jersey.
Robert Troutman passed away on December 20, 2004.
William Harring Jr., Robert Troutman & Charles Lawyer
William Harring Jr., Robert Troutman & Charles Lawyer
62 Pass Tests For Police, City Firemen
Camden Courier-Post —
Trenton, Nov. 24—Forty-three candidates passed a recent civil service examination for Camden City patrolman. Nineteen Camden residents passed a test for firemen.
Isaac A. Lewis, of 1516 Wildwood Avenue, a disabled veteran, heads the list for patrolman, and Emmit Y. Smith Jr., of 762 Van Hook Street, a veteran, heads the firemen’s list. Smith placed second in the test for patrolman.
The salary in each category begins at $3800 with a maximum for patrolmen set at $4900.
In another test, the State Civil Service Department announced that Amos W. Ruff, of 1478 Bradley Avenue, a disabled veteran, placed first in a statewide test for principal tabulating machine operator. Of the 16 who took the test, Russell L. Williams, of 209 Pear Avenue, East Riverton, placed 12th.
Others who passed the patrolman examination and the order of their standing were Joseph A. DePaolo, 2937 Royden Street; Donald Still, 1465 Wildwood Avenue; George N. Neafsey, 1738 Tioga Street; John N. Phoenix, 919 Cooper Street; John M. Ballinghoff, 1302 South Merrimac Road; Leon E. Loveland, 637 Pine Street; Edward J. Kitlas, 1366 Sayrs Avenue; Monserrate Gonzalez, 809 N. 4th Street; Daniel J. Domeraski, 628 Jackson Street; Jene Adreacola, 2864 Constitution Road; Albert A. Devone, 322 Mt. Vernon Street; Carmen M. Farinelli, 1310 Dayton Street; James B. Wyatt, 1719 S. 9th Street.
Also Estel E. Brown, 1312 Princess Avenue; Edward H. Lewandowski, 905 Florence Street; john e. giletto, 1354 Browning Street; James R. Troutman, 1440 Kaighns Avenue; Earl W. Bates, 2179 Bank Street; John A. Fisher, 272 Walnut Street; Ferdinand J. De Luca, 604 S. 3rd Street; William Latham Jr., 5 Oak Walk; Vincent A. Lavecchio, 325 Sycamore Street; Edwin R. Hahn Jr., 736 Pearl Street; Gerald R. Willis, S. 41st Street; George T. Clarke, 171 Ablett Village; Frederick F. Pratt, 445 Carteret Street; michael p. lupico, 522 Woodland Avenue; Virgil P. Ferrari, 414 Walnut Street.
George W. Meriwether, 214 N. 28th Street; Robert A. Upshaw, 1001¼ Chestnut Street; Joseph J. Kunicki Jr., 1402 Princess Avenue; James M. Anderson, 2263 S. 7th Street; Michael B. Scarduzio, 2408 Wainwright Street; Richard R. Brooks, 1366 Park Boulevard; Alfred E. Steinmetz Jr., 524 Lester Terrace; kenneth a. krueger, 2884 Cushing Road; Joseph E. Voorhees Jr., 359B N. 32nd Street; Robert L. Tatum, 116 Branch Village; Walter F. Williams, 1104 Marion Street; Arthur R. Lewandowski, 905 Florence Street; and Gilbert R. Upshaw, 1001¼ Chestnut Street.
Qualifying for firemen and the order in which they finished were Ercole J. De Francisco Jr., 2904 Wasp Road; Robert K. Troutman, 435 N. 41st Street; Gerald R. Willis, 65 S. 41st Street; George P. Neafsey, 1738 Tioga Street; Donald Still, 1465 Wildwood Avenue; Warren C. Carter, 239 S. 34th Street; Paul H. Wilson, 1644-B S. 10th Street; George E. Brown, 2854 Buren Avenue; george w. meriwether, 214 N. 28th Street; Francis N. Kawa, 1251 Jackson Street; Philip C. Cosenza, 2424 Arnold Street; Carmen M. Farinelli, 1310 Dayton Street; clarence hawkins, 705 Pine Street; jerise s. garten, 854 Beideman Avenue; Richard R. Brooks, 1366 Park Boulevard; Joseph E. Voorhees Jr., 359B N. 32nd Street; Joseph H.E. Arensberg, 464B Rand Street; and Walter F. Williams, 1104 Marion Street.
Two Camden Toddlers Die As Fire Razes Row House
Camden Courier-Post —
Babysitter Seriously Burned
—Courier-Post Photo by Bob Bartosz
BODY of child, one of two young victims of Camden blaze, is carried from Fern Street row house by Capt. Al Collum of Engine Company 1.
By BOB REICHENBACH, Courier-Post Staff
A Camden man was in critical condition at Cooper Hospital today and two children were dead after a fire swept through a North Camden row house yesterday.
Stanley Brown, 25, was burned over 50 per cent of his body in the blaze at 825 Fern St. that took the lives of James Lyles, 3, and his brother John M., 2.
The two boys, sons of Mrs. Inez Brown, 22, died of burns over their entire bodies, according to an autopsy report released today by Blair M. Murphy, investigator for the Camden County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Flames Spread Rapidly
The first alarm was called at 1:40 p.m. Six minutes later a second alarm was issued as heavy winds whipped flames and the blaze spread throughout the small two-bedroom row home.
The fire apparently started in the kitchen in the rear of the home, a preliminary investigation has turned up.
“The gas stove was lit,” Deputy Chief Theodore Primas explained, “just to help take the chill away.”
According to Brown’s hospital bedside testimony, the children were playing in the house.
“The kids were running around,” Primas said, “and there most probably is a link between the stove and the children.”
Brown, he continued, was asleep in one of the second-story bedrooms when the fire started.
A member of the family said Brown had been babysitting for the boys while their mother went shopping. A sister, Dorothy, 4, was visiting a grandmother. The children’s father is stationed in Kansas City, Mo., with the Army.
Leaps To Safety
According to reports, Brown jumped from the second floor window and told firemen that the two boys were trapped inside.
Firemen were unable to get into the house until about half an hour later when the flames subsided.
A fireman, Robert Troutman, 40, of Engine Company 6, was injured when he was blown from the front door he was trying to enter, according to other firemen.
He was treated at Cooper Hospital for smoke inhalation.
Troutman had been called to a one-alarm fire a block away, at 531 N. 9th St. Shortly after that fire was under control, firemen were ordered to the Fern Street address.
Firemen said Troutman and Capt. James McGrory, 44, of Engine two, tried to enter the home when they arrived. An explosion of undetermined origin apparently sent them flying to the sidewalk.
High winds threatened two adjoining homes as flames and smoke spread along the roof eves. Firemen cut through the ceilings of all three homes to combat fire spreading through the roof crawlspace.
Firemen found the two children in the bathroom at about 2:15.
“There was a big one and a smaller one,” said Primas, “but I don’t know which was which, they were both burned beyond recognition.”
The two-alarm fire followed within almost 15 minutes of a one alarm fire that Battalion Chief John Mogck said was “deliberately set in the kitchen.”
Spring winds again fanned the flames and the vacant rowhouse on N. 9th Street was “completely engulfed” when firemen arrived.
Mogck said an investigation of the 9th Street blaze will definitely be made.
Family Mourns 2 Boys
Children’s Grandmother Inconsolable
Mrs. Doris Brown sat weeping on the sofa in a home across the street following the two-alarm fire that took the lives of her two young grandchildren.
The family there was trying to keep people away from the distraught grandmother but they failed.
Neighbors and friends were crowding around. They wanted to find out what had happened. “I really don’t know,” she said, rubbing her surviving granddaughter’s head.
Looking at Girl
“She . . .” Mrs. Brown said, looking at the little girl, “was over here when it started.”
Dorothy, 4, looked up at her grandmother. She was confused.
But she seemed to know she should be quiet.
“My daughter was uptown shopping,” Mrs. Brown said between sobs, “and her friend (Stanley Brown) was watching the kids.”
The mother of the two small boys, Mrs. Inez Brown, 22, was shopping at Broadway and Kaighns Avenue, according to Blair M. Murphy, Camden County Medical Investigator.
Mrs. Brown cried more, probably thinking about how she would break the news to her daughter.
‘Where’s Father?’
“Where’s the father?” someone asked.
Mrs. Brown looked up from her crumpled handkerchief and said, “He’s in Kansas City (Mo.) with the Army.”
She looked at Dorothy again. “She was visiting me (at 531 Elm St.) and then said she was going home,” the grandmother said.
She sighed. “She must have come here instead,” she continued.
Mrs. Brown began crying harder. A neighbor tried to comfort her. Those crowding around began to leave. On their way out, they saw two small bodies wrapped in white sheets being lowered from the bedroom window across the street. Attendants carried the covered bodies to waiting ambulances.
Crowd Falls Short In McIntire March
By LARRY WILLIAMS, Courier-Post Staff
WASHINGTON — Fewer than 15,000 pro-Vietnam war demonstrators were on hand as Dr. Carl McIntire’s “march for victory” started down Pennsylvania Avenue today.
McIntire said during the prayer meeting that he was “heartened” by the number of persons who attended the hour-long session, despite earlier
16 Coal Miners Killed in Blast
VIENNA (UPI)—At least 16 coal miners died early today when an explosion rocked a mine in northeastern Czechoslovakia, the government announced.
The government announcement said two other miners have been saved and 10 “are being rescued.”
The announcement by the official news agency CTK said 28 men were in the Paskov mine, near the city of Ostrava, when the explosion occurred. The blast occurred just before the changeover from the night to day shifts.
7 Area Policemen Finish Drug Course
Seven South Jersey police officers were recent graduates of the twelfth class in a special drug law enforcement training program for municipal officers, conducted at the State Police Academy, Sea Girt.
They were Ptl. William Sheffield, Collingswood; Capt. Joseph Foster, Pitman; Ptl. Anthony Francesco, Edgewater Park; Det. James Dooley, Atlantic City; Sgt. Charles Rankin, Margate; Ptl. Walter Oliver, Middle Township, and Sgt. Dominic Romeo, Wildwood.
House Fire Death Traced to Smoking
Camden Courier-Post —
Son Blamed
A house fire Thursday morning at 633 State St., Camden, that claimed the life of an elderly woman was caused by careless smoking on the part of the woman’s son, according to the fire marshal’s office.
Mrs. Minnie Hall, 70, was dead on arrival at Cooper Hospital. Her son, Thomas, 51, was reported in serious condition there today with second and third-degree burns of the face, neck, chest and right arm.
Authorities said Mrs. Hall escaped the blaze, which broke out shortly before 6 a.m., but went back into the house in an apparent attempt to save her son. She was found in the kitchen of the three-story brick rowhouse with her head inside the oven, apparently to escape from the smoke, according to Acting Battalion Chief James McGrory.
The oven was not on and Mrs. Hall died of smoke inhalation, according to Joseph Bocco, an investigator in the county medical examiner’s office.
Hall was found in the hallway leading to the kitchen and rescued by fireman Robert Troutman. Firemen reported the back door was locked and difficult to open, and the only other door in the kitchen opened on the front room where the fire started, McGrory said. Hall used the front room as a bedroom, according to McGrory.
Two upstairs tenants were treated and released at Cooper Hospital for burns of the head and face. They were identified as Mrs. Rosemary Miles, 19, and Louise Venney, 5. Mrs. Miles, and her husband, James who was not injured, were identified as the Venney girl’s guardians.
Camden Honors Heroic Fireman
Camden Courier-Post —
Rescuer of Trapped Man Gets Medal; Others Cited
A 42-year-old fireman has received the City of Camden’s second highest award and citations were presented to a battalion chief, his aide, and firemen from three companies today for the rescue of a 50-year-old man from a State Street home Nov. 26.
Robert Troutman of 435 N. 41st St. received Distinguished Service Award from Mayor Joseph M. Nardi Jr. A fireman since 1960, Troutman is assigned to Engine Company 6.
The fourth platoon of Engine Company 6, along with the fourth platoons of Engine Company 2, Ladder Company 1, Rescue Company 1, received unit citations for the rescue. In addition, a citation was presented to Battalion Chief James McGrory and his aide, Joseph Randik.
TROUTMAN was one of the first firemen at the scene of the Nov. 26 fire at 633 State St., according to Fire Chief Edward V. Michalak.
Donning an air pack, Troutman crawled through flames and smoke to find the man, Thomas Hall, and lead [sic] him out of the building, said Michalak.
As he led the man to safety, his fellow firemen sprayed him with water to protect him from the flames and heat, he continued.
AFTER the fire was extinguished, firemen found the body of Minnie Hall, 72, in the kitchen of the dwelling, according to the fire chief.
Today’s awards ceremony is part of the city’s observance of National Fire Service Recognition Day.
ROBERT TROUTMAN
Camden Division of Fire Personnel Record
Badge No: 90
Name in Full: Robert Kilne Troutman Address: 435 No. 41st. St. [later: 103 Sherwood Drive, Cinnaminson] 786-0450 Age: 30 Citizen: Yes Color: W Sex: M Date of Birth: April 6, 1929 Born in City of: Hickory State: Penna. Name of Parents: Frances & William Marital Conditions: Married Date of Appointment: Feb. 1, 1960 Reported for duty: Feb. 1, 1960 Title of Position: Fireman Citation: Special mention rescue of 3 children High School Graduate: Yes
Pension 1-1-87 Deceased-12-20-04
Obituary
Camden Courier-Post —
TROUTMAN, ROBERT K.
Passed away at home with his family by his side on December 20, 2004 at the age of 75.
Robert was a firefighter for 27 years with the Camden Fire Department. He proudly served his country during the Korean War in the U.S. Army.
Robert is survived by his wife of 53 years, Dorothy Bloome Troutman; his children, Robert and his wife, Marilyn, of Sicklerville, Richard and his wife, Lisa, of Sewell, Linda Wolfe and her husband, Michael, of Gibbsboro, Lisa Emers, of Collingswood, and Kim Yeager and her husband, George, of Cinnaminson; his 11 grandchildren and his brother, William, of Clementon.
Relatives and friends are invited to Robert’s Life Celebration on Thursday from 9:30 am, followed by his Funeral Service at 11am at INGLESBY/GIVNISH OF MAPLE SHADE, 600 E. Main Street, Maple Shade. Interment will follow at Bethel Memorial Park.
In lieu of flowers, a donation in Robert’s memory to the American Cancer Society, 1851 Old Cuthbert Rd., Cherry Hill, NJ 08034 or to Samaritan Hospice, 5 Eves Drive, Suite 300, Marlton, NJ 08053, would be appreciated.
Fire Watch: In This Issue
Fire Watch Magazine — Spring 1977
FIRE WATCH
VOL. 1 NO. 1
SPRING 1977
IN THIS ISSUE
MESSAGE FROM LOCAL #788 2
WHAT'S NEW 4
VIEW FROM THE TOP 5
SAFETY EVERYONE'S CONCERN 6
A CITY CHANGING IT'S [sic] IMAGE 8
DO YOU REMEMBER 10
HOT FLASHES 11
FIREHOUSE CHATTER 12
IN RECOGNITION 13
RUNS AND WORKERS-1976 13
DOWN MEMORY LANE 14
OUR SUPPORT SERVICES 16
QUIZ BIZ 18
FROM THE RULE BOOK 19
OUR PATRONS 19
PUBLISHED QUARTERLY BY AND FOR CAMDEN FIREFIGHTERS
The Cover Photo of our inaugural issue displays the scene that greeted first arriving units on the morning of 6 June, 1976 at Mt. Ephraim Avenue and Fairview Street, the Harris Terminal Complex. The fire involved a four story brick and corrugated steel warehouse (100 x 1000) containing miscellaneous industrial materials. Structure was fully involved upon arrival of Department Forces. As is evident in photo, the firebuilding was completely obscured from view by extremely heavy smoke conditions that were visible as far as thirty miles away. Elevated water tank in background, which is adjacent to firebuilding, is 100 feet tall. A massive effort by over 400 hundred [sic] manning some fifty pieces of equipment, was required to control the blaze. The Camden Fire Department was assisted by the mutual-aid response of Fire Units from Camden County. A 10th Alarm for Box #4412 was transmitted for this fire. Photo by M. Hall.
(LIABILITY STATEMENT)
1) The contents of FIREWATCH magazine are not intended to reflect official Fire Department policy, and are published with the express purpose of broadening the member's understanding and interest in the Fire Fighting Profession, and the Labor Movement. Opinions and ascertations [sic] set forth by authors of articles in FIREWATCH magazine do not reflect the views of the Fire Department of the City of Camden, N.J. or Local #788, I.A.F.F.
PUBLICATION OFFICE
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OFFICIAL DIRECTORY CAMDEN FIRE DEPARTMENT
Edward V. Michalak, Chief of Department
Dep. Chf. Joseph R. Guarino, Personnel & Administration
Dep. Chf. Daniel F. Jiannetto, Department Properties
Dep. Chf. Anthony C. Saponare, Support Services
Dep. Chf. Theodore L. Primas, Staff Services
Batt. Chf. Harold H. Pike, Chief Fire Marshal
Capt. Vincent G. Orme, Asst. Fire Marshal & Community Relations
Batt. Chf. Matthew J. Davies, Fire Training Academy
Capt. Ronald Guernon, Training Officer
Chief Joseph F. Wolfinger, Motor Maintenance Unit
OFFICIAL DIRECTORY CAMDEN FIREFIGHTER'S UNION, LOCAL #788, I.A.F.F.
Robert J. Williams, President E.11
William H. Colucci, 1st Vice President L.1
Robert K. Troutman, 2nd Vice President E.6
Richard J. Tate, 3rd Vice President E.8
Robert W. Frett, Secretary B.1-Aide
George F. Kifferly III, Treasurer E.11
Edward DeHart, State Delegate E.11
William S. DiPompo, State Delegate E.8
William L. Kamman, State Delegate E.3
PUBLICATION STAFF, FIREWATCH MAGAZINE
Editor Peter Carbone E.1
Asst. Editor Joseph Marini L.1
Circulation Martin Murray L.2
Historian Dennis Penn E.7
Art Robert Zieniuk E.3
Graphics B. James Nash E.8
ADVERTISING STAFF
Paul Matyjasik Div. Pool
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Paul Speas E.1