William L. Kamman
William L. Kamman
WILLIAM L. KAMMAN was born on August 26, 1938 to William and Bertha Kamman. The 1940 City Directory shows the family, which included siblings Alice, Richard, and Wayne, living at 1254 Thurman Street. By 1943 they had moved to 1091 Thurman Street and they remained at that address through at least the fall of 1959.
William Kamman joined the Camden Fire Department on August 15, 1961. He married not long afterwards, his wife Patricia bearing one child, a son, also named William. The Kamman family lived at 1111 Morton Street through at least 1970.
William L. Kamman was promoted to Captain on February 1, 1989. He retired on January 1, 1994 after over 32 years with the Camden Fire Department. His last years were spent in Florida, where he died on May 18, 2007.
3 Boys Killed in Camden Fire
Camden Courier-Post —
2 Row Homes Destroyed
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 Michalak 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.
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.
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. 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.
5 City Firemen Suffer Injury Fighting Blaze
Camden Courier-Post —
Five Camden firemen were treated at Cooper Hospital yesterday for injuries received while fighting a three-alarm fire at PonPas Waste Paper Co., 1300 Pine St.
George Abbey, 27, of 1 Oak Walk, Camden, was treated for shoulder injuries; William F. Kamman, 33, of 1111 Morton St., for ear injuries; Carl Greenwald, 51, of 379 N. 33rd St., for injuries of the right side; John Nicholson, 25, of 1107 N. 34th St., for facial burns; and Lloyd Hinshall, 27, of 1153 Bergen Ave., was treated for foreign objects in his eyes. All five were treated and released.
The fire was declared under control shortly after 10 a.m. after it had burned for more than two hours. The warehouse, a two-story brick structure, 180 feet long and 80 feet wide, was filled with bales of paper for recycling.
Blaze Destroys Business
Camden Courier-Post — August 30–31, 1981
CAMDEN — A spectacular fire which burned out of control for several hours last night destroyed the Du Bell Lumber Co. and damaged the adjacent Concrete Steel Co. on Federal Street here.
The cause of the fire was under investigation. Arson was thought to be “a possibility,” according to Camden Patrolman John Hale.
The fire was reported around 8:40 p.m. and the buildings of the lumber company were engulfed when firefighters arrived.
There were no serious injuries reported. One fireman, Robert Williams, 37, of the Eleventh Engine Co. suffered heat exhaustion and was taken from the scene by ambulance. “It’s just too hot,” he said, his face bubbled with sweat.
All of Camden’s fire-fighting equipment was pressed into service, and off-duty firemen were called in. Fire equipment was called in from Oaklyn, Haddon Heights, Mount Ephraim, Brooklawn, Gloucester City, Woodlynne, Gloucester Township and Pennsauken to help fight the fire and cover the city.
Flames from the fire leaped more than a hundred feet in the air as an estimated 300 persons from the neighborhood watched. The intense heat blistered the siding of Pooch’s Pub across the street.
As flames nibbled the roof of the adjacent Concrete Steel Co., firemen struggled to find a way to get an engine into the locked yard. They feared the intense heat might cause the steel beams of the building to buckle.
The fire came in the midst of a city work dispute over the planned lay-off of 30 police officers and 17 firefighters. Some ambulances at the scene carried signs with a skull saying “Welcome to Fear City.” Among the spectators in the roped-off area across the street from the fire were several off-duty Camden firemen.
Camden firefighter William Kamman was at a birthday in Runnemede when he saw the flames and piled his family into the car to go watch. “This is the group that’s going to be laid off that’s fighting this fire,” he said. “There’s a kid out there (pointing to a group spraying the flames from close in) that’s not even supposed to be here. He’s on his own time.”
Construction equipment moved into the wreckage of the Du Bell Lumber Co. to clear debris so investigators could determine the cause of the Saturday night blaze. William Dukes, assistant Camden County Fire Marshal, and Capt. James McGrory of the Camden Fire Department probed the ruins. —Courier-Post photos by Curt Hudson
William L. Kamman — Fire Card
William L. Kamman — Camden Fire Department
Camden Firemen at Variety Club Collection — 1980s
L to R: Ron Boyle, Bill Kammen, Frank McGuckin, Bill DiPompo, Sonny Frett, Bill Kammen Jr., Bud Rotchford, Captain Roy Moffa
William L. Kamman
Camden Courier-Post —
KAMMAN, WILLIAM L.
68, passed away on May 18, 2007 in Kissimmee. William retired after 33 years, as a Captain, from the fire department in Camden, New Jersey. He is survived by his loving wife of 44 years, Patricia, his son William, his sister Alice, his brother Richard and a host of other relatives and special friends.
A memorial service will be held at Grissom Funeral Home on Wednesday, May 23, 2PM. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, 3319 Maguire Blvd, #101, Orlando, Florida 32803. Services entrusted to GRISSOM FUNERAL HOME, Kissimmee. 407 847 3131