Firefighters
on the C Platoon were settling into their night shift when
the skies began darkening, indicating the approach of an
early Summer storm. According to FF W. Stoudt Sr., who was
working on Ladder 4 in place of the Snorkel, He and then
Rescue 1 Driver J. Squibb were sitting outside of the Firehouse
at Plum and Franklin when the storm approached. "The
sky got real dark and the clouds were swirling around. The
lightning was so bad I said to "Squibby", were
gonna get something tonight. Then it began to hail and Franklin
Street soon was covered in white".
Meanwhile, At 20:22, Engine 9 was dispatched
to the 500 Blk. of North 8th Street for a pole on fire. Upon
arrival, the driver reported that a transformer had been struck
by lightning. The electric company was called to deal
with the transformer and the Engine was made available. It
is unclear how the report was made, but soon after this incident,
Box 62 at No. 8th and Greenwich was tapped out for a report
of a fire in the Harold's Furniture Warehouse at 510 No 8th
Street.
Units responding to the Box could clearly see the evidence
of a working fire in the area despite a heavy downpour.
Firefighter Stoudt remarked, "it
was raining so hard, by the time I reached the railroad
tracks",
at 7th on Franklin, "my
day boots were filled with water",from riding the
short distance in the open cab ladder truck.
By the time the units were being positioned around the
5 story building, fire was blowing out of windows on all
the floors in the rear. A 2nd Alarm was struck bringing
much of the City's apparatus to the scene. Firefighters
used master streams to pour water into the structure
which was heavily stocked with furniture. They managed to
stop the spread before the fire totally consumed the building.
Stopping the fire spread was simple compared to the massive
overhaul operation needed to completely put the fire in the
large warehouse under control. Firefighters were on the scene
throughout the night and were relieved on scene by the oncoming
shift the next morning.
The
fire was reported to have began in the rear of the warehouse.
It is believed that lightning either struck the building
or caused a power surge when it struck the transformer. Once
the fire progressed on the 1st floor, it traveled vertically
through the elevator shaft and then spread horizontally.
A major portion of the fire was located in the rear, where
most of the stock was stored.
The Harley Leibman estate, who were the former owners of
the Leibman Furniture Store in the 700 block of Penn street,
leased this structure out to the Harold Furniture Company
in 1974. Not long after this blaze, the structure became
vacant. It was totally consumed in another blaze the following
year and was eventually demolished. Thanks to Tony Miccicke,
FFs W. Stoudt, Sr. and S Serba for providing the information
for this story.
Firefighters
on the C Platoon were settling into their night shift when
the skies began darkening, indicating the approach of an
early Summer storm. According to FF W. Stoudt Sr., who was
working on Ladder 4 in place of the Snorkel, He and then
Rescue 1 Driver J. Squibb were sitting outside of the Firehouse
at Plum and Franklin when the storm approached. "The
sky got real dark and the clouds were swirling around. The
lightning was so bad I said to "Squibby", were
gonna get something tonight. Then it began to hail and Franklin
Street soon was covered in white".
Units responding to the Box could clearly see the evidence
of a working fire in the area despite a heavy downpour.
Firefighter Stoudt remarked, "it
was raining so hard, by the time I reached the railroad
tracks",
at 7th on Franklin, "my
day boots were filled with water",from riding the
short distance in the open cab ladder truck. 
The
fire was reported to have began in the rear of the warehouse.
It is believed that lightning either struck the building
or caused a power surge when it struck the transformer. Once
the fire progressed on the 1st floor, it traveled vertically
through the elevator shaft and then spread horizontally.
A major portion of the fire was located in the rear, where
most of the stock was stored.