Sometime before 16:00, workers on the third floor of the Reading Sheet
Metal Products Company, 100 Chestnut Street, were spraying lacquer on metal
boxes that were just made. Although a ventilator was in operation in the
booth, fumes from the lacquer still built up. The ventilator apparently
malfunctioned and began to throw sparks, igniting the fumes.
Fire spread
rapidly, forcing the workers out of the work area and onto the fourth floor,
trapping them.
As the workers inside the Reading Sheet Metal were attempting to get out,
an employee in the office area called the fire alarm operator at City Hall,
and informed him of the situation. The on-duty operator, Edgar F. Frost,
dialed Box 131, Front and Franklin Streets, on the Gamewell transmitter, and
sent the alarm city wide. The first round from Station 131, sent out at
16:00, was received correctly. The transmitter then malfunctioned and began
to transmit Box 141, the Auditorium, South 5th Street near Chestnut. Nearly
all the drivers, believing the first round was wrong, drove to the
Auditorium instead of the correct location. Eventually, firefighters were
directed to the Sheet Metal blaze.
During the confusion, the twelve workers trapped on the fourth floor found
a fire escape and safely made it out of the building.
Chief of the Fire Department John G. Niethammer arrived on the scene, and
found the entire east end of the building, which fronted the old Schuylkill
canal, fully involved. He wasted no time in sounded an immediate second
alarm.
Arriving firefighters were then detailed to save the nearby exposure
buildings. One of the closest buildings firefighters directed streams of water
on was a four story building on the Reading Stove Works (Orr, Painter and
Company) property.
Within thirty minutes of the second alarm, the entire structure, from the
basement to the roof, was well involved.
An hour later, approximately 17:00, the roof on the Chestnut Street side of
the building collapsed. Then, the roof in the rear of the structure gave
way. With all the obvious indications of a structural failure, Chief
Niethammer ordered his men off of the roof.
While firefighters battled the two-alarm blaze, someone went to the Auditorium
on South 5th Street and manually pulled the alarm. Again, firefighters ran the
alarm of fire, only to find no one around.
Sub-freezing temperatures froze the water all around the burning building
almost instantly. Many firefighters found themselves falling on the ice. To add
more problems to the already freezing firefighters, a hose line operating at
Front and Chestnut Streets burst. Not only did the firefighters get doused, but
caused a hasty retreat of nearly one-hundred spectators in the area.
An out tap was finally sounded at 21:50. By that time, more than $40,000
damage was done.
At 23:00, the Keystones were sent back to the structure for a flare up.
Mr. E. S. Vandermark, general manager of the plant, asked Chief Niethammer if someone could spend the night as a fire watch. Niethammer complied with the request, and detailed ten volunteer firefighters to stand guard.
The next day, Niethammer approached the owner, Irvin S. Brant, and handed
him a bill for $120. The payment was to be divided up equally, $12 for each
man that stood guard. Mr. Brant also received another bill from the city
police for $13, a dollar an hour for the policeman who also stood guard.
Brant refused to pay the bill, stating that his place of business was in
ruins, and no more damage could possibly be done to it, flare up or not.
Niethammer countered by saying the firefighters stood guard for the other
buildings that were in the immediate area, and not his. Niethammer also
stated that, although they were volunteer firefighters, their duty was over when
the "out tap" was sounded, and that they should be paid. The two bills for
police and fire services were never paid.
One firefighter was seriously injured. Lloyd Mitchell of the
Neversinks was carrying a nozzle hook when he slipped on the ice. As he
fell, the hook ran completely through his thigh. He was taken to the
Homeopathic Hospital, treated, and later released.
This structure was once known as the Hercules Paper Bag Company, and was no
stranger to fires. On November 15, 1915, a fire that totaled more than
$60,000, heavily damaged the structure. This was the last major fire that
Chief Engineer George Washington (Bob) Miller ran before retiring from his
more than thirty years as a chief officer in the Reading Fire Department.
Thanks to Historian Tony Miccicke for sending us these stories.
