THE  LAST  ALARM

FIREMAN WILLIAM F. BOLAND

ENGINE CO. 11

BADGE #29

SEPTEMBER 16, 1903

At around 11:00 hours, while ironing some clothes, the woman living in the second floor apartment over a plumbing shop, at 512 Orange Street, between Roseville and Myrtle Avenues, had started a hot fire in the kitchen stove. She then went out to the rear porch of the two-story frame structure and began to hang the wash on the clothesline. Her three-year-old son and five-year-old daughter were playing down into the rear yard. After a short time, she happened to glance into the kitchen and saw that it was ablaze and heavy smoke was coming from the door behind her. The fire in the stove had apparently ignited some nearby woodwork.

She raced down the rear stairs, and knowing that the children were safely in the yard, she ran into the plumbing shop to turn in the alarm. She then turned to get the children from the yard, but watched in horror as she saw them run up the back stairs and enter the burning kitchen. Her screams attracted neighbors who held her back from entering the burning apartment. One of the men ran up the back stairs to the second floor, where he saw the little boy standing in the burning room, dazed. He grabbed the child and ran back down the rear stairs.

The red cross indicates the fire building, while the large yellow one shows the approx-
imate location where Wagon 11 overturned.

Meanwhile, someone pulled Box 123, at Orange Street and Roseville Avenue, and Newark's Bravest turned out to answer the alarm. Engine 11's steamer arrived at the scene and was greeted by the frantic mother who told them that her daughter was trapped upstairs. Firemen began to charge into the flaming building, but Captain Robert R. Lawrence, of Engine 11, who was acting battalion chief, saw that to enter the flaming second floor without the benefit of a hose line, meant certain death. He ordered everyone to stay out until the fire was knocked down.

A line was stretched to the second floor, knocking down the fire very quickly. As the main body of fire was being extinguished, Captain Matthew McDermitt, of Engine 7, and Assistant Superintendent George J. Hamburger, of the Salvage Corps, crawled into the steaming and still-burning kitchen to search for the child. They found her body in a bedroom just off the kitchen. She had jumped onto the bed and wrapped herself very tightly in the blankets. Captain McDermitt gently lifted her charred body, wrapped his coat around her to smother her burning clothing and carried her down to the street. The mother fainted at the sight of her daughter's blackened body and had to be led away by neighbors to a nearby store. The body of the little girl was then taken to the Roseville Pharmacy, at Orange and Roseville, to await the arrival of the county doctor for pronouncement. The cause of her death was attributed to smoke inhalation.

The father then arrived at the scene from his job and also fainted when told of his daughter's death. The fire was brought under control in about a half-hour and losses were set at $1,500, equal to $37,700 in 2009.

While following the company's steamer to the fire, the hose wagon of Engine 11 overturned at Orange Street and Myrtle Avenue, resulting in several firefighters being seriously injured. Further disaster was averted when the driver of Engine 7 skillfully steered his team around the hose, men, horses, and wreckage that littered the intersection after the wreck.

Fireman James F. Connelly, who was driving the combination wagon, stated that he had to turn the wagon sharply to avoid colliding with a lumber wagon. The wheels of the hose wagon caught in a rise of the trolley tracks in the street, causing it to turn on its side with a loud crash.

Fireman William F. Boland, 58, was riding on the side that the wagon fell over on, and was pinned under the heavy vehicle. His chin struck the pavement with such force that it caused a severe basal skull fracture. Connelly was thrown from the driver's seat to the side that tipped over and scraped a large part of his face on the street. He was also knocked unconscious. Firemen Michael Norton and Cletus H. Gaffney were thrown from the wagon with great force and suffered serious cuts and bruises.

In addition to the various injuries sustained in the wreck, all the men, except Gaffney, suffered acid burns when the contents of the wagon's chemical tank spilled out all over them and the upset wagon.

Two police officers from the Second Precinct were the first to arrive at the accident and enlisted the help of neighbors in removing the injured men from the wreckage. Boland was still conscious when removed from under the wagon and was carried into a nearby store, where a doctor tended to his severely gashed head and acid burns. It was determined that he had suffered a compound basal skull fracture and he was rushed to City Hospital in their ambulance. While en route to the hospital, he lapsed into unconsciousness as the rector of Saint Rose of Lima's Church was giving him the last rites. After seeing the severity of his wounds, the doctors at City Hospital expressed little hope for his recovery.

Connelly was also taken into the store with Boland, but his injuries weren't as severe. He suffered facial lacerations and abrasions, but was seriously burned about the arms and shoulders by the spilled acid. He was taken to City Hospital in the Second Precinct ambulance. Norton and Gaffney were treated at the scene and taken to their homes.

Lieutenant Michael J. Boland, of Engine 11, suffered burns to his back at the fire while attempting to rescue the trapped child, but remained on duty. He was the brother of the firefighter critically injured in the wreck.

Boland clung to life until 02:40 hours the next morning, when the 39-year veteran died without ever regaining consciousness.

Boland joined Engine 9 of the volunteer department on September 2, 1864 and remained with them until they were disbanded on April 6, 1866. On January 4, 1867, he transferred to Niagara Engine 7 when they were organized. He remained there until March 15, 1887, when he transferred to Engine 11. He resided at 72 South 9th Street with his wife, daughter, and five sons.

Ironically, Boland was seriously injured and miraculously escaped death about 30 years earlier, when he was in a similar accident with Engine 7. While responding to an alarm, they had turned into Newark Street, from Central Avenue. Newark St. was a quagmire of mud and the steamer overturned, pinning Boland and Fireman Dougherty underneath. Boland was gotten out alive with serious injuries, but Dougherty was reportedly killed (this report is currently being investigated and has yet to be confirmed).

In another piece of irony, the little girl who died in the fire almost drowned four years earlier when she fell into a lake at Troy, New York. Her father also stated that he and his wife had a premonition that the girl was going to die in an accident and kept a constant eye on her.

A historical note; On March 10, 1951, at 14:36 hours, a two-alarm fire, which started in a rear storage shed, heavily damaged the same building at 512 Orange Street, which was then occupied by the Orange Paint & Wallpaper store (the deceased girl's father was a painter and paperhanger). As in 1903, the alarm was turned in from the firebox at Orange Street and Roseville Avenue. Unlike 1903, however, there were no fatalities or accidents.