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Shown here is the Hoffman store
between Nick Ragazzo Shop and Pritchard's Mens Wear, both were
so badly damaged they had to be torn down. SO3.56 |
Hoffman
Department Store Fire in Niles, Ohio.
Many of us remember the day of the
Hoffman fire, March 23, 1962, it was a devastating fire that threatened
many other stores in the area and for a while it looked like the
whole town would burn down.
Many of the stores were built of wood
frame and were very old, some dating back to the late 1800’s.
It took all of the Niles firefighters and several other departments
to knock the blaze out.
There were several people in the Hoffman
Store when it started and everyone got out except a 67 year
old lady on the second floor who was overcome with smoke and died
there.
The fire was a real tragedy, not only
because of the loss of life, but also it marked the beginning decline
of the downtown area. Because of the fire the adjacent buildings,
Ragazzo's (the old Wagstaff-Jenkins drug store in the 1890's) and
Pritchards had to be torn down due to the heat and smoke damage.
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Firemen lower the close-wrapped body
of Mrs. Axel Aulin, a fatality in Thursday’s fire, down the
ladder from the top of the gutted building. Mrs. Aulin was trapped
on the second floor as the fire raged.
Mrs. Helen Husted and M.C
Kiracofe watch in horror as the store she recently vacated burns
out of control. Mrs. Husted barely escaped from Hoffman’s
mezzanine office. Kiracofe, operator of the department store, arrived
from Youngstown, Ohio after the blaze was underway.
McKinley Federal holds hats, coats,
and boxes from Pritchard’s Clothing Store. Jim McConnell saved
almost his entire stock, plus a cash register. Also saved was a
bowl of peanuts McConnell kept in the front of the store to welcome
customers. |
Hoffman Fire Newspaper Report.
Niles Daily Times, March 24, 1962.
Of unknown origin, the flames, which caused an
estimated $250,000 damage began at approximately 2:45 pm and for
a time threatened to destroy the entire block before it was brought
under control at 4:30 pm. Also destroyed was Ragazzo’s Men
Shop. Extensive damage was also done to Pritchard’s Clothing
Store.
At least eight rescue attempts were made to save
Mrs. Alex Aulin, all in vain. County Coroner, Dr.
Joseph Sudimack Jr. ruled that she died of asphyxiation.
Rescued by firemen and a Warren steeplejack,
B.E. Fickes of 2755 Harvey SE, were three other women:
Mrs. Sarah Goddard, Mrs. Zella Robbins, both clerks upstairs,
and Mrs. Ruth Coney. Mrs. Goddard was rushed to Trumbull
Memorial Hospital where she is satisfactory today after suffering
from smoke inhalation. Mrs. Comey was treated by a local physician.
It is believed that the fire started in a storage
room beneath the office. Mrs. Belva Watkins, a clerk, said she
heard a “poof” and a moment later saw the flames.
At least seven area fire departments responded
to the alarm under mutual aid contracts with approximately 15
pieces of equipment. They came from Warren, Girard, Mineral Ridge,
McKinley Heights, McDonald, Howland and Liberty Twp.
By far the worst fire in Niles since the million-dollar
blaze hit the Youngstown Steel Car Corp. in 1953, the flames tore
through the building with unbelievable speed. Customers in the
store at 2:30 said they smelled no smoke whatsoever. By 3 pm the
flames were leaping as high as 100 feet in the air and huge, black
clouds of billowing smoke that could be seen for miles around.
One onlooker said, “It kinda looked like an atomic blast
the way the smoke mushroomed”.
The other employees and customers barely made
it to safety before falling timbers and walls of flames completely
sealed off all avenues of escape. Some employees who barely managed
to escape included Kay Kiracofe, George Griffiths, Mrs. Belva
Watkins, Mrs. Mary Rosile, Mrs. Elsie McGowan, Alice Bixler, and
Helen Musted. All told the same tale: One minute there was
no sign of fire and the next it was a raging inferno.
Niles Patrolman, John Brodie who spotted
the fire as he was driving down Main Street dashed into the building,
but smoke and a collapsing roof drove him back. Fire Captain James
Snelus, and fireman Tom Leonard, Arnold Danes, George
Nolan, Jim Benedict and others made repeated attempts to
rescue Mrs. Aulin but were unable to penetrate the dense smoke.
Thirty minutes after the fire started, the front
wall of the structure collapsed under the pressure of the heat
and water. Fireman Louis Disko was bowled over by tumbling
bricks and chunks of cement as he tried to get out from under
the falling wall, but was not seriously injured. He shook his
head and promptly returned to manning a hose.
Another fireman, Arnold Danes, stumbled
in the debris and fell just before the wall collapsed, but scrambled
to his feet and ran to safety before the avalanche descended.
About 10 other firemen, fighting the blaze with hoses from the
front, narrowly escaped serious injury as the wall crashed to
the sidewalk and splattered onto Main Street.
Continued below…
Color photographs of the Hoffman fire are featured
below the written articles. |
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Commenting later on the collapse of the wall,
Fire Captain Chad Thompkinson said, “If that wall
had come down two minutes sooner, some people would have gotten
hurt. We hollered at them to move, but they wouldn’t.”
Man’s interest in his fellow man during
a time of peril was demonstrated when passers-by and store employees
rushed into Pritchard’s to help carry out stock, fixtures
and cash register. They even saved a bowl of peanuts which owner
Jim McConnell kept on hand for his customers. “Everyone
wanted to help. It was wonderful.” Said McConnell of the
volunteers who formed a “clothing brigade’ to move
his stock across the street to safety. The clothing was deposited
in the McKinley Federal Savings & Loan, Nader’s and
Arden’s. Later it was moved to 19 East Park Avenue, the
former site of Pappada’s Pharmacy, where McConnell said
he would be open for business today.
On the other side of Hoffman’s, Ragazzo’s
was harder hit by the flames, which burned through much of the
roof and weakened the wall. Records of license plates in Ragazzo’s
were saved but 13 boxes of 1962 Ohio license plates were destroyed.
Considerable water and smoke damage was reported and the Ideal
Department Store reported smoke damage.
A crowd of nearly 1,000 was drawn to the spectacular
blaze with several dozen more watching the rear of the building
where firemen kept constant stream of water on the two adjoining
buildings. In addition to the spectators along the sidewalks,
many lined the tops of adjoining buildings to get a Birdseye view
of the action and crowded into offices in the Niles Bank Building.
Niles police and Trumbull County deputies set
up ropes and saw-horses to hold back the curious who were in constant
danger from the weakening front wall. Main Street remained blocked
throughout the night with traffic being rerouted onto West State
Street as firemen stayed on guard all night for fear the blaze
might be rekindled by the smoking ruins. More bricks were added
to the debris when firemen used a high-pressure nozzle to knock
down the rear wall.
Today, nearly 24 hours after the disaster, three
bent parking meters and a half-buried fire hydrant stand like
weary sentries in the rubble in front of what once was Hoffman’s.
Heat melted the head of a mercury-vapor street light which stood
in front of the store.
All off-duty firemen were summoned to the blaze,
some coming from Youngstown. Aiding in the long hours of fire-fighting
were canteen workers from the Niles Red Cross Chapter and a group
of McKinley High School boys who passed out donuts to the weary
men. The coffee was donated by Ed Bode of the F.W. Woolworth
Company who kept the pot brewing all night long and started it
up again this morning.
The canteen workers included: Mrs. Albert
Collier, Mrs. Carmen Cristoforo, Mrs. June Pearson, Mrs. Earl
Jones, and Helen Lohr. The boys were Jim Owens,
Mike Berresford and Harold Woods.
The fire was the worst in Niles since a series
of explosions and subsequent fires gutted much of the Youngstown
Steel Car on June 20, 1953. Other major fires included a $300,000
blaze which gutted the old First Methodist Church in 1951 and
a $200,000 fire at Mallory-Sharon factory in June of 1954.
Color photographs of the Hoffman fire are featured
below the written articles.
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Memories
of the Hoffman fire – Paul
Hogan
Paul Hogan joined the Niles Fire Department
in November 1961 and was a fireman when Hoffman’s Department
Store in downtown Niles was destroyed by fire on March 23, 1962.
He recalls that day when he was at home and his
sister, Pat, called him from Macalis on Robbins Avenue after seeing
the smoke rising into the sky from the fire.
Paul had to find a car to travel downtown from
his residence at 908 Lafayette Avenue. He first tried one of his
close neighbors, Mr. Axel Aulin (whose wife later was
the only victim of the fire). He then raced to the Quilty
home at 803 Sullivan Street, borrowed a car and arrived at the
fire station.
He geared up in his equipment and upon arrival
was stationed on the roof of Leopold’s Shoe Store. Later
he was in the basement of what was left of Hoffmans and left the
scene when the fire fight was over after midnight.
Paul related how the fire started in the bathroom
under the stairway with a sloping ceiling which helped to spread
to flames quickly to the mezzanine and second floor. A janitor
remembered a man entered the store smoking a cigarette and had
asked to use the restroom and believed the cigarette had been
left on the shelf in the bathroom.
A man named Fickes was driving through
downtown, saw the flames and people on the second floor, had a
small ladder which he placed against the front of the building
and lowered one person from a window to the ground.
Upon arrival of the first fire truck, two more
people were rescued from the second floor windows. Mrs. Axel Aulin,
related to Bill Bohne, was unable to come to the window
and was overcome by smoke and died in the fire.
Color photographs of the Hoffman fire are featured
below the written articles.
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The photographs below show various scenes
from the Hoffman Fire. |
SO3.46 |
SO3.47 |
SO3.49 |
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SO3.63 |
SO3.66 |
SO3.72 |
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SO3.51 |
SO3.54 |
SO3.55 |
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SO3.48 |
SO3.72 |
SO3.59 |
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SO3.50 |
SO3.52 |
SO3.53 |
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SO3.56 |
SO3.57 |
SO3.58 |
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SO3.61 |
SO3.64 |
SO3.65 |
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SO3.67 |
SO3.68 |
SO3.69 |
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SO3.70 |
PO1.402 |
PO1.403 |
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SO3.71 |
Boys inspecting the rubble after the fire.
SO3.73
SO3.69 |
The window display with mannequin heads.
PO1.1405 |
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SO3.235 |
SO3.238 |
SO3.113 |
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Arnold Danes Hoffman Fire Story.
Steve Sava
So, here is the story of the photo. I spent time
as a young boy at the old fire station. My brother-in-law was
a fireman and I would stop by occasionally and run errands for
the fireman. To the drug store, Dairy Queen, etc. This was before
radios, cell phones and sub-station.
Firemen were pretty much tethered to the firestation.
I mention this because – it gave me familiarity with the
firemen of that era.
As an adult, I had business dealings at the (new) Safety Service
Complex. This allowed me access to the living area in the fire
station. In the hallway, they have the three photos. The Hoffman
Fire and the two (2) Staff Photos from the two different years,
1959 and 1969.
The Hoffman Fire photo always fascinated me because
of all the action that was taking place. Specifically, the fireman
in the bottom quadrant of the photo. He appears to have been blown
off a ladder – perhaps by a falling brick wall. That is
fascinating enough – but the photo appears to have been
taken immediately after it happened and before anyone else noticed.
Look at the other people in the photo. No one appears to have
noticed the fireman picking himself off the ground. Note: Most
of the firemen that pass the photo daily – never noticed
the guy in the smoke.
Back to familiarity with the firemen. Looking
at the photo, I always believed it to be Arnold Danes
for several reasons. The first is the dark black hair and the
sturdy build. And the second, I knew Arnold had been at the Hoffman
Fire. See photo of the crew in 1969 for a look at Arnold.
Earlier this year, I was working on our class
reunion. I had to contact Karen Danes regarding the reunion.
I thought it would be nice for her to have the photo. So, I went
to the fire station and asked permission to go in and take a photo
– of the photo on the wall.
Before sending the photo to Karen, I ran it past a retired fireman
(that fought the Hoffman fire) to verify it was Arnold in the
photo.
When I sent the photo to Karen, she recognized
her father. She offered some insight into her father's personality.
He was a decorated war veteran and professional fireman –
that never spoke of his good deeds and heroic actions. She knew
that her father had saved two women at the Hoffman fire –
but knew little else about his actions that day.
When she shared the photo with her sister, her
sister was familiar with a story (from that fire) that had her
father thrown from the building.
So, we feel pretty confident that the fireman
on the ground is Arnold Danes.
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Hoffman Department Store Fire
March 23, 1962. |
Close-up of fireman Arnold Danes after
falling to the ground.
The Hoffman Fire photo always fascinated
me because of all the action that was taking place. Specifically,
the fireman in the bottom quadrant of the photo. He appears to have
been blown off a ladder – perhaps by a falling brick wall.
That is fascinating enough – but the photo appears to have
been taken immediately after it happened and before anyone else
noticed. Look at the other people in the photo. No one appears to
have noticed the fireman picking himself off the ground. |
Niles Fire Department 1969.
Niles Fire Department 1959. |
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