Image of the Academy of Music Block during the February 1926 fire, from the Swihart Collection
This story originally appeared on the front page of the Valparaiso Daily Vidette from February 19, 1926, which was the day the disastrous fire occurred.
2 Firemen Killed; 4 Others Injured
Two firemen, one a member of the Gary fire department, and the other a citizen volunteer, are dead, one volunteer fireman was seriously injured, and three others were injured as the result of the destruction by fire of the Academy of Music block and the Kaufman Bargain store building in the downtown business district today. A revised estimate of $500,000 is placed on the property loss which is one of the greatest conflagrations to ever visit the city. The estimate of the property loss is divided about equally in buildings and stock.
The dead are:
HARRY MCNAMARA, pipeman Engine Company No. 2, Gary, buried under a mass of wreckage of the falling walls of the Kaufman building.
ROBERT BARTHOLOMEW, employee of the Northwestern Indiana Telephone Company of this city, drowned when buried beneath the walls of the Kaufman building.
The injured:
RICHARD BROWN, lieutenant of Engine company No. 2, Gary, leg cut and bruised, gash in back of head and left hand mashed, by falling walls.
CLAUS HELMICH, local painting contractor and decorator, fractured skull and other injuries from falling walls.
LLOYD MILLER, employed at Wittenberg & Son, head badly cut by falling walls.
The body of Harry McNamara was recovered this afternoon about 3 o’clock after a search of several hours. McNamara, it was discovered, was crushed to death in the fall. Mayor Fulton and Chief Grant returned to Gary shortly after the body was recovered.
The condition of Claus Helmick is still very serious according to reports from the local hospital at 3:30.
The Academy of Music block is a total loss, as well as the Kaufman building. The structures occupied by the Farmers and American restaurants were badly damaged. The two first-mentioned buildings were reduced to a smoldering mass of masonry and twisted steel. The Academy of Music block was a three story with basement, while the other structures were of the two story type.
The two men who were killed and the four who were injured were on the second floor of the Kaufman building. They had invaded the structure with a hose to seek a vantage point whereby they might pour water into the Academy of Music building. Then something happened. A roar like a mighty blast at bay went forth. The whole end of the Academy of Music wall on the south, towering majestically above that of the Kaufman building, gave way In a brief space of time, before they were aware of it, six men went tumbling down into the vortex created by the enormous mass of brick and stone crushing the Kaufman building like an egg-shell.
Into the flame, smoke and broken pieces of the building, the men were cast. While this gruesome tragedy was being enacted others on top of the Farmers restaurant building had narrow escape from injury. Sheriff W. B. Forney, Charles Gilliland, commander of the American Legion post, Harvey Varner, Fred Hughes and County Surveyor William Morthland were here holding the hose that was pouring its liquid contents into the burning inferno.
With the crash of the wall, the firemen and helpers were peppered with bricks from the doomed building. Harvey Varner narrowly escaped falling over the ledge, but was pulled back by comrades. County Surveyor Morthland, struck on the head by a brick, was saved by pals when he tried to walk off the roof while in a dazed condition. Gilliland, on the hose, was pulled back by Sheriff Forney just as the pressure of the water was about to carry him over into the Kaufman pit.
Fireman and spectators at once went to the aid of the stricken men. Brown, Billings and Helmick were pulled forth from under the wreckage. Bartholomew was found and extricated, but was dead when taken out. While not badly bruised by the brick and stone, it is believed that he met death by drowning in the lake of water. The body was removed to the C. W. Bartholomew undertaking parlors. Helmick, Brown, Billings, and Miller were taken to the Christian hospital. An operations as performed on Helmick and it is believed he will recover. Miller was able to leave the hospital shortly afterward when it was ascertained that his injuries were not serious.
The body of McNamara was not recovered. Searchers pulled back the pile of brick and other debris in the basement of the Kaufman store, but were unable to locate him. At one time it was believed they had found him, but it proved to be Miller. After removing a large part of the mass of material under which he is believed to have been buried, the works rested in their labors. With the arrival of Mayor Floyd Williams and Chief of Police Wilford Grant, of Gary, an organized search was instituted. The Gary officials took immediate charge of the work and organized the workers into crews.
Bartholomew, one of the killed, was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Bartholomew, residing north of the city, and was 27 years of age. He was an employee of the Northwestern Indiana Telephone company. Besides his parents, he is survived by one brother, Hubert, and three sisters, Dorothy, Margaret and Myra.
McNamara, who also lost his life, was a veteran of the Gary fire department. His wife, who was notified of the tragedy to her husband, arrived in the city within a short time after the accident.
Bartholomew, Helmick and Miller were attracted to the fire like hundreds of others and when the occasion demanded gave willingly of their services in helping out the firemen to save property.
City officials and former officials, former members of the fire department and others showed their loyalty by doing everything possible to prevent the spread of the flames.
Chief of Police William Pennington was on the scene early and with the aid of members of the department assumed charge of the safety measures. Police lines were drawn and the crowds kept out and away from the danger zone. However, at times the spectators kept edging up near the building and caused the police considerable trouble in ordering them back.
With the falling of the wall and the death and injury of numerous persons, calls for ambulances were sent out to every undertaker in the city. Three of them were around the restricted area ready for service at all times.
Various persons served hot coffee to the hard-working firemen and J. Lowenstine & Sons through a representative, were on hand early to distribute mittens to the firemen to prevent frost-bit fingers.
Electricians were summoned and eliminated hazards in the form of live wires.
The smoke from the burning building soared high in the air and was carried a considerable distance. Rural residents were able to discern the fire location for many miles. Charles L. Jeffrey, president of the Farmers State bank, stated he saw the smoke four or five miles north of the city while enroute here from Chesterton.
While the building had only been burning a short time occupants of the burned structures received offers of temporary quarters from a number of sources. One of the first to extend an offer was Harry R. Ball, general manager of the Northwestern Indiana Telephone company.
Exact Cause is Not Known
The exact cause of the fire is not yet determined, though there are those who ascribe it to an overheated furnace located in the basement of the Academy of Music, directly under the Sievers Drug company store. August Koch, janitor, visited the basement at 5:30 o’clock to fire the furnace. After a visit to the State Bank of Valparaiso building to look after the heating apparatus, he returned again to the building shortly before 6 o’clock. When he went into the basement the smoke was so dense he could not get into the furnace room. Policeman Gordon Reynolds and August Schumacher in the meantime had seen the smoke issuing from the structure and immediately turned in an alarm.
Confronted by a pall of smoke that rushed through the crevices of the ancient structure and the clouds that hung lifeless within the interior of the building, the constant threat of crumbling floors, the valiant fire fighters augmented by scores of volunteer fighters, groped through the steam and maze of suffocating smoke, against biting winds and water that coated them with ice, to carry on until they wore down the flames after it seemed a certainty they would leap their way to the south and to the west until they had wrapped their cardinal tenacities about every business building in the block. They carried on gallantly for house without a letup on their part, with every indication that the job would necessitate a while day’s labor.
The flames gutted the Academy of Music block until only a charred mass remains they raked their way through the Kaufman Bargain store and practically destroyed that building. Water and smoke pouring through the Farmers restaurant and the American restaurant buildings caused untold damage, making both buildings untenable and unfit for business until extensive repairs have been made.
Although the firemen confined the fire to the Academy of Music building, the structure occupied by the Kaufman Bargain store, at no time were the firemen sanguine of being able to curb the flames until they had wreaked a far greater vengeance. The blaze marked the complete passing of the Academy of Music block, a landmark of the Vale, and once the pride of theatergoers in the older days. Built by Samuel Anthony and Ruel Starr back in 1864, it was one of the most substantially built buildings in the city. No expense was spared when the structure was built sixty years ago. The foundation walls are of Lamont stone, and the cross walls of the same material, built at a great thickness.
Once Was City’s Playhouse
For many years the third story of the building, vacated only recently by the Porter Lodge of Masons, once served as the city’s playhouse. Here some of the most noted actors tread the boards. A. F. Heineman, for more than forty years in the theatre business, was one of the managers. McIntyre & Heath, who are still performing in big time company, were among the favorites who appeared there.
The brick walls stand partly, but the building is roof-naked, its form gutted, its interior eaten out by the flames. Black joists, not quite burned away, jagged and forbidding, stand as bleak reminders of a relentless foe that not only exacted a property loss but claimed human toll. Walls seemingly gray in dismay stand ghostlike and pale to overlook the debris below. Inside the once burning and smoldering inferno may be seen the law books and furniture of many law firms which occupied the second floor of the structure. Over all hundred of icicles drape themselves across the volumes of black stone and seal themselves shut with heavy coatings of ice for all time. And overhead the roof gave way to let the blue sky of heaven and the all-merciful Father to look down on the desolate scene.
Drive Out by Flames
With the arrival of the fire department on the scene, an attempt was made to get into the building but this was later given up when the suffocating fumes dove the firemen to the street. Within a short time the flames broke forth through the roof and lighted the hazy morning light with a blaze of glory. Four lines of hose were lad but these had no effect on the flames. Fire Chief Fred Wittenberg after a hasty survey of the situation dispatched word to surrounding towns for help. Gary sent an American LaFrance machine from Engine Company No. 2 under the direction of Lieut. Dick Brown and a force of men. Homer Ouderkirk, former Valparaiso man, drove the truck here in thirty-five minutes. The quick arrival of the Gary apparatus was all that saved the Ruge building and other structures to the west. The Gary men set about immediately to check the progress of the fire on the west. Had the Gary truck been five minutes later in arriving, there is little question but that the Belmont Hotel and Keene Tire Shop would have been included in the wreckage.
The firemen concentrated their attention on the Academy of Music at the start but later were forced to desert the structure when the wind send the flames in the direction of the Kaufman store, and the Farmers and American restaurants and threatened to engulf the $100,000 building of the Valparaiso National bank and other buildings to the south.
Hack Way to Vantage Points
Hacking their way through walls and windows where ever they could reach and climb over perilous roof surfaces the firemen made their way to vantage points where they laid down a water barrage on the interior of the Academy of Music building. The answer of the flames came in the form of dense smoke screens which drive the men back to points of cover and safety from falling walls. The flames in the first floor of the structure were quenched after hard efforts put behind heavy joists and in corners inaccessible through the peculiar style of construction the flames were more difficult to combat. Tons of water were poured on the flames, but they were so much powder for the good they did. The hose nozzles were forced steadily forward, but the imminent threat of crumbling floors, roofs and 2walls made these advances extremely hazardous and the firemen dared not go within a shirt distance of the structure. Only at times did the brave fire boys and volunteers work their way to the building and open apertures wherein they might pour in sheets of water on the secluded spots.
Falling Walls Threaten
Smoke continued to gush forth and the flames shooting against the sky to give it a scarlet tinge. The smoke nuisance proved baffling at times to the firemen. The fire picked its way into the mortar, sealing the blocks together, presenting a menace greater than the fire itself, that of the danger of the brick walls crumbling and burying the firemen beneath it. With streams of water pouring on the structure for hours the water-logged walls began to bulge and sway on the structure. The first sign of falling walls became manifest on the easy side of the structure, when a large portion of the third story crashed into the street, narrowly missing a number of firemen and spectators. Flying brocks spattered on the sidewalk and in the court house year across the street.
Building Owned by Judge Loring
Judge H. H. Loring, of the Porter circuit court, owner of the Academy of Music building, estimated his loss at between $100,000 and $125,000. About $30,000 of insurance is carried on the structure. In the Academy of Music building the greatest loss occurred. The Farmers State bank occupies the corner location on the first floor of the building. The greatest damage to the bank will be in the shape of furniture and fixtures and supplies, and the loss of suspension of business. Announcement was made by Charles L. Jeffrey, president of the bank, that quarters had been obtained in the building at the corner of Lincolnway and Washington street, formerly occupied by the Szold department store, and that the bank would be open for business tomorrow. All the current files were saved from fire, and the remainder of the records are in the fire-proof vault, believed safe and immune from the flames.
The Sievers Drug company, which maintained a store in the Academy of Music, suffered a total loss in the way of drugs and merchandise. The Tobin pool room, also located in the lower part of the building is also a complete loss. The loss to both firms will be in the neighborhood of $30,000.
In the basement of the building, on the Lincoln Highway side, were located the office of the Yellow Taxicab Company, the Truman Tailor Shop, and the Greibel & Vevia Barber Shop. These rooms were practically gutted and the contents destroyed. Estimate of losses are hard to make, but it is believed that they will amount to several thousand dollars.
Loss to Attorneys is Enormous
The second floor of the building was known as attorneys’ row. Here in are located many of the law firms of the city. Edgerton W. Agar, former mayor, and E. Guy Osborne, former city attorney, maintained law and insurance offices in one part of the structure. Then came the rooms of A. C. Faulkner, recently sent to the state penal farm for drunkenness; Daniel E. Kelly, one of the oldest and leading lawyers of the city; Prosecuting Attorney W. W. Bozarth, P. J. Bailey and F. R. Marine, and Frank A. Turner, abstractor. All the law libraries of the attorneys and the records are destroyed with the exception of those documents housed in safes and fire-proof receptacles. An estimate of the value of this property cannot be estimated. In some cases the books and records are not replaceable. Attorney Kelly had one of the finest law libraries in the state, and the loss to him will be considerable.
The third-story of the structure was vacant at the present time, having been deserted only a short time ago by the Porter Lodge of Masons, which moved to a new home on East Linconway.
The Kaufman Bargain store is a total loss. Thousands of dollars worth of merchandise in the way of wearing apparel, boots and shoes, and dry goods were burned. Above the Kaufman store were two flats, occupied by Floyd Bonnell, manager of the Atlantic & Pacific Tea company and Joseph Lingg. The contents of both flats were more or less destroyed, though some were carried to safety.
Fixtures of the Farmers and the American restaurants were carried out by the owners and spectators to points of safety after it was believed that no chance existed for the firemen to stem the tide.
Kaufman Store a Total Loss
The Kaufman building is owned by Charles L. Jeffrey, president of the Farmers State bank. It was practically destroyed, though much of the structure can be salvaged in the new construction. The loss will be in the neighborhood of $15,000. The building occupied by the Farmers restaurant is owned by Mrs. John Sievers, of this city, Art Boyd, of Crown Point and Mrs. Hoyman, of Ft. Wayne, brother and sister of Mrs. Sievers. The building occupied by the American restaurant is owned by John Schumacher, who also owns the restaurant. The losses to these two buildings will be considerable. The Belmont hotel and restaurant building on the west, owned by Dr. Mox Ruge, was slightly damaged in the rear.
Still Burning at 3:30
At 3:30 o’clock this afternoon the fire was continuing unabated with firemen extending every effort to extinguish the last vestige, short distance away from the fire workmen were digging in the ruins in a herculean task of finding the body of McNamara. Plans were being made for the tearing down of the walls of the Academy of Music in order to remove the danger that exists. Trucks will be used in pulling the brick and mortar from their present moorings.