Firefightershurt astruckhitswall

A SURPRISING DEVELOPMENT
Plaquehonors
FireDept.pioneer
By DAMON C. WILLIAMS
williadc@phillynews.com
215-854-5924
Associated Press
DR. ABDULLA Al-Khan holds newborn twin boys he
delivered Tuesday, as the babies’ parents, Kenneth and
Frieda Birnbaum, look on at Hackensack University Medical
Center, in Hackensack, N.J. Hospital officials believe
Birnbaum, 60, may be the oldest to give birth to twins in the
United States, said Nancy Radwin, a hospital spokeswoman.
Frieda Birnbaum, a Saddle River, N.J., psychologist, and her
husband, a New York City attorney, have been married for 38
years and have sons ages 33 and 6 and a daughter, 29.
David Humphr eys was a man of
many firsts in the Fire Department.
He was among the first to be
emplo yed by the department
when it became a paid outfit in
1871, and he was among the first
to respond with his unit, Ladder
D, when called to a fire.
And on Nov. 30, 1872, Humphreys, 31, an assistant engineer,
became the first fireman to lose
his life in the line of duty.
He and fellow firefighters
James Patterson and Alfred
Gohr, were thrown to the ground
while battling a raging fire at the
Charles M. Stratton Co., 132 Dock
St.
Humphr eys and his two comrades were working from a wood-
en ladder when it broke, sending
the three to the concr ete below.
Humphr eys died of head trauma at home the next day.
“This is a proud day and a somber day,” said Fire Commis sioner
Lloyd Ayers during yester day’s
plaque dedica tion in Old City,
commemor ating Humphr ey’s ultimate sacrific e. “This is the nation’s first fire department, and
the city put its trust in Humphreys. We will never, ever forget,
and we salute him.”
Ayers, a department historian,
said Humphr eys’ sacrific e led to
improvements in benefits, safety
equipment and better hour s and
wages for firefighters.
Ayers was joined by the Humphreys family, other department
officials and politicians, including
former City Contr oller Jonathan
Saidel, during the plaque dedica-
tion on Dock Street near 2nd.
Humphr eys’ great-great-grandnephe w, Dan O’Brien, and his family made the trip here from Florida and other points for the dedication, and he spoke of the conditions that Humphr eys faced on
the job.
“In his time, they worked
147-hour workweeks, which was
21 hour s a day,” said O’Brien, a retired firefighter with Engine 29.
“It was like the military, seven
days a week, working with three
horses that would draw the
steam-po wered pumper.”
O’Brien said that in Humphreys’ day, the going wage was
$50 a month, about 7.5 cents an
hour.
“Those guys made us what we
are today,” O’Brien said. “They
had absolutely nothing back
then. No benefits, and you
couldn’t buy life insuranc e.
“When you died, your family
had to step in; there was no city
or state support.”
Now, thanks in part to the sacrifice of men like David HumSee PLAQUE Page 31
Firefightershurt
astruckhitswall
By STEPHANIE FARR
farrs@phillynews.com
215-854-4225
Joanie Rick er watched in horror yester day as a ladder truck
from the Garrettford-Drexel Hill
Fire Department slammed fullspeed into a stone wall in Upper
Darby Township , injuring six firefighters.
“You just couldn’t belie ve the
sound,” said Rick er, of Holmes,
who was on her way to work
when she saw the ladder truck
“fly past.”
“I thoug ht, there’s no way he
could have any brakes on. It
didn’t look like he could stop,” she
said. “I don’t think he could have
misjudg ed that much. He hit that
wall so hard.”
The accident happened about
noon at the intersection of Hilldale and Providenc e roads. The
truck, from Station 20 in Upper
Darby, was going to a house fire in
the 700 block of Providenc e
Road, Fire Chief Ed Cubler said.
A seventh firefighter received
facial injuries when he fell on
THURSDAY, MAY 24, 2007
loose concr ete while responding
to the accident, he said.
All but one of the firefighters on
the truck — none of them identified — were able to escape the
wreckage on their own, Cubler
said.
But it was the front-sea t passenger, trapped for more than an
hour by metal that had pushed
around his body, who had to be
flown to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
“He was alert and conscious,
but he was complaining of pains,
and he was saying he was tired,”
Cubler said.
The other injured were taken to
Delaware Count y Memorial Hospital for examina tion, he said.
Mor e than a dozen firefighters
from other departments responded to the scene to assist.
Because of the truck’s position
— through a wall with its cabin
over a small hillside — a crane
was brought in to remo ve it.
Peco Energy Co. also was summoned to the scene because the
truck had crashed under utility
DAVID MAIALETTI/Daily News
State police investigator works at scene of fire-truck crash in Drexel Hill yesterday.
lines, Cubler said.
Several residents at an apartment comple x across the street
from the crash said the roadway
tends to be a dangerous area for
P H I L A D E L P H I A
D A I L Y
speeding and crashes.
“Every three months there’s accidents here,” said resident Antoinette Taylor.
“They need to put signs up.
N E W S
Something has to be done . It’s
horrible .”
The cause of the crash remains
under investigation by Upper Darby Polic e and the state polic e. i
PAGE 9*
House fire
kills boy, 5,
in Harrisburg
PLAQUE
Continued from Page 9
phreys, the department has systems in place to help the family of
a fallen firefighter.
David Humphr eys spawned a
firefighting linea ge that, except
for one break, continues from
1871 to today. His son, John, also
became a firefighter, as did Hum-
Associated Press
HARRISB URG — An earlymorning house fire yester day
killed a boy who ran back into the
burning house after his grandmother tried to escape with him,
authorities said.
Five other s — four adults and a
12-year- old boy — were hospitalized.
The body of 5-year- old Arthur
Cookse y-Easter was found by firefighters after the blaze was extinguished.
His 70-year- old grandmother
tried to take him with her
through a second-floor windo w
onto a porch roof, but he became
frightened and ran back into the
house , Mayor Stephen Reed and
relatives said.
“Ther e’s no words to explain . . . how good of a little boy
he was,” his cousin Jasmine Easter told WGAL-TV.
Dauphin Count y Coroner Graham Hetrick said the boy died of
smoke inhala tion and burns.
Authorities said a grease fire
started at about 2 a.m. in the
kitchen of the home , where seven
childr en and four adults lived.
The house is belie ved not to have
had working smok e detector s.
The fire spread to three adjoining houses, including two that
were abandoned, but there were
no other casualties. i
phreys’ grandson, John Jr.
Tha t history in part propelled
O’Brien to bec ome a fireman, he
said.
This year’s Fire Academy clas s,
the 183r d, was the citizen sponsor
of this plaque.
To become a citizen sponsor, or
for more informa tion on the hero
plaque program, conta ct attorney
James
Binns
at
215-27 5-3000. i
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