Fire Captain in Pearl St. Blaze
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One man was rescued and 14 persons were routed early Sunday when fire damaged three two-story houses in the 200 block of Pearl st., North Camden.
Anthony Burzynski, 31, of 218 Pearl st., rescued by Fire Capt. John Gryckiewicz, 35, of 934 N. 19th st., after the former returned to the house in the mistaken belief his son was trapped inside, was treated at Cooper Hospital for smoke inhalation and cuts of the right hand and right foot. Hospital attendants administered oxygen to Burzynski for two hours.
District Chief Howard Gick said the blaze, cause of which was undetermined, started in the kitchen of the home of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Juckett, 218 Pearl st., where Burzynski, a relative, and six others were asleep. All were forced to leave the house in their night clothing.
Neighbors Forced to Flee
When the blaze spread to adjoining properties, five persons were forced from 220 Pearl st. and a woman was routed at 216 Pearl.
The fire was discovered about 7.30 a. m. when Mrs. Elizabeth Juckett, 49, sleeping on a sofa, was awakened by smoke pouring into the living room at 218 Pearl. Her screams roused her husband, 64, and the others in upstairs bedrooms and Juckett ran barefoot to an alarm box at 3rd and Pearl sts.
Also routed from the Juckett house were their daughters, Mary, 22; Mrs. Anna Mae Ganyor, 25, and Mrs. Elizabeth Perry, 20; Mrs. Perry's daughter, Elizabeth, 7 months; Burzynski and his wife, Catherine, 27, another daughter of the Jucketts, and the Burzynski's son, Lawrence, 4.
Burzynski was overcome when he ran inside and up to the front bedroom on the second floor, thinking his son had been left behind. He collapsed on the window sill after breaking the pane.
Gryckiewicz, who arrived with Engine Co. 6, saw the inert figure and raised a ladder. Gryckiewicz ran up the ladder and lifted Burzynski, a Yellow Cab Co. driver, through the window.
50 Birds Saved
At 220 Pearl st., William E. Schloendorn, 31; his wife, Shirley, 27; their children, Barbara, 8, and William, 6, and Schloendorn's brother, Francis, 23, were able to don clothing before being forced out by smoke.
Schloendorn and his brother, both brakemen for the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines, made several trips through the smoke to rescue from a rear shed about 50 canaries and parakeets, which William raises. The birds were in 17 cages.
Miss Edith Johnson, home alone at 216, ran out in her night clothing with her pet cocker spaniel, Chips, and went to a nearby house to telephone her father, William B. Johnson, custodian at Cassady School, who then returned home.
Gick said the fire was confined to the rear sections of the three homes by members of Engine Companies 2 and 6 and Truck Co. 1. Those living at the Juckett home were given temporary shelter by friends and relatives.