Iron Bars Prevent Rescue of Boy Who Dies in Camden Fire

Iron Bars Prevent Rescue of Boy Who Dies in Camden Fire Six Firemen Injured in Heroic Attempts to Save Little Victim Doomed Lad Stares Piteously Out Windows as House Is Blazing Furnace Iron bars built into the window sills when the place was used as a bank prevented the rescue of a boy who perished in a blaze at 1009 Broadway, Camden, last night. In desperate endeavor to rescue the boy, Harry Armbruster, Jr., 11 years old, six firemen were seriously injured. All are in the Cooper Hospital with various injuries. The firemen on their ladders could see the boy through the window in his little sleeping room at the rear of the second floor. They tried to wrench out the bars, but, built to resist burglars, the staunch pieces of iron resisted all their efforts. The front of the house was an inferno of flame and smoke, and entrance to the doomed boy in that way was impossible. No one could have lived in the furnace a moment. The frenzied firemen, stung to deeds of super-heroism by the sight of the little chap staring white-faced through the iron bars that were to cost him his life, broke into the building on the ground floor and groped their way through the smoke to his room. Help Comes Too Late But it was too late. The flames and smoke had licked their way to him, and when the firemen fought their way through he was unconscious. He died on the way to the hospital. The names of the fire heroes who are in the hospital are: CAPTAIN WILLIAM PRICE, No. 2 Truck. FIREMAN JOHN HUNT, No. 8 Engine Company. FIREMAN IRWIN BISHOP, No. 2 Truck Company. CAPTAIN CHARLES WATKINS, No. 7 Engine Company. FIREMAN WILLIAM MERRIGAN, No. 7 Engine Company. FIREMAN WILLIAM REYNOLDS, No. 2 Truck Company. The two firemen who carried the boy out were Captain Price and Hoseman Reynolds. Replete with dramatic details, the story of the rescue will go down in the annals of New Jersey's fire-fighters' heroism in golden letters, for the firemen who tried distinguished themselves in their brave attempts. The building where the fire occurred is owned by Harry Ambruster, the boy's father. It was formerly occupied by the Broadway Trust Company, but is now a store building. Ambruster maintains a cleaning establishment in the basement of the building and lives above the store. He is a widower and his son was motherless. Shortly before 11 o'clock, Ambruster, preparatory to closing his cleaning establishment, went into the yard behind the store, and smelling smoke, investigated. He found that the smoke came from the cellar and he knew that his son was asleep in the front room of the second-story. Because the building was formerly occupied by the banking company, all the windows are protected with heavy iron barrings. Ambruster was torn between two duties. He wanted to run upstairs to get his son safely out of the burning structure and he wanted to turn in an alarm. Shouting "Fire! Fire!" he ran to the front part of the building, and tried to go upstairs. Staircase Mass of Flames The staircase was in the midst of a roaring mass of flames, however, and he could not get upstairs. Distraught, the father frantically ran hither and thither outside. The fire engines had been summoned and firemen had raised ladders to the second story window, having been told of the presence of the sleeping boy. The bars were immovable. Captain Price pried with an iron crowbar, but in vain. In the meantime Firemen Hunt, Bishop and Merrigan and Captain Watkins had tried to make their way through the burning first floor to the staircase and the sleeping boy. Two Overcome in Building Bishop and Merrigan were overcome and lay inside the burning building unknown to the firemen on the outside. It looked as though the floor would collapse at any minute. Captain Price and Reynolds, staggering through the hall with the almost dead boy, passed the unconscious Bishop and Merrigan on the way. Price Goes It Alone At the foot of the stairs, Reynolds, overcome by the dense smoke, collapsed. Captain Price continued alone, carrying the boy over his shoulder. The lad's father was by this time frantic with excitement. When Price appeared in the doorway framed against a background of rolling flames, he ran forward and seized his son. They were placed in an ambulance and rushed to the Cooper Hospital. There doctors pronounced the boy dead. Captain Price in the meantime had told of the three unconscious firemen inside the burning building who were in imminent danger of death should the floor fall in. Rescuers immediately dashed into the burning structure and brought out their comrades and all were rushed to the hospital. The building, a two-story brick edifice, was directly behind the Lyric Theatre, where a crowded audience was witnessing a motion picture performance. Realizing the proximity of the fire, and fearing a panicky stampede, the orchestra continued to play, and the operator was given orders to continue the picture then showing for ten minutes. Then the smoke became noticeable within the theatre, and the performance was ended. The audience left the theatre quietly, without any sign of fear or panic. Three alarms were turned in during the fire, and the building was practically destroyed.