
37 Camden Men Pass Tests for City Firemen
Thirty-seven candidates passed the Civil Service test for Camden firefighter in December 1949 — among them brothers Santo and John DiMaggio of 319 Beckett Street.
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Thirty-seven candidates passed the Civil Service test for Camden firefighter in December 1949 — among them brothers Santo and John DiMaggio of 319 Beckett Street.

Mrs. Anna E. McDermott, 80, wife of retired city fireman James H. McDermott of 23 North Twenty-eighth Street, died Tuesday after a long illness. Funeral at Harry Leonard Funeral Home; solemn requiem mass at St. Joseph's Church.

Fred Strahle of 1017 North 28th Street returned from a Pennsylvania mountain vacation to find his gas stove had exploded when he lit the pilot. He grabbed a rug and smothered the flames before firemen arrived.

Public Safety Commissioner Mary W. Kobus placed Junior Fire Captain William P. Spencer of 38 South Thirty-second Street on temporary retirement at half pay in April 1941 after illness left him unable to work.

Rookie Camden fireman John Gryckiewicz, five weeks on the job, pulled a burning rope from around a 50-gallon gasoline drum aboard the tug Pacific at the American Dredging Company docks in December 1940, preventing an explosion.

Camden Public Safety Commissioner Mary W. Kobus announced in December 1940 that her appointment of 22 patrolmen and 10 firemen had restored the public safety department to 1938 strength, and said she would seek money for more officers because of defense needs; John Gryckiewicz of 810 North Front Street was among the fire appointees.

Commissioner Mary W. Kobus announced the appointment of three Camden policemen and four firemen in November 1940; among the new firefighters was John Gryckiewicz of 810 North Front Street.

Funeral arrangements for Lester R. Anderson, 38, of Engine Company No. 2, who died in his sleep at the Fifth and Arch Streets fire house; Arthur Batten was among the pallbearers, all members of the engine company.

Camden fireman Clarence E. McMullen of 486 North Thirty-fifth Street was awarded a final decree of divorce from Josephine G. McMullen of Oaklyn in February 1939.

Mrs. Anna Gleason, widow of Lester A. Gleason, was elected president of the Ladies' Auxiliary of the Camden Police and Firemen's Association at 1175 Whitman Avenue; Mrs. Mabel Batten was elected secretary.

Commissioner Mary W. Kobus swore in two new members of the Camden Fire Department in April 1937 — Edwin W. Judd of 1052 North Thirty-fifth Street and Joseph A. Gforer of 1461 Pershing Street.

Camden Courier-Post, May 25, 1934. Camden firemen battled a $150,000 blaze; Laurence Newton was among those named in the coverage.

More than 60 comrades honored Fire Capt. Herman Kreher of Engine Company No. 11 at a dinner marking his fiftieth birthday and the eve of his retirement.

Funeral services were held in Camden for Nicholas Romaine, 48, a member of Engine Company No. 11, who died of injuries suffered fighting a junk-shop fire nearly eight years earlier.
Herbert Bott was re-elected president of the Camden Police and Firemen's Association on February 9, 1933, with William P. Spencer winning a three-cornered fight for vice president.
Notice of the February 9, 1933 election of officers of the Camden Police and Firemen's Association, with Herbert Bott unopposed for president. Russell Anderson was among ten candidates for fireman trustee.

A December 1932 Camden Courier-Post report on a head-on collision between a bus and an automobile at Eighth Street and Kaighn Avenue; city fireman George W. Garner suffered a fractured arm, and the bus was driven by J. S. Harrison of 311 North 38th Street.

Camden firemen John M. Peterson and Herman Dreas, both of Engine Company No. 11 and members of Corp. Mathews-Purnell Post 518, Veterans of Foreign Wars, received the Order of the Purple Heart for wounds suffered in France.

Policeman Joseph Sparks, a city employee for 17 years, died at West Jersey Homeopathic Hospital from spinal meningitis. He lived at 20 North Twenty-eighth Street and had served as a patrolman since 1918, after seven years as a junior captain in Fire Company No. 7.

Camden Courier-Post, April 17, 1928. Twelve new firemen and ten promoted men were assigned to their new stations by Chief Thomas J. Nicholas, completing the department's complement of 200 men.

Dr. A. Haines Lippincott, surgeon to the Camden police and fire departments, submitted recommendations approved by City Council, including schools, medical surveys and firearms instruction. Nine men, among them Traffic Officer Raymond Stark, were expected to retire on disability.

Charles Morris, a merchant at 1203 Haddon Avenue, went on trial in Camden Criminal Court on arson, conspiracy and aiding indictments over a July 23 fire at his shoe store; Fire Chief Carter and Police Chief Hyde testified to oil fumes in the store.
Fire believed to have started through the drying of animal hair destroyed Hugh A. Greenan's frame building at 1736 South 7th Street; six horses were rescued and Chief Peter B. Carter sounded a general alarm.
Camden firemen were called to a three-alarm fire at Hugh A. Greenan's stables on South 7th Street just before marching to Captain Martin B. Carrigan's funeral, and to a drugstore fire on Everett Street on their return.

Hundreds lined the streets and firehouse bells tolled as the cortege of Captain Martin B. Carrigan passed through Camden to Arlington Cemetery, escorted by ninety-two firemen under Chief Peter B. Carter.
Camden's municipal buildings, police stations and firehouses were draped in mourning for Captain Martin Carrigan, who died of injuries received fighting the Kaighn Avenue fire; city council voted to pay the expense of his funeral.
Captain Martin B. Carrigan of Engine Company No. 2 died at Cooper Hospital of a fractured skull and severe burns received while leading his men at the Economy Store fire on Kaighn Avenue.
Four fires in Camden's business district within six weeks destroyed or damaged a dozen retail stores, with losses fixed at $595,000 — the Baker-Flick Department Store, Toone & Hollingshed, Nell's Haberdashery and the Economy Store.

Fireman Charles Gladney was overcome by smoke while fighting a fire at the Wearwell Gasket Company on the second floor of 32 North Third Street, Camden, and was carried out by Fireman Edgar Ellender.

Superintendent William L. Miles of the MacAndrews & Forbes Company hosted a banquet for Engine Company No. 3 at their headquarters at Broadway and Emerald Street; Engineer Daniel Smith was among the company.

Company No. 3's auto fire engine skidded at Broadway and Kaighn Avenue and crashed into a store window at Broadway and Locust Street; Engineer Daniel Smith and Stoker Arthur Wingate jumped to safety while Driver Michael Brown stuck to his post.

Fire Chief John A. Stockton and his chauffeur Martin Carrigan jumped clear as the chief's car skidded into a beer truck at Broadway and Kaighn Avenue while responding to a fire at the General Gas Mantle Company plant.

The monthly supper at Camden Fire Headquarters, Fifth and Arch streets, featured German sour krout served by Lieutenant Jim White, with Chief Charles Worthington and Assistant Chief John A. Stockton among the speakers.

New Year's banquets were held by Engine Company No. 7, the firemen at Headquarters, and Hook and Ladder Truck No. 1; Daniel Smith was among the diners at Headquarters.

City Council's Fire Committee appointed ten new firemen for the new Engine Company No. 7 at Tenth Street and Kaighn Avenue; Daniel Smith and Arthur Wingate were advanced to stokers.
Fireman Daniel Smith underwent an operation on his arm, which had been injured in a trolley accident several weeks earlier.

Three firemen — George Shields, William Hillman, and William Jobes — are killed and nine people injured when fire destroys the old Sixth Regiment Armory in Camden.
The Altoona Mirror reports three Camden firemen killed and nine injured when the roof of the old Sixth Regiment Armory at Bridge and West streets fell, burying Fireman Harry Dease and the men he had warned; the injured were removed to Hooper Hospital.
The Lima Daily News reports that three Camden firemen — George W. Shields, William Hillman and William Jobes — were killed and nine others seriously injured in the fire that destroyed the old Sixth Regiment Armory, with the loss put at about $75,000.

With the Camden Fire Department spreading across the city, City Council's Fire Committee appointed additional firemen, naming one or two men from each of the twelve wards.

The Fire Committee of Camden City Council appointed a slate of new firemen — among them Martin Carrigan — ahead of the completion of the new fire house at Twelfth and Federal streets.

Meeting at the home of its ailing chairman, Dr. Frank Neall Robinson, the fire committee of Camden City Council recommended sixteen men — Martin Carrigan among them — for appointment to the Fire Department, drawn from wards throughout the city.

City Council's Fire Committee named eighteen new firemen — Martin Carrigan among them — sixteen of whom would not report for duty until the new fire house was ready the following July.

Camden's Fire Commissioners selected firemen for five new companies; Benjamin Kellum was made assistant chief and Daniel Smith was appointed for the Fifth ward.

Camden City Council re-elected Samuel S. Elfreth chief engineer of the Fire Department and Samuel Buzine assistant chief.