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| Fire Log, 1971 4th, Michael Oliver residence November 6— John Myers dies by smoke inhalation at 509 Division St. November 9— Capt. Taylor takes ladder truck to Effingham to remove loose metal roofing from a church December 16- Tornado hits Decker Spring Trailer Park, W. of Charleston off Rte. 316, heavy damage December 31- Mel & Louise Taylor have open-house for 25th wedding anniversary
FIRE CAUSES HEAVY DAMAGE TO RESIDENCE The Michael Oliver residence, 221 S. 4th in Charleston was badly damaged by a fire which broke out at approximately 10:21 A.M. Tuesday. Capt. Mel Taylor of the CFD said that Mrs. Oliver and her two children were in the home when the fire started. "She had to get them out in a hurry. I guess they were upstairs. Taylor said the fire caused "heavy damage throughout the house and quite a loss to clothing and furniture. "The fire was more severe at the N.W. part of the upstairs, Taylor said the fire caused "heavy damage throughout the house and quite a loss to clothing and furniture. The fire was more severe at the N.W. part of the upstairs. The inside of the house was burned completely out," Taylor said. Firemen were on the scene until 12:45 P.M. "We rolled everything," said Taylor. "We had two pumpers and the ladder truck. We had all the equipment and firemen there." "This is the first bad fire we have had for some time," said Taylor. He said no estimate has been made of the damage. Taylor said it is not known at this time how the fire started. JOHN ANDREWS MYERS FOUND DEAD (Nov. 6, 1971) In
response to a
residential fire at 509 Division, at
approximately 2:30 P.M. Neighbors had
called the CFD. Capt. Melvin Taylor said that the men had "to use air
packs to enter the house". The firemen found Myers on the floor of the kitchen. Edward Kallis, Charleston
police detective, said that "the fire apparently started from a lit
cigarette that fell in a chair in the front room." A preliminary investigation indicated that the
cigarette burned
its way through the chair and then landed on
a can of lighter fluid causing the fire to become more intense. "Pending the
outcome of an autopsy, it
appears that he dead before the fire,: said Kallis. "He was not
burned at all. The fire was confined to the front
room.: said Kallis. Taylor said that all the fire damage was in the one room.
The rest of the house received some smoke and water damage. No outside
damage
was done. AERIAL LADDER USED AT EFFINGHAM NOV. 9, 1971 Nearby Effingham,
Illinois was waiting for their own
ladder truck, after approval by their city council. Meanwhile, St.
Anthony
Catholic Church had a problem with a loose sheet of tin on their roof
near the
belfry. It was flapping in the wind. Because of the danger that it
might pull
loose and injure a passerby or damage nearby property, Msgr. John J.
McGrath,
pastor, contacted Fireman William Thies, who in turn got in touch with
Fire
Chief Charles Chamberlain. Since the Effingham Fire Department had no equipment which would reach 86 feet
into the air,
CFD was contacted and sent its aerial ladder. The picture above shows
one of
the crew (Captain Mel Taylor) as he made his way up the ladder to the
base of
the belfry to remove the sheet
of tin.
  PUBLIC SERVICE Ladder truck used to help St. Anthony Church (above) and at Charleston High School (below) to change broken light fixture. |