The son of John Lafayette Hatch (1879-1959) and Emma Louise Crook (1880-1963).
The husband of Maude Rowena McClain (1903-1980).
The father of J. Melvon Hatch (1927-2012) and Helen Hatch.
~~~~~~~~
Victory Theater fire » March 19, 1943 was the deadliest day in the history of the SLCFD.
There is no marker where the Victory Theater once stood in downtown Salt Lake City. No indication the venue for the first Utah showing of a talking picture — Al Jolson's "The Singing Fool" — on May 22, 1928, ever existed.
No memorial to the three firefighters killed battling the blaze that destroyed the majestic theater on May 19, 1943.
The Salt Lake Firemen's Relief Association plans similar ceremonies for the other 10 city firefighters who died in the line of duty. Next up is a memorial to a death that took place a month after and a block-and-a-half away from the March 19, 1943, Victory Theater fire. Firefighter Paul Hamilton was killed on June 19, 1943, when the ladder on a ladder track collapsed as he was battling a blaze at the Hotel Newhouse. Other memorials are pending.
But on Sunday morning, 70 years to the day later, the Salt Lake Firemen's Relief Association (SLFRA) gathered in front of the century-old building that remains midblock on the south side of 300 South between State and Main streets. With a vacant structure covered in graffiti as a backdrop, they memorialized the men who gave their lives — Lt. Melvin Hatch and Firefighters Harry Christensen and Theron D. Johnson — in the deadliest incident in the Salt Lake City Fire Department's (SLCFD) history.
"We want to remember all the firefighters who lost their lives while protecting the people of Salt Lake City," said Jared Schreiner, a firefighter who is vice president of the SLFRA. "It's been a long time, but we haven't forgotten these men and their families."
While most Utahns have no memory of the Victory or the fire that destroyed it, it's family history for SLCFD Capt. Kyle Lavender. His grandfather, Grant Walker, was among the injured firefighters; his great uncle, Theron Johnson, was among those killed.
"It was so long ago, it's just kind of been forgotten," Lavender said. "Theron and Grandpa had only been on the job about a year and a half. And [Johnson] left behind a widow and a 15-month-old daughter. The ones left behind are the ones who sacrifice the most."
The sacrifice of the three fighters was recalled with a brief ceremony that began at 8:24 a.m. — the exact time of the first alarm in 1943. An honor guard stood at attention; a wreath was laid; remarks were made; a bagpiper played.
According to a story that ran in The Salt Lake Tribune the day after the fire, "The three firemen were playing a hose into the blazing interior of the building from inside the foyer near the entrance to the auditorium. The balcony and second floor of the structure caved, trapping the men.
"Fire Chief LaVerre M. Hanson, who was also in the foyer at the time, said: ‘We heard their groans, but we were unable to reach them and make a rescue.' "
Nine other firefighters were injured, several of them seriously.
The husband of Maude Rowena McClain (1903-1980).
The father of J. Melvon Hatch (1927-2012) and Helen Hatch.
~~~~~~~~
Victory Theater fire » March 19, 1943 was the deadliest day in the history of the SLCFD.
There is no marker where the Victory Theater once stood in downtown Salt Lake City. No indication the venue for the first Utah showing of a talking picture — Al Jolson's "The Singing Fool" — on May 22, 1928, ever existed.
No memorial to the three firefighters killed battling the blaze that destroyed the majestic theater on May 19, 1943.
The Salt Lake Firemen's Relief Association plans similar ceremonies for the other 10 city firefighters who died in the line of duty. Next up is a memorial to a death that took place a month after and a block-and-a-half away from the March 19, 1943, Victory Theater fire. Firefighter Paul Hamilton was killed on June 19, 1943, when the ladder on a ladder track collapsed as he was battling a blaze at the Hotel Newhouse. Other memorials are pending.
But on Sunday morning, 70 years to the day later, the Salt Lake Firemen's Relief Association (SLFRA) gathered in front of the century-old building that remains midblock on the south side of 300 South between State and Main streets. With a vacant structure covered in graffiti as a backdrop, they memorialized the men who gave their lives — Lt. Melvin Hatch and Firefighters Harry Christensen and Theron D. Johnson — in the deadliest incident in the Salt Lake City Fire Department's (SLCFD) history.
"We want to remember all the firefighters who lost their lives while protecting the people of Salt Lake City," said Jared Schreiner, a firefighter who is vice president of the SLFRA. "It's been a long time, but we haven't forgotten these men and their families."
While most Utahns have no memory of the Victory or the fire that destroyed it, it's family history for SLCFD Capt. Kyle Lavender. His grandfather, Grant Walker, was among the injured firefighters; his great uncle, Theron Johnson, was among those killed.
"It was so long ago, it's just kind of been forgotten," Lavender said. "Theron and Grandpa had only been on the job about a year and a half. And [Johnson] left behind a widow and a 15-month-old daughter. The ones left behind are the ones who sacrifice the most."
The sacrifice of the three fighters was recalled with a brief ceremony that began at 8:24 a.m. — the exact time of the first alarm in 1943. An honor guard stood at attention; a wreath was laid; remarks were made; a bagpiper played.
According to a story that ran in The Salt Lake Tribune the day after the fire, "The three firemen were playing a hose into the blazing interior of the building from inside the foyer near the entrance to the auditorium. The balcony and second floor of the structure caved, trapping the men.
"Fire Chief LaVerre M. Hanson, who was also in the foyer at the time, said: ‘We heard their groans, but we were unable to reach them and make a rescue.' "
Nine other firefighters were injured, several of them seriously.
The son of John Lafayette Hatch (1879-1959) and Emma Louise Crook (1880-1963).
The husband of Maude Rowena McClain (1903-1980).
The father of J. Melvon Hatch (1927-2012) and Helen Hatch.
~~~~~~~~
Victory Theater fire » March 19, 1943 was the deadliest day in the history of the SLCFD.
There is no marker where the Victory Theater once stood in downtown Salt Lake City. No indication the venue for the first Utah showing of a talking picture — Al Jolson's "The Singing Fool" — on May 22, 1928, ever existed.
No memorial to the three firefighters killed battling the blaze that destroyed the majestic theater on May 19, 1943.
The Salt Lake Firemen's Relief Association plans similar ceremonies for the other 10 city firefighters who died in the line of duty. Next up is a memorial to a death that took place a month after and a block-and-a-half away from the March 19, 1943, Victory Theater fire. Firefighter Paul Hamilton was killed on June 19, 1943, when the ladder on a ladder track collapsed as he was battling a blaze at the Hotel Newhouse. Other memorials are pending.
But on Sunday morning, 70 years to the day later, the Salt Lake Firemen's Relief Association (SLFRA) gathered in front of the century-old building that remains midblock on the south side of 300 South between State and Main streets. With a vacant structure covered in graffiti as a backdrop, they memorialized the men who gave their lives — Lt. Melvin Hatch and Firefighters Harry Christensen and Theron D. Johnson — in the deadliest incident in the Salt Lake City Fire Department's (SLCFD) history.
"We want to remember all the firefighters who lost their lives while protecting the people of Salt Lake City," said Jared Schreiner, a firefighter who is vice president of the SLFRA. "It's been a long time, but we haven't forgotten these men and their families."
While most Utahns have no memory of the Victory or the fire that destroyed it, it's family history for SLCFD Capt. Kyle Lavender. His grandfather, Grant Walker, was among the injured firefighters; his great uncle, Theron Johnson, was among those killed.
"It was so long ago, it's just kind of been forgotten," Lavender said. "Theron and Grandpa had only been on the job about a year and a half. And [Johnson] left behind a widow and a 15-month-old daughter. The ones left behind are the ones who sacrifice the most."
The sacrifice of the three fighters was recalled with a brief ceremony that began at 8:24 a.m. — the exact time of the first alarm in 1943. An honor guard stood at attention; a wreath was laid; remarks were made; a bagpiper played.
According to a story that ran in The Salt Lake Tribune the day after the fire, "The three firemen were playing a hose into the blazing interior of the building from inside the foyer near the entrance to the auditorium. The balcony and second floor of the structure caved, trapping the men.
"Fire Chief LaVerre M. Hanson, who was also in the foyer at the time, said: ‘We heard their groans, but we were unable to reach them and make a rescue.' "
Nine other firefighters were injured, several of them seriously.
The husband of Maude Rowena McClain (1903-1980).
The father of J. Melvon Hatch (1927-2012) and Helen Hatch.
~~~~~~~~
Victory Theater fire » March 19, 1943 was the deadliest day in the history of the SLCFD.
There is no marker where the Victory Theater once stood in downtown Salt Lake City. No indication the venue for the first Utah showing of a talking picture — Al Jolson's "The Singing Fool" — on May 22, 1928, ever existed.
No memorial to the three firefighters killed battling the blaze that destroyed the majestic theater on May 19, 1943.
The Salt Lake Firemen's Relief Association plans similar ceremonies for the other 10 city firefighters who died in the line of duty. Next up is a memorial to a death that took place a month after and a block-and-a-half away from the March 19, 1943, Victory Theater fire. Firefighter Paul Hamilton was killed on June 19, 1943, when the ladder on a ladder track collapsed as he was battling a blaze at the Hotel Newhouse. Other memorials are pending.
But on Sunday morning, 70 years to the day later, the Salt Lake Firemen's Relief Association (SLFRA) gathered in front of the century-old building that remains midblock on the south side of 300 South between State and Main streets. With a vacant structure covered in graffiti as a backdrop, they memorialized the men who gave their lives — Lt. Melvin Hatch and Firefighters Harry Christensen and Theron D. Johnson — in the deadliest incident in the Salt Lake City Fire Department's (SLCFD) history.
"We want to remember all the firefighters who lost their lives while protecting the people of Salt Lake City," said Jared Schreiner, a firefighter who is vice president of the SLFRA. "It's been a long time, but we haven't forgotten these men and their families."
While most Utahns have no memory of the Victory or the fire that destroyed it, it's family history for SLCFD Capt. Kyle Lavender. His grandfather, Grant Walker, was among the injured firefighters; his great uncle, Theron Johnson, was among those killed.
"It was so long ago, it's just kind of been forgotten," Lavender said. "Theron and Grandpa had only been on the job about a year and a half. And [Johnson] left behind a widow and a 15-month-old daughter. The ones left behind are the ones who sacrifice the most."
The sacrifice of the three fighters was recalled with a brief ceremony that began at 8:24 a.m. — the exact time of the first alarm in 1943. An honor guard stood at attention; a wreath was laid; remarks were made; a bagpiper played.
According to a story that ran in The Salt Lake Tribune the day after the fire, "The three firemen were playing a hose into the blazing interior of the building from inside the foyer near the entrance to the auditorium. The balcony and second floor of the structure caved, trapping the men.
"Fire Chief LaVerre M. Hanson, who was also in the foyer at the time, said: ‘We heard their groans, but we were unable to reach them and make a rescue.' "
Nine other firefighters were injured, several of them seriously.
