The fire broke out a little after one in the morning at 95 Furman Street. The three-story building contained black lead, which contributed to the fast spread of the fire throughout the building and into 93 Furman Street. Around 2 o’clock members of Engine 17 (Brooklyn), and Hose Companies 2 (Mechanic), 5 (Franklin), and 8 (Water Witch) were ordered onto the roof to put water into the building through the skylights. The building was built into the Heights with the roof even with the rear yards of the residences on Columbia Street above Furman Street. Six feet of earth was placed on the roofs of the Furman Street buildings. There was a skylight in the center of the roof to let light into the top floor. Water was put on the fire from the skylight. A backdraft sent the roof up just enough to dislodge it, and with nothing to support it, the roof crashed down to the first floor taking 98 Furman Street with it. Of twenty firemen on the roof at the time, fifteen were sent into the fiery ruins below and buried in the collapse. Killed in the fire were; Firemen Caspar K. Cammeyer of Hose 2, Louis C. Gardiner of Hose 5, twenty-two years old, Alexander S. Benson, twenty-five years old, and Joseph H. Brown, twenty-one years old, both of Engine 17 and Eugene P. Baker, twenty-six years old, a runner for Hose 8. Baker and Brown were found crushed together and were the last two victims to be recovered. Assistant Foreman Benson was operating with Engine 17 at this fire. (From "The Last Alarm" by Boucher, Urbanowicz & Melahn, 2007)
The fire broke out a little after one in the morning at 95 Furman Street. The three-story building contained black lead, which contributed to the fast spread of the fire throughout the building and into 93 Furman Street. Around 2 o’clock members of Engine 17 (Brooklyn), and Hose Companies 2 (Mechanic), 5 (Franklin), and 8 (Water Witch) were ordered onto the roof to put water into the building through the skylights. The building was built into the Heights with the roof even with the rear yards of the residences on Columbia Street above Furman Street. Six feet of earth was placed on the roofs of the Furman Street buildings. There was a skylight in the center of the roof to let light into the top floor. Water was put on the fire from the skylight. A backdraft sent the roof up just enough to dislodge it, and with nothing to support it, the roof crashed down to the first floor taking 98 Furman Street with it. Of twenty firemen on the roof at the time, fifteen were sent into the fiery ruins below and buried in the collapse. Killed in the fire were; Firemen Caspar K. Cammeyer of Hose 2, Louis C. Gardiner of Hose 5, twenty-two years old, Alexander S. Benson, twenty-five years old, and Joseph H. Brown, twenty-one years old, both of Engine 17 and Eugene P. Baker, twenty-six years old, a runner for Hose 8. Baker and Brown were found crushed together and were the last two victims to be recovered. Assistant Foreman Benson was operating with Engine 17 at this fire. (From "The Last Alarm" by Boucher, Urbanowicz & Melahn, 2007)
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