On February 3, 1940 at 1:00 a.m. Shippensburg Chief of Police E. J. Hunter noticed smoke coming from the U-Wan-A Wash Frock Dress factory at West Garfield and Fayette Streets and turned in the alarm of fire. Firemen were on the scene quickly but by the time they forced their way into the building a steady wind had spread the flames rapidly through the entire structure. The fire of undetermined origin started in the machine room in the southeast section of the building and spread quickly from there. All Shippensburg fire apparatus responded to the scene and obtained their water from the branch stream and a plug on Fayette Street but were unable to save most of the business. Several firemen were over come by smoke and treated at the scene by the community ambulance. It took nearly two hours to control the blaze that caused $85,000 in damage and left 294 people temporarily without jobs. The Vigilant Hose and Cumberland Valley Hose companies battled the blaze.
The same building was the scene of two other destructive fires, 35 years before this fire it was heavily damaged while operating as the Metcalfe Company and 60 years before this fire as the Dykeman Grist Mill.
About 15 to 20 years ago one of the local clubs in town put out a vhs tape of Shippensburg in 1945. In the tape they recreate the burning of the dress factory. It is really cool as it shows all the apparatus of the CV’s and Vigilant’s leaving their stations and arriving on the scene catching plugs, throwing ladders and flowing water. At one point it has the CV community ambulance put someone on the litter and take them away.
No comments:
Post a Comment