Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Wash House Roof Destroyed

On August 19, 1955 in the afternoon hours firemen responded to a blaze at the Glenn Martin residence six miles west of Shippensburg on the Rowe Road. Firemen were delayed in their response by a passing freight train through the center of town. The fire was confined to the roof of the wash house. The blaze began when the chimney became overheated while the owner was roasting corn for storage. The Vigilant Hose Company extinguished the fire.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember that fire and many like it in those days. I remember the Vigges sitting at the square waiting for the train to pass. A number of times it seemed like forever. That when my dad had the Hardware Store on the square. I worked alot for him in my teenage years.

C.W.

Brad Myers said...

I guess I am showing my age, but I remember waiting at the square for the train to go by before getting back on the rig to continue our response.

We used to get off and look down Earl Street in the direction the train was coming, when we seen the end we would get back on the rig and turn the lights back on.

Of course this was tail board days, I miss them sometimes.

Anonymous said...

You mean we had a train that like you know just drove through the center of town? wow no bridge or anything?...............j/k I remember seeing tracks when I was really little right before they tore them out. Had to show the age of your next generation fireman Brad sorry.
Cressler

Waterproofing Brooklyn said...

Jeez, that sounds like a disaster. Was everybody alright in the end? Did their roof get totally torched?

-Adam Ahmed