Delaware County Infirmary Fire, 1915 (part 1)
The Muncie Morning Star headlines screamed “THREE BODIES ARE TAKEN FROM ‘FIRE TRAP’ RUINS”. In the early morning hours of the previous day, a fire broke out in the Delaware County Infirmary. The building replaced one lost in an 1891 fire that resulted in the death of four ‘inmates’, as they were referred to at the time. Lesson unlearned, the second structure had no fire escapes, although two had been recently ordered for this building and two for the newly-completed building on the site. They had not yet arrived. There was also no night watchman employed.
Around 4:30 a.m., Tuesday, March 23, 1915, infirmary superintendent, Albert W. Clark, and his wife, Elnora, smelled smoke. Albert, following his nose, found an inmate starting a fire in a stove. Concluding smell had come from there, he returned upstairs to his quarters to dress for the day. Before he finished, he heard inmates down on the first floor yelling that there was, in fact, a blaze somewhere. Clark and two employees, Charles Williams and John Sutton, tracked the smoke to the men’s wardrobe on the first floor. As they unlocked and opened the doors, flames shot out some fifteen feet. An initial attempt to put the fire out had little impact and was quickly abandoned in lieu of evacuating the eighty-some inmates housed in the facility.
All men and women on the first and second floors were successful roused and assisted out as needed. By that time, any hopes of reaching any of the men still thought to be on the third floor, an attic area that had been pushed into service as sleeping quarters. The stairway leading there was completely engulfed. There were several stories of heroic efforts put forth by inmates to save their brethren. Resident Maxwell D. Roe was able to make his way, with a handful of others, out a window to the roof on the east end and make their way the roof of the newly constructed building. Roe tried to rouse two others inside as his group made their way out, but was unable to wait for them. Their remains would later be found in the rubble. People below had extended ladders allowing them to climb down safely. Among the men helped down successfully was Andy Femire who had to be carried down. Fellow patient, “Skinny” Cavanaugh, carried an additional four invalid men out the same way. D. F. Duke carried invalid James Darkies out to safety. George Cavault was rescued by a group of farmers who had arrived to help. They had seen Cavault in a second floor window struggling to break the glass. A ladder was brought and a bystander was able climb up and break the pane with a rock. He carried the then-unconscious man to safety. Superintendent Clark and his assistant, Charles Williams, also carried out inmates. There was a report of a man, unidentified in news coverage, who had appeared briefly at a third floor window attempting to save another disabled man. Unable to get out, he retreated with the second man to the interior of the building where they would die together. At the end of the day, thirteen third floor residents were dead and the old structure was a total loss.
The community stepped up to assist in every way possible on the day of the fire. Food was provided by several restaurants. The Star listed “230 sandwiches, seventeen gallons of coffee, eleven gallons of soup, twelve dozen cookies, fifteen pies and two large pans of baked beans” contributed by three Muncie restaurants. Additional food was provided by others in the area. A total of thirty-seven cots were sent by the Delaware Hotel and from the court house jury rooms. McNaughton’s Department Store provided bed clothes and women at the store were enlisted to assemble bed ticks and pillows. These items were delivered by Mrs. John McNaughton and required four trips from Muncie to get them all moved. The Union Traction Company ran a temporary power cables from their line to provide electricity to operate the infirmary’s pump. Local residents hosted some inmates in their homes. Providing for the needs of the residents was truly a community effort.
The search for bodies began as soon as the fire was extinguished by mid-day on Tuesday. The first body was found at about 9:00 a.m. where the northwest corner of the first floor had collapsed into the cellar. Two more were found a few hours later near the south and west doors having almost made their way out. All three were sent to the morgue of Moffitt & Groman (later Piepho’s) Funeral Parlor. Wednesday’s efforts were thwarted by a fear of high winds toppling the remaining walls and excessive heat retained by the pile of bricks and other debris. Contractors spent the day pulling down those walls and hoped for cooler and safer conditions on Thursday. When excavations were again undertaken, the remains of a fourth victim, literally described in one paper as only enough “to fill a small kettle” were found in a hallway in the basement. Work on Friday lead to the discovery of four more sets of bones, two in the southwest corner, one on the east side and the last near the north door.
Saturday, the remains of a ninth victim were discovered in the east part of the ruins. Those, along with the four from the previous day, were taken to the morgue. Their burial is was not immediately planned pending the search of the remaining ruins. There was no indication as to which ruins belonged to which patient at that point so a mass burial was expected.
Sunday brought the end of recovery efforts with the discovery of the last four sets of remains. These were found in the south wing near the main entrance. As with several of the others, the men were just a few steps from survival. This brought the final count to thirteen confirmed casualties.
Whether they were too quickly overcome by smoke or too infirm to get out isn’t known. But what is known is that many, if not all, would have survived had simple safety procedures been put in place. Within a day or two following the tragedy, the county contacted the fire escape manufacturer asking that they step up delivery of the escapes already on order. Overnight security personnel were put in place during the recovery process but it isn’t known if they were retained afterwards. Nearby Blackford County called an emergency meeting to discuss their own infirmary safety. Hopefully lessons taken from this fire saved lives in the future.
© On The Banks Of White River/Jennifer Lewis 2015
[This article appeared in the Delaware County (Indiana) Historical Society Newsletter, May/June, 2015]
