Events surrounding fatal 1923 firetruck crash recounted

Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of stories which will be published on Fort Atkinson Online documenting the fatal firetruck crash of Dec. 17, 1923, which was described by the then-“Jefferson County Union” as the “worst tragedy in the city’s history.” 

By Chris Spangler

It was a Monday mutual-aid call.

Fort Atkinson firefighters were responding to a house fire in Rockdale the afternoon of Dec. 17, 1923, when their truck struck a culvert wall and careened into a cornfield, killing three men and injuring three others.

On its front page Dec. 21, the then-weekly Jefferson County Union called the crash the “worst tragedy” in the city’s history.

Now one century later, it continues to rank among the top misfortunes Fort Atkinson ever has experienced. And in recognition of the 100th anniversary this Sunday, the incident and its victims are being remembered today.

The story actually begins, however, on Nov. 9, 1923, when the Jefferson County Union reported that the city’s new American LaFrance triple-combination pumper had arrived Wednesday, Oct. 31, at the Fort Atkinson Fire Department, then located on the northeast corner of North Main Street and East Sherman Avenue where a parking lot now stands. The $12,500 rescue vehicle was built in and transported by railroad from Elmira, N.Y., to the company’s service center in Chicago and then driven to Fort Atkinson.

Mike Reel, who with fellow firefighter Jim Slocum has been researching the truck’s history, said it boasted a 750-gallons-per-minute pumper with a 40-gallon chemical tank, a 26-foot extension ladder, a 14-foot roof ladder, a deluge set, 300 feet of 2.5-inch hoses and a complete set of extras such as a siren, searchlight, bell and more.

There’s no doubt that the truck was the fire department’s pride and joy, and the Rockdale blaze marked the first time that other area fire departments would be seeing it in action, he said.

The Monday, Dec. 17, call came in mid-afternoon. The newspaper reported Dec. 21 that the truck left the station with five men — William Gross, Herman Smith, Adolph Uherr, Anthony Statz and Louis Reich — and then stopped briefly around the corner at the nearby Hoffman Lumber Co. (located at today’s site of Ace Hardware) to pick up Frank Hoffman. With Gross at the wheel, the vehicle headed toward Rockdale, near Cambridge, on what today is U.S. Highway 12, but then was called the “Fort Atkinson-Cambridge concrete road.”

The truck had traveled 3-1/3 miles when, at 3:43 p.m., it struck a culvert end wall at the bottom of a slightly curved hill just past what today is Radloff Lane — the turnoff to Dorothy Carnes County Park —  and catapulted end over end into a southside cornfield.

The Dec. 21, 1923, issue of the Jefferson County Union reported that “the crash came when Mr. Gross, driving the truck at an excessive rate of speed, lost control of the machine when the rear-end began to swerve as he rounded a slight curve to the left in the road. Marks in the road show the right wheels of the pumper left the concrete about 450 feet from the spot where the accident happened.”

It continued: “It is very evident that Mr. Gross tried hard to get the truck back onto the concrete, but he probably turned too sharp, and with the brakes set tight, the machine headed for the opposite side of the road, where it struck the left end wall of a culvert, then plunged down a five-foot embankment, struck a stump and was hurled end over end about 40 feet into a field, landing upright facing Fort Atkinson.”

The story reported that as the truck “started its somersault into the air, all of the men except Uherr were thrown clear of the machine and, peculiar as it seems, landed in an almost perfect semi-circle on the ground to the southeast of where the truck finally came to a halt.”

It also stated that Uherr either jumped or fell from the truck before it struck the culvert and was lying on the concrete road when picked up by Stanley English, whose car had been following the truck at 55 mph. He reportedly heard, but did not see, the crash, which took place midway between what then were the Mooradian-Wisch and C.E. Ward farms.

Today, the property is owned by Marsha Herr.

According to the newspaper’s story, Spencer Ward was first on the scene. He unbuttoned the coats and shirts of the injured men and then helped carry them to automobiles that had arrived. Hoffman did not regain consciousness, but Smith did so around 7 p.m. and was able to recognize his wife and son, the latter arriving from Milwaukee 15 minutes before his father’s death.

“That any of the men escaped meeting instant death is a mystery,” the Dec. 21 news story read. “The views of the wrecked truck … show only too clearly the awfulness of the calamity.”

Despite there being no social media back then, “news of the accident spread like wildfire and from 4:30 o’clock until midnight, hundreds of cars filled with excited people visited the scene of the tragedy,” the newspaper reported.

It continued: “Downtown, groups gathered to discuss the tragedy and inquire as to the condition of the men. So many telephone calls were received at General Hospital that Dr. Majerus found it necessary to request the telephone operators to not make connections.”

Hindsight observations

Reel and Slocum offered some hindsight observations regarding the incident and story.

First, Slocum pointed out that in 1923, an “excessive rate of speed” likely was 55 to 60 miles per hour.

“From the photos, it was cold, but very little snow on the ground,” Reel added. “What they refer to as Highway 12 was (called) the Cambridge-Fort Atkinson cement road. It was probably something pretty new to have cement all the way out.”

More importantly, Reel said, on the day that the accident occurred, the driver that was paid by the city was not on duty.

“He was out Christmas shopping, and the guy who drove the firetruck shouldn’t have been driving the firetruck,” Reel said.

That was confirmed by a story in the Dec. 21 Union, which reported: “While Fort Atkinson sorrows for the dead, many firemen are appalled at the narrow escape which they had by being away at the time the call for help came from Rockdale. Fire Chief William Rohde generally accompanies the firetruck, but was out of reach. Chief of Police Hausen was on South Water Street and Rudolph Wenzel, main truck driver, was Christmas shopping, having left the firehouse only a short time before the ‘help call’ came in. Frank Hoffman was picked up at the Hoffman Lumber Company office.”

A trained firetruck driver and instructor himself, Reel questioned how much Wenzel, Gross or anyone had driven the new vehicle, as this was the first call to which it responded. He emphasized that Gross personally should not be blamed for the crash.

“It sounds like William Gross was being trained. He was up-and-coming. But did he just drive it willy nilly? No, I doubt that,” Reel said.

Being a young driver and not having had a lot of time training with the truck, Gross supposedly — at least according to hearsay — hit the brakes, Reel said.

“But back in the old days, everything was hand cranks and handles. … Well, the hand crank on this truck was the emergency brake. If he pulled the emergency brake to try to slow it, all it did was pull the truck hard left and it was out of control,” he explained.

Also, Fort Atkinson was called to the A.C. Tellefson home in Rockdale because it was the closest department and had the most modern equipment of the day. Otherwise, water was hand-pumped, Reel noted.

“Back in that time, if a fire department had one pumper truck, you were lucky,” he said. “They had to call to get just one truck from each community.”

Interestingly, Gross’ obituary published in the Union Dec. 28, 1923, included the following: “Since being appointed truck driver, he had never failed to be on the job at his appointed hours and took a deep interest in the fire department and the equipment, making a thorough study of the new pumper and its fine points of operation.”

Meanwhile, Reel and Slocum explained that a century ago, many of the firefighters were businesspersons able to leave their jobs at a moment’s notice.

“On the day of the fire, it was specifically reported that the fellows got on the truck (at the fire station located across the street from what today is Paddy Coughlin’s Irish Pub) and they would’ve gone out North Main, taken a left on Madison Avenue and stopped at Hoffman Lumber and picked Frank up. He was probably standing at the curb,” Reel said. “Isn’t that something? You wish he would’ve stopped to tie his shoe … He might not have gone on (the call).”

In addition, Reel provided more specifics relating to how the firefighters would have been positioned on the truck.

The Janesville Gazette reported Dec. 18, 1923, that when they started out, driver Gross and Reich were on the seat and Hoffman and Statz were riding on the sideboards that traditionally were found on the early-model trucks. Smith and Uherr were standing on the rear platform.

“A short distance from the where the accident occurred, the machine was slowed down while Hoffman and Statz switched to the rear platform (tailboard) at the rear with the other two men,” the Gazette reported.

Reel noted that Dec. 17 was cold, and “traveling at highway speeds in an open-cab firetruck, (with) fire gear minimalistic back in the day, they may or may not have been prepared for the long travel to Rockdale. Members riding on the truck in all positions had to be very cold …”

That particularly would have been the case for those standing on the sideboards as the cold would have cut through their clothing and bodies while the truck continued traveling west, he said.

Thus, according to the Gazette, they decided at some point before the accident to slow the truck and switch to the rear-standing tailboard position with the other two men. There, they would have been a bit more sheltered from the wind.

Rushed to the hospital

Meanwhile, immediately after the crash, passersby rushed the injured firemen from the scene to General Hospital in their own cars.

“There were a lot of witnesses,” Reel said, “and right after the accident occurred, they knew these people were in dire straits, so it was every man for themselves. They picked up each firefighter and put them in their car so each firefighter went in one car back to Fort.”

Located at 408 Madison Ave., the 10-bed hospital was run by Dr. Peter J. Majerus and his wife, Sophia. It operated from 1920-50.

According to the Dec. 21 Union, Smith, 59, died at 8:15 p.m. Monday from a crushed pelvis and internal injuries.

Hoffman, 42, sustained a crushed head and chest. He died at 9:15 that Monday night.

Gross, who suffered a crushed chest, punctured lungs and internal injuries, lived several days. He was reported as having died at 6:10 a.m. the day after the crash; however, that actually was not the case.

Reel said that despite the rumors, Gross passed away on Thursday, Dec. 20, 1923.

“This rumor of Gross dying spread so rapidly that Mayor Weld ordered an official notice posted on a bulletin board placed at the city hall which gave the condition of the four living injured men,” he said. “This bulletin was changed every few hours and was watched with great interest by the crowds gathered at the city hall during the entire day. Christmas was almost forgotten,” the story reads.

As for the injured firefighters, Uherr sustained a fractured skull and lacerations, Statz suffered a skull fracture and Reich had a broken left leg and several bruises. All were listed in favorable condition by Dr. Majerus in the Dec. 21 Union.

Firefighters mourned

All of Fort Atkinson was in mourning the days following the tragedy. The Union reported that businesses were closed from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday so employees would have an opportunity to pay their respects to the dead.

Hoffman’s funeral was held at 10:30 a.m. that Thursday at his East Sherman Avenue residence. He was buried in Evergreen Cemetery.

“The services were largely attended, showing the high esteem in which Mr. Hoffman was held,” the Union reported Dec. 21.

Smith’s funeral was the same day at 2:30 p.m. at the Congregational church following a visitation at his Edward Street home.

He also was laid to rest in Evergreen Cemetery.

Gross died Thursday, Dec. 20. His funeral was held Sunday, Dec. 23, with 187 firemen from 16 communities attending.

And the truck?

According to the Dec. 21, 1923, Jefferson County Union, the damaged firetruck was brought back to Fort Atkinson from the crash site on Tuesday, Dec. 18.

“A representative of the State Industrial Commission was here Tuesday to investigate the accident and reported to Mayor Weld that the compensation insurance carried on the firemen will be paid. The truck was insured, but in the case of this accident, no insurance can be collected,” the Union reported Dec. 21. 

“The reasons they didn’t pay out for the firetruck are unclear, but they just said it wasn’t the right coverage for that type of accident,” Reel said. “That just mindboggles me … did the city insure it as a milk truck and didn’t insure it as a firetruck? Those trucks carry a way different policy due to being an emergency vehicle. I don’t know what happened back in the day, but that was a pretty big story.”

On Wednesday, Dec. 19, a representative of the American LaFrance Company examined the damaged firetruck and the Union wrote Dec. 21 that “he found the pumper itself undamaged and the motor only slightly damaged.”

He estimated the cost to repair the vehicle at $5,000 by retaining the pumper and motor. It would be shipped via train to Elmira, N.Y.

“Does this comment of ‘He found the pumper itself undamaged’ refer to the pumper as the whole ‘pumper truck’ or was he referring to just the ‘fire pump’? Reel queried. “The fire pump is what delivers the water out to the fire hoses. The fire pump in this era was cutting edge and leaps and bounds above the steamer pumps of previous years.”

He explained that typically, this new-style fire pump was bolted to the truck’s chassis and driven by the motor once the apparatus arrives on the fire scene.

“This mechanical cast-iron fire pump is a substantial, very heavy part of this truck,” Reel continued. “The fire pump and the truck motor would have been two very significant parts that made up a large portion of the total cost during the manufacturing of truck.”

He said he asked the question because it would reflect the estimated cost to repair the truck as to what was or was not salvageable.

The Feb. 8, 1924, issue of the Jefferson County Union reported that a special common council meeting was held Jan. 31, 1924. The council was to meet with a Mr. W.H. Deitch, a representative of the American LaFrance Fire Engine Company of Chicago, to go over the final inventory of defective and non-defective parts of the damaged fire truck after it was disassembled in Elmira, N.Y.

The council met again on Feb. 5. The Feb. 8 Union reported that members moved and seconded repairing the fire apparatus (in accordance with the proposal) submitted by the American LaFrance Fire Company Inc.

The March 7, 1924, issue of the Union reported that the new American LaFrance firetruck would be shipped sometime next month. It was to be driven from the company’s Chicago hub to Fort Atkinson.

Reel said the timeframe is a tad confusing, wondering whether the March story meant that the truck would be shipped to Chicago for the rebuilding and then driven later to Fort Atkinson. Exactly when it did arrive in Fort Atkinson remains unknown. However, it was in service by that fall and ready for its first call.

“Wiring or spontaneous combustion in the hay caused a fire that completely destroyed the good-sized barn owned by John Koester on Walton Street Monday morning (Sept. 21, 1924) at 3:40 o’clock,” the Union reported Sept. 26, 1924. “Fanned by a strong wind, the flames swept through the building so rapidly that had Mr. Koester stopped to put on his clothes, he would have been too late to save his valuable dray horses.

“The fire whistle brought 31 of the 48 firemen to the scene of the conflagration in less than 15 minutes,” it continued. “The new American LaFrance was put to work for the first time at a fire and worked to a T.”

The rebuilt firetruck served the greater Fort Atkinson area for at least 33 years until 1956, when the city purchased a $23,000-plus American LaFrance 1,000-gallons-per-minute Class A triple-combination pumper.

It is believed that once retired, the frame was used as playground equipment in Rock River Park; however, details are sketchy.

“Where did the ’23 truck go? Was that the truck that ended up at the park? We don’t know,” Reel said.