1949 — Aug 10, Greyhound bus hits bridge, rolls, burns, IN-37 near Bloomington, IN–     16

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard Sep 9, 2023 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–16  City of Bloomington. Fire Department. “Historic Fires.” Accessed 5-21-2013.

–16  Greensburg Daily News, IN. “Greyhound Co. Named in New Damage Suits.” 11-9-1949, 3.

–16  Kokomo Tribune, IN. “Court…in Flaming Bus Deaths of Aikmans.” 9-15-1949, 1, 21.

–16  Kokomo Tribune, IN. “Fingerprints Show Mistake in Identity.” 8-23-1949, p. 3.

–16  Kokomo Tribune, IN. “State Officials to Participate in Road Opening.” 10-18-1949, p. 3.

–16  Logansport Press, IN. “Driver Again Tells His Story.” 8-16-1949, p. 3.

–16  Long Beach Independent, CA. “Reckless Driving Charges Recommended.” 8-18-1949, 26.

–16  National Fire Protection Assoc. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003).

–16  Pharos Tribune, Logansport, IN. “Bloomington Jury will Investigate…Crash.” 10-11-1949.

–16  Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, IN. “Driver Wants to Tell Story in Bus Crash.” 11-30-1949, 7

–16  Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, IN. “Identify all but One Man in Bus Crash.” 8-13-1949, 1.

–16  Tipton Daily Tribune, IN. “Bus Driver has Careless Record.” 8-12-1949, p. 1.

–16  Tipton Daily Tribune, IN. “Indiana News.” 11-28-1949, p. 1.

–16  Tipton Daily Tribune, IN. “Soldier Dies; Bus Crash Toll is 16.” 8-11-1949, p. 1.

–16  Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, IN. “Official Verdict.” 8-17-1949, p. 6.

–16  Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, IN. “Identity of Wreck Victim is Changed.”  9-13-1949, 10.

–15  NFPA.  “Fires Causing Large Loss of Life.” Handbook of Fire Protection.  1954, p. 35.

Narrative Information

City of Bloomington:  “August 10, 1949 – Greyhound bus wreck, 16 people burn to death when trapped in wreckage in worst loss of life in fire department history.” (City of Bloomington. Fire Department. “Historic Fires.” Accessed 5-21-2013.)

Newspapers

Aug 10, UP: “Bloomington, Ind., Aug. 10 – (UP) – A Greyhound bus hit a concrete bridge abutment and exploded into a roaring sheet of flames today, trapping and killing 15 passengers.  Fourteen persons survived, many of them saved by bus driver Wayne Cranmer, 25, Indianapolis, who braved the fire and was burned himself dragging out the screaming injured. Six hours after the Indianapolis-to-Evansville coach ripped into the abutment, burst into an inferno and overturned on its side, 15 bodies were removed. They were placed in a convoy of eight ambulances and brought to the Bloomington armory where a temporary morgue was set up by Mayor Tom Lemon.

“More hours later, three bodies were identified tentatively as those of Mrs. Joan Aiken (1910 Harrison St.), Kokomo, Ind., and her six-year-old son and four-year-old daughter. Mrs. Aiken’s husband, Dale, 30, a soldier stationed at Camp Campbell, Ky., was among the surviving injured.

“Steven Campbell, a Bloomington undertaker who helped remove the bodies said the 15th body was the last. Rescuers abandoned the charred and smoking wreckage, from which they removed 13 of the bodies with acetylene torches.

“The huge bus, blackened and twisted by the heat of flames fed by 100 gallons of gasoline in the coach’s tanks, blocked part of Ind. 37, a winding, hilly 50-mile highway connecting Indianapolis with this Indiana University city. The dead included two children, eight women, four men and one adult so badly burned its sex could not be determined. It looked like a flame-thrower had destroyed the bus. Melted metal from the white-hot wreckage poured into the highway. Firemen pumped water from a small creek beneath the bridge, but it was hours after daybreak before work crews could enter the debris and remove bodies.

“Two hand fire extinguishers, charred by the flames, remained on the dashboard of the bus. Neither had been used. The flames shot up so fast there was no time. Cranmer believed a tire blew out, swerving the bus into the abutment. But State Police Trooper R. A. Dunlap said it would never be known just what happened. He said the tires were burned completely off the wheels.

“Bus company officials said 37 passengers were on the bus when it left Indianapolis around midnight. Cranmer said some got off at Martinsville, Ind., and other points along the line and he believed there were 28 left when the accident happened….

“Many of the bodies were so badly burned they were shapeless. Some were just charred torsos. The limbs were burned off. They were laid side by side beneath sheets at the roadside until the torch welders signaled ambulance drivers that the 15th body was the last. Then the eight ambulances lined up, loaded the bodies and drove slowly over the hilly curves to the morgue.

“Cranmer seemed to be the only person who knew for sure how many persons were on the bus. He stuck to the figure 29, including himself, hours afterward in Bloomington hospital where a Greyhound representative said he had been given a sedative because he was suffering from shock.

“Dale Aikman, a soldier from Camp Campbell, Ky., who was burned severely, told authorities his two children, ages 6 and 8, were on the bus with him. They were believed to be returning to Camp Campbell after a visit with Aikman’s brother in Laporte, Ind. The children were not among the known survivors and were presumed dead.

“At the morgue, the bodies were laid out on the floor in two rows, covered with white sheets. ‘I don’t know how we’re going to identify any of them,’ said Coroner Robert E. Lyons. ‘There is recognizable dental work in only one body.’” (Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, IN. “Fiery Bus Crash Kills 15. Passengers Trapped in Flaming Wreckage near Bloomington, Ind.”  8-10-1949, p. 1.)

Aug 10, United Press: “Bloomington, Ind., Aug. 10 – (UP) — Tentatively identified as dead in the Greyhound bus crash-fire today were:

Mrs. Joan Aikman….Kokomo, Ind.

Mrs. Aikman’s four-year-old daughter, name unknown.

Mrs. Aikman’s six-year-old son, name unknown.

Missing and presumed dead were:

Charles Elderbrook, 79, Evansville, Ind;

Mrs. Ruth Elderbrook, 67, his wife.

Mrs. Grace Cardwell, 29…Evansville…..”

(Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, IN. “Identified Dead and Survivors of Hoosier Bus Crash.” 8-10-1949, p1.)

Aug 11, International News Service: “Bloomington, Ind., Aug. 11 (INS) — The fatality toll in Wednesday’s tragic Greyhound bus crash mounted to 16 today with the death of Sgt. Dale Aikman in a Bloomington hospital this morning. The 35-year-old Camp Campbell, Ky., soldier died although blood plasma had been rushed to Bloomington from his army base. His wife, Mrs. Joan Coulburn Aikman, 24, and their two children, Vicki, 4, and Jimmy 6, perished in the flames after the bus crashed into a bridge abutment, turned over and burst into flames about 1:45 yesterday morning five miles north of Bloomington. Meanwhile authorities opened a two-pronged investigation into claims that the bus driver might have been sleepy.

“Bodies of three of the 16 victims remained unidentified as coroner Robert Lyons, Jr., scheduled an inquest for 10 a.m. today. The interstate commerce commission also is probing the smashup….

“The charge that driver Wayne Cranmer, 25, of Indianapolis, ‘went to sleep at the wheel’ was leveled by a passenger, Wilfred Luttrull, 34, an Evansville truck driver who was thrown through the windshield when the vehicle stuck a bridge abutment, burst into flames, and overturned.  Cranmer, a hero who rescued several from the inferno that the bus became, denied the charge. He said from his hospital bed: ‘I think a front tire blew out and made me lose control.’ Greyhound lines officials refused comment. Luttrull said in a statement to the coroner: ‘I was sitting in the first right hand seat and had observed the driver perspiring freely. He kept nodding. At a stop I heard him say to a couple of other drivers that he had been called out of bed to take the run. I was tired and would have taken a nap, but I stayed in my seat and kept awake. It did not look like a blowout or steering failure to me.’” (Tipton Daily Tribune, IN. “Soldier Dies; Bus Crash Toll is 16.” 8-11-1949, p. 1.)

Aug 12, INS:  “Bloomington, Ind., Aug. 12. – (INS) – An Indianapolis chain grocery company official revealed today that Wayne Cranmer, whose Greyhound bus crashed arid burned, killing 16 persons, was fired as a driver because of “carelessness.”  Meanwhile, a coroners inquest and three separate probes continued into the funeral pyre accident near Bloomington early Wednesday.  William White, of the Standard Grocery company, said he dismissed Cranmer as a truck driver last February after an accident about four miles from the fatal spot where the big bus crashed.

“Bloomington, Ind., Aug. 12 — (INS) — Coroner Robert E. Lyons, Jr., today held that driver Wayne Cranmer was responsible for the crash of a greyhound bus which burst into flames and killed 16 persons near Bloomington early Wednesday. The greyhound bus company immediately suspended the 25-year-old Indianapolis driver. Monroe county officials, who threw an “iron curtain” around proceedings in Thursday’s inquest, refused to reveal details of another bus accident in which Cranmer was involved recently near Indianapolis. No one was injured when the bus struck another bridge abutment.

“Monroe county Coroner Robert E. Lyons, Jr., drove to Evansville last night to question a survivor of the crash who had claimed the bus driver was sleepy at the time of the accident. Wilfred N. Luttrull, an Evansville truck driver, told the coroner, in a signed statement.

It was probably about 100 feet before the crash when I could tell an accident was going to happen unless the driver swerved the bus and made some effort to avoid it. He had both hands on the wheel at the time and made no attempt to turn it…The man is bound to have been asleep when he hit the abutment or he would have made some effort to avoid it.

“Two other passengers in the bus at the time of the accident, Billy Ellerbrook, of Evansville, and Leonard Shute, of Bloomington, did not confirm Luttrull’s statement. Ellerbrook said he kept asking the driver questions and that Cranmer answered by nodding his head.

“Meanwhile, an interstate commerce safety inspector said a federal probe of the flaming crash will be started within a few days, when survivors are expected to have recovered from shock. A preliminary ICC inspection of the wreckage showed no evidence of mechanical failure. State police inspection of the wreckage also has failed to disclose any mechanical failure, according to Capt. Harry Sutherlin.

“Fourteen of the dead have been identified. The latest victim identified was Charles Raymond, 74, of Evansville.” (Tipton Daily Tribune, IN. “Bus Driver has Careless Record.” 8-12-1949, p. 1.)

Aug 13, UP:  “Bloomington, Ind., Aug. 13 – (UP) – Coroner Robert E. Lyons said only one of 16 victims of a bus crash near here early Wednesday morning still was unidentified. Lyons yesterday blamed the accident on Greyhound Bus Driver Wayne Cranmer, 25,  Indianapolis.  Lyons said Cranmer “failed to make proper allowance for clearing a bridge abutment into which the bus crashed.”

“The body of Richard Kunkel…Jasper, Ind., was identified by his father, Felix G. Kunkel, and that of Vernon Trisler, Bedford, Ind., through his teeth and by a key in his pocket.  Lyons said there were few clues to the identity of the charred remains of a man, believed to have been between 50 and 70 years, and weighing from 125 to 130 pounds. The man apparently was a heavy smoker and had a full set of vulcanite dentures. At the time he was burned to death the man was wearing a flannel shirt and a necktie with diagonal stripes of grey, pink and blue.

“While the difficult task of identification was nearly completed, Lyons said his investigation of the accident was not finished. The coroner said he was waiting for reports from the Interstate Commerce Commission, the state police and state fire marshal, all of whom made separate inquiries.

“Cranmer blamed either a blowout or a mechanical failure in the right front wheel. But one passenger, said Cranmer was “groggy” and another said he was sure it wasn’t a flat tire….

“Lyons said his investigation thus far disclosed that Cranmer had slept only a few hours, in the back seat of his car, on Tuesday. Cranmer arrived at Indianapolis on a run from Bloomington at 7:30 a. m., Tuesday morning, and left with the death bus about midnight for Evansville.” (Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, IN. “Identify all but One Man in Bus Crash.” 8-13-1949, 1.)

Aug 16, AP: “Indianapolis, Aug. 13 (AP) — Wayne L. Cranmer of Indianapolis, questioned repeatedly since 16 persons burned to death in a Great Lakes Greyhound bus he was driving, again told his story of the tragedy today at state police headquarters. The bus struck a concrete bridge railing on State Road 37 about five miles north of Bloomington early Wednesday morning. The heavy vehicle flipped over on its left side and caught fire. Only 13 of the 28 occupants crawled out, and one of them died later.

“The 25-year-old driver told Dr. Robert E. Lyons, Monroe county coroner, that “something slumped” at the right front end of the bus, throwing it into the concrete wall. Two other survivors disputed the statement.

“State police would not disclose the results of today’s questioning.  Lt. Lloyd Hickerson said the department merely was completing its record of the state’s worst bus accident and any information obtained would be turned over to Monroe county authorities. Coroner Lyons and prosecutor Robert McCrea were reported present at the state police session, but headquarters would not say who sat in on Cranmer’s questioning.

“Meanwhile, an attempt was made to identify the one remaining unknown victim of the wreck. Mrs. Norman Hawkins, Evansville, went to Bloomington in an effort to determine whether the charred body was that of her brother, Richard Thrasher, 68, also of Evansville.” (Logansport Press, IN. “Driver Again Tells His Story.” 8-16-1949, p. 3.)

Aug 17, UP: “Bloomington, Ind., Aug. 17 – (UP) – Coroner Robert E. Lyons today was scheduled to file his official verdict on the Greyhound bus wreck which killed 16 persons last Wednesday.  The coroner yesterday gave newsmen what he called a “preview” of his verdict and said his investigation revealed sufficient evidence to warrant “prosecution of the driver for reckless operating of the bus.” Lyons did not say whether he would take steps to prosecute driver Wayne Cranmer, 25, Indianapolis….” (Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, IN. “Official Verdict.” 8-17-1949, p. 6.)

Aug 18, INS: “Bloomington, Ind. – (INS).  Monroe County Coroner Robert E. Lyons Wednesday recommended that the driver of the bus which carried 16 persons to a fiery death a week ago be charged with reckless driving.  Prosecutor Robert F. McCrea took the recommendation under consideration.  Wayne Cranmer, 25, was the driver of the bus. He distinguished himself after crash by saving the lives of several passengers. Coroner Lyons said: “Information gathered by investigators has revealed sufficient evidence to warrant charges of reckless operation against Cranmer. That places it in the hands of the prosecutor, and that is where it belongs.”  Cranmer admitted he had very little sleep before he took the bus on the death run.”  (The Independent, Long Beach, CA. “Reckless Driving Charges Recommended.” 8-18-1949, p. 26.)

Aug 23, AP: “Bloomington, Ind., Aug. 23 – (AP) — Fingerprints show a mistake in identification of one of the victims of a Greyhound bus crash that took 16 lives two weeks ago. Dr. Robert E. Lyons, Monroe county coroner, said the fingerprints of Maurice Adamson, a 24-year-old Bedford army veteran, matched those of one of the previously identified bodies. The coroner said fingerprints taken from a body claimed as Vernon Hay Trisler, a 32-year-old Bedford drug store manager, had been matched by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the help of army authorities. Dr. Lyons said a dental chart of the victim also closely resembled that given him by army authorities from Adamson’s military records.  Relatives of Trisler claimed the charred body Aug. 12, two days after the crash on State Road 37 five miles north of here. It was buried at Bedford.

“The coroner said he went to Bedford yesterday to discuss the problem with the two families involved. He said Trisler’s survivors are convinced they made correct identification. Dr. Lyons said a key found in the burned rubble of the bus fitted Adamson’s apartment and that another key opened the lock on the front door of Trisler’s home. He repeated that only 15 bodies were taken from the bus. The 16th victim died later in a Bloomington hospital.

“The coroner said neither Adamson nor Trisler could possibly have been the lone unidentified victim. He said the unidentified man was elderly and had a complete let of false teeth. Both of the Bedford men had most of their teeth in good condition. 

“State police earlier yesterday ruled out the possibility that the unidentified victim could have been Lester Johnson, a 34-year-old salesman missing from his home at Akron, O. The dental plate of the unidentified victim did not match one made for the Ohio man.” (Kokomo Tribune, IN. “Fingerprints Show Mistake in Identity.” 8-23-1949, p. 3.)

Aug 26, UP: “Bedford, Ind. (UP) — A controversy over identification of a charred body was heightened yesterday as two families, certain in their own minds that it was their kin, contested for custody. The body was buried here as the remains of Vernon R. Trisler, 33, assistant manager of a Bedford drug store. But Mrs. Maurice Adamson was certain a mistake had been made and that the remains were those of her 21-year-old husband.

“Monroe county Coroner Dr. Robert E. Lyons said authorities were working continuously in an attempt to straighten out the tangle. Dental charts and fingerprints were available from the blackened corpse, he said, and army records of Adamson also were on hand. Authorities had sent to St. Louis for the same records of Trisler. Mrs. Adamson was not certain her husband was on the bus. However, a fire-blackened key taken from the wreckage where the bus crashed near Bloomington Aug. 10 fit the front door of their apartment. She fainted when it turned the lock.” 

(Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, IN. “Two Families Claim Unidentified Body Found in Bus Wreck.” 8-23-1949, p. 3.)

Sep 3 [Elsewhere]: “Indianapolis, Sept. 3. – (AP) – Pennsylvania Greyhound Lines, Inc., pleading guilty to a charge of requiring 14 bus drivers to work excessive hours, was fined $1,500 in federal court yesterday. The drivers, employed on the Chicago-Louisville run, still face charges of falsifying their logs to cover up long hours. The company was charged with permitting false log entries and requiring drivers to stay on the road for more than the legal maximum of 70 hours in any 192-hour period. The charge was brought under the safety provisions of the Interstate Commerce commission act.” (Kokomo Tribune, IN. “Greyhound Line Admits Over-Work of 14 Chauffeurs.” 9-3-1949, p. 2.)

Sep 13, UP: “Bloomington, Ind. – (UP) — The body of a man buried as Vernon Ray Trisler at Bedford, Ind., actually was Maurice Adamson, 24, also of Bedford, Monroe county coroner Robert E. Lyons said. Lyons said Saturday he had filed a supplementary report of identification of the body, which was that of one of 16 persons burned to death when a Greyhound bus struck a bridge abutment last Aug. 10 north of here. The body originally was identified as Trisler because he was known to have been on the bus and a key in the wreckage fitted his apartment in Bedford. But another key in the wreckage fitted the apartment of Adamson, and a check of the body’s finger prints with War department records indicated that the man actually was Adamson, Lyons said.

“But the coroner, who released the body to Trisler’s relatives, said he did not know what would be done about the mix-up now. “It’s all up to the people in Lawrence county,” Lyons sold. “I’m sorry it turned out this way, but there isn’t anything I can do because the body isn’t in my jurisdiction any more. Lyons said “only God knows” if some of the other corpses were identified incorrectly. One body, that of a man between 50 and 70 years old, never was identified and was buried in Rosehill cemetery a week after the wreck.

“The coroner said he doubted that there were 17 persons killed in the bus accident, and that Trisler’s body was consumed entirely by the flames.” (Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, IN. “Identity of Wreck Victim is Changed.”  9-13-1949, p. 10.)

Sep 15: “The final chapter in the tragic story of a Kokomo family that was wiped out in the Greyhound bus accident August 10 near Bloomington was written Thursday morning in the Howard circuit court. A judgment amounting to $2,200 was handed down by Judge Merton Stanley in favor of William Coulbern…as estate administrator for the four members of the Dale E. Aikman family.[1]  The judgment was against the Indiana Greyhound Line, Inc. Robert S. Smith of Indianapolis, attorney for the bus company said under the law $550 per each deceased person is the maximum amount of damages that can be paid to an estate in which all members of the family are deceased. Those for whom indemnities covering medical and burial expenses went were Sergt. Dale E. Aikman; his wife, Joanna Mae Aikman, and two children, Vicky Lynn, 4, and James W., 6.  Mrs. Aikman and the two children were killed outright, but Sgt. Aikman lived until the day after the accident. The entire family is buried in Crown Point cemetery here.

“The spokesman for the bus company said records show that 12 of the 16 persons who lost their lives left no dependents….” (Kokomo Tribune, IN. “Court Here Writes Final Chapter in Flaming Bus Deaths of Aikmans.” 9-15-1949, pp. 1 and 21.)

Oct 11:  “Bloomington, Ind., Oct. 11 – (UP) – A Monroe county grand jury will meet Nov. 28 to investigate a bus accident in which 16 persons were killed last Aug. 10, Prosecutor Robert F. McCrea said today. Bus driver Wayne Cranmer, Indianapolis, was accused of negligence in a report by Coroner Robert E. Lyons on the accident. The bus crashed into a bridge abutment on Ind. 37, five miles north of here near Dolan, and caught fire. Fifteen persons burned to death and another passenger died the next day in Bloomington General hospital.

“McCrae said Cranmer would be subpoenaed. Passengers on the bus testified during the coroner’s hearing that Cranmer appeared to be dozing just before the wreck. 

“The winding section of Ind. 37 where the accident occurred has been by-passed by a recently opened, straighter highway.” (Pharos Tribune, Logansport, IN. “Bloomington Jury Will Investigate Tragic Bus Crash.” 10-11-1949, p. 10.)

Oct 18, AP: “Indianapolis, Oct. 18 – (AP) – State officials will dedicate today a new $3,500,000 road to greater highway safety. The occasion will be the official opening of the new section of State road 37 between Martinsville and Bloomington. Its 15 sloping curves through the hills of Morgan and Monroe counties replace 90 sharp turns that were death traps to hundred who traveled the old road.  Gov. Henry F. Schricker and former Gov. Ralph F. Gates will lead a motor caravan from Indianapolis at 3 p. m….The work began in 1947 during the administration of Governor Gates and parts of the highway have been open for travel for about two weeks….

“The old section of the road…has been the scene of many fatal accidents. The most spectacular was early this August when a Great Lakes Greyhound bus enroute to Bloomington and Evansville struck a bridge abutment north of Bloomington and burned.  Sixteen passengers lost their lives….” (Kokomo Tribune, IN. “State Officials to Participate in Road Opening.” 10-18-1949, p. 3.)

Nov 9, INS: “Evansville, Ind., Nov. 9. – (INS) – The Greyhound: Bus Company was named defendant again today in three additional suits seeking a total of $35,000 as the outgrowth of a bus crash near Bloomington last August in which 16 persons we’re killed. Two of the new suits were brought against the Great Lakes Greyhound Lines, Inc., in the deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Ellerbrook, by Alvey Ellerbrook as administrator. Each asks $10,000. The third suit was filed by a son of the couple, William Ellerbrook, who also was a passenger in the bus. He seeks $15,000 for injuries.

“Two other suits, asking a total of $40,000 were filed previously in Vanderburgh county probate court in connection with the crash by Lucille Melton and her daughter, Judith Ann Melton, of Mt. Vernon.”  (Greensburg Daily News, IN. “Greyhound Co. Named in New Damage Suits.” 11-9-1949, p. 3.)

Nov 28, INS: “Bloomington, Ind., Nov. 28 – (INS) – The Monroe county grand jury convened today for a probe into a Greyhound bus crash and fire, August 10 near Bloomington which cost 16 lives. Prosecutor Robert F. McCrea said the jury will start work Tuesday after being sworn in today. Monroe county coroner Robert F. Lyons had recommended that. a grand jury probe be held to determine where the criminal blame, if any, might lie. Dr. Lyons, in his findings, indicated that he believed Wayne Cranmer, the bus driver, was negligent in his handling of the vehicle, but no charges were preferred against Cranmer.” (Tipton Daily Tribune, IN. “Indiana News.” 11-28-1949, p.1.)

Nov 30, UP:  “Bloomington, Ind., Nov. 30 – (UP) – Wayne Cranmer, driver of a Greyhound bus which was wrecked and burned with a loss of 16 lives, said today he would testify in a Monroe county grand jury investigation of the crash. Cranmer, now working at a Bloomington industrial plant, said he wanted to tell his story, despite his legal right to refuse appearance before the jurors.  Cranmer, however, was not among early witnesses. Coroner Robert E. Lyons, who blamed Cranmer for ‘negligence’ in his official verdict last August, spent nearly an hour with the jury.  Other witnesses were Wilfred Luttrull, Evansville truck driver, who charged that Cranmer appeared to have dozed shortly before the crash, and Elmer E. Coffman, Martinsville, a Greyhound driver who left the bus at Martinsville on its trip from Indianapolis toward Evansville.

“The jury, which organized with farmer Isaac Dunlap as foreman, launched an investigation of whether there was criminal negligence when the big bus plowed into a culvert and trapped the screaming passengers in the fiery wreckage. Prosecutor Robert McCrea subpoenaed driver Wayne Cranmer of Indianapolis and two passengers who survived, and invited other survivors to testify if they wished to do so….” (Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, IN. “Driver Wants to Tell Story in Bus Crash.” 11-30-1949, p. 7.)

Identified Fatalities:

 Maurice Adamson, 24, Bedford, IN

  1. Dale E. Aikman, Kokomo, IN.
  2. Joanna Mae Aikman (wife of Sgt. Aikman), Kokomo, IN.
  3. Vicky Lynn Aikman, 4, daughter of Sgt. and Mrs. Aikman, Kokomo,
  4. James W. Aikman, 6, son of St. and Mrs. Aikman, Kokomo,
  5. Grace Cardwell, 29, Evansville
  6. Charles Ellerbrook
  7. Charles Ellerbrook
  8. Richard Kunkel, Jasper, IN
  9. Richard Thrasher, 68, Evensville, IN
  10. Vernon Ray Trisler
  11. Unidentified elderly man with complete set of false teeth.

Sources

City of Bloomington. Fire Department. “Historic Fires.” Accessed 5-21-2013 at: http://bloomington.in.gov/documents/viewDocument.php?document_id=2213

Greensburg Daily News, IN. “Greyhound Co. Named in New Damage Suits.” 11-9-1949, p. 3. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=129513160&sterm

Kokomo Tribune, IN. “Court Here Writes Final Chapter in Flaming Bus Deaths of Aikmans.” 9-15-1949, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=113503487&sterm

Kokomo Tribune, IN. “Fingerprints Show Mistake in Identity.” 8-23-1949, p. 3. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=113503176&sterm

Kokomo Tribune, IN. “Greyhound Line Admits Over-Work of 14 Chauffeurs.” 9-3-1949, p. 2. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=113503336&sterm

Kokomo Tribune, IN. “State Officials to Participate in Road Opening.” 10-18-1949, p. 3. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=113503974&sterm

Logansport Press, IN. “Driver Again Tells His Story.” 8-16-1949, p. 3. Accessed at:  http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=84060463&sterm

Long Beach Independent, CA. “Reckless Driving Charges Recommended.” 8-18-1949, p. 26. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=45632787&sterm=bloomington+bus+grey

National Fire Protection Association. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003). (Email attachment to B. W. Blanchard from Jacob Ratliff, NFPA Archivist/Taxonomy Librarian, 7-8-2013.)

National Fire Protection Association.  “Fires Causing Large Loss of Life.” Handbook of Fire Protection (11th Ed.).  Boston, MA: NFPA, 1954, pp. 33-36.

Pharos Tribune, Logansport, IN. “Bloomington Jury Will Investigate Tragic Bus Crash.” 10-11-1949, p. 10. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=85816488&sterm

Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, IN. “Driver Wants to Tell Story in Bus Crash.” 11-30-1949, p. 7. http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=83793692&sterm=

Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, IN. “Fiery Bus Crash Kills 15. Passengers Trapped in Flaming Wreckage near Bloomington, Ind.”  8-10-1949, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=85815521&sterm=greyhound+bus

Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, IN. “Identified Dead and Survivors of Hoosier Bus Crash.” 8-10-1949, p. 1. http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=85815521&sterm=greyhound

Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, IN. “Identify all but One Man in Bus Crash.” 8-13-1949, 1. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=85815587&sterm=greyhound+bus

Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, IN. “Two Families Claim Unidentified Body Found in Bus Wreck.” 8-23-1949, p. 3. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=85815785&sterm

Tipton Daily Tribune, IN. “Bus Driver has Careless Record.” 8-12-1949, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=142526544&sterm=greyhound+bus

Tipton Daily Tribune, IN. “Indiana News.” 11-28-1949, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=142527258&sterm

Tipton Daily Tribune, IN. “Soldier Dies; Bus Crash Toll is 16.” 8-11-1949, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=142526534&sterm=greyhound+bus

Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, IN. “Identity of Wreck Victim is Changed.”  9-13-1949, p. 10. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=51309869&sterm

Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, IN. “Official Verdict.” 8-17-1949, p. 6. Accessed at:  http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=51309753&sterm

[1] Father of Joanna Mae Aikman.

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