1955 — Feb 1, tenement oil stove fire (11 children), Schuyler Street, Amsterdam, NY — 12

–12 Assoc. Press. “11 Children, Dad Die in Blaze.” Daily Bulletin, Endicott, NY. 2-1-1955, p.1.
–12 Daily Messenger, Canandaigua, NY. “46 Lose Lives in Outbreak of Fire.” 2-1-1955, p. 1.
–12 National Fire Protection Assoc. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003).

Narrative Information

Feb 1, AP: “By The Associated Press. Forty-six persons — most of them children — have lost their lives this week in a tragic outbreak of fires occurring in six states. At Amsterdam, N.Y., a 10-family tenement was destroyed early today and 12 persons perished. Eleven were children. An overflowing oil stove was blamed for the fire.” (Daily Messenger, Canandaigua, NY. “46 Lose Lives in Outbreak of Fire.” 2-1-1955, p. 1.)

Feb 1, AP: “Amsterdam (AP) – Eleven children and the father of five of them perished in a fire that destroyed a 10-family tenement early today. Eight bodies, seven those of children, were recovered. Five other persons were injured, one critically.

“Police said the fire, which occurred about 12:30 a.m., was caused by an overflowing oil stove.

“An undetermined number of persons fled in their nightclothes into a snowstorm and sub-freezing temperatures. Police and firemen helped several out.

“Mrs. Anna Gagliardy said a dog’s bark awakened her. Smelling smoke she dragged her 84-year-old mother, Mrs. Celia Kosiba, feet first, from their ground-floor apartment.

“Patrolman Marvin Swart, who was in a patrol car 10 blocks from the scene, kicked in three door-ways. The fire was a ball of flame inside,’ he said. ‘I found a boy about 13 kneeling, dead beside a crib. The baby in the crib was dead, too. There was a lot of screaming, and one woman kept hollering to go back for her two dogs.’ The dogs were reported to have been saved.

“Assistant Fire Chief Samuel Palumbo said flames were shooting from front and rear windows when firemen arrived. Four 50-gallon oil drums in the basement kept exploding he said.” (Associated Press. “11 Children, Dad Die in Blaze.” Daily Bulletin, Endicott, NY. 2-1-1955, p.1.)

Sources

Associated Press. “11 Children, Dad Die in Blaze.” Daily Bulletin, Endicott, NY. 2-1-1955, p.1. Accessed 4-18-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/endicott-daily-bulletin-feb-01-1955-p-1/

Daily Messenger, Canandaigua, NY. “46 Lose Lives in Outbreak of Fire.” 2-1-1955, p. 1. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=55173777&sterm=amsterdam+fire

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.)