1948 — Feb 13, Fire, Apartment Building, Hoage family, Cedar Street, Utica, NY — 11
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard Sep 27, 2023 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
— 11 Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “11 Burn to Death in Utica Apartment.” 2-13-1948, p. 1.
— 11 Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “Mass Funeral…Utica Victims Will be Held.” 2-14-1948.
— 11 National Fire Protection Assoc. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003).
— 11 Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY. “Third Major Fire Hits Utica Building.” 2-15-1948, p. 1.
— 11 Utica Daily Press, NY. “Hundreds Pay Tribute…11 Victims of Cedar St. Fire.” 2-19-1948.
Narrative Information
Feb 13, United Press: “Utica, (UP) – The charred bodies of five persons — one a young mother clutching a year old baby, have been recovered from a fire-gutted frame apartment building on the west side, police said today. Police were still searching for six others, reported missing when fire of undetermined origin swept the buildings threatening an estimated 26 persons. Fourteen of the 26 escaped. Three were injured, one a woman so critically that she is not expected to live.
“Firemen said all floors of the building collapsed and it was certain that the death toll would be high. One occupant, a 14 year old girl said she pleaded with her brother and sisters to leap from a second story window, but they were afraid. The girl leaped and saw the flames shoot up, enveloping the window where her family lived.
“There were conflicting reports as to the exact number of persons in the building at the time of the fire. Police said there were 26. Other sources put the number at 25. Firemen said they would not be able to know how many deaths occurred until a search is made and the bodies identified. None of the bodies taken from the building could be identified immediately. Two physicians who were summoned to aid the injured, said they understood the victims included a five-week old baby.
“The apartment building, police said, is located on a narrow one-way street, making it difficult to
fight the fire. Fire swept the three-story building shortly after four o’clock this morning….It was completely demolished, police said.
”Three persons were rescued and taken to a hospital. One is not expected to live. An immediate search of the ruins was started for the missing.
“Physicians and ambulances were rushed to the scene and virtually all of Utica’s fire-fighting apparatus answered the call.
“Dr. James G. Douglas and Dr. W. B. Falvo, said the injured, taken to St. Elizabeth’s hospital,
are:
Mrs. Ella Paye, 48, who suffered first and second degree burns over three quarters of her body. The doctors said they do not expect her to live.
“….Police listed the missing persons as:
Ruth Hoage, 23,
Virginia Hoage, 19;
Diana Marie Hoage, 3;
Shirley Hoage, 29 months;
Michael Hoage, 11 months;
Mark Hoage, 8 months;
Lee Hoage, 5 weeks;
Katherine Hoage, 2;
Geraldine Hoage, 10;
Audrey Hoage, 5 and
Charity Hoage, 7.
“….Police began a search of the building as soon as the flames were put out. Police Captain Joseph Robillotta, said all three floors of the building collapsed….
“Police said they believed the fire resulted from an oil burner explosion in the cellar. A quick search, they said, showed considerable oil strewn on the cellar floor and cans of oil scattered about.
“One officer said the walls of the building are ‘being held up by a telegraph pole line’.” (Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “11 Burn to Death in Utica Apartment.” 2-13-1948, p. 1.)
Feb 14: “Utica, (UP) — Mass funeral services will be held Wednesday for eleven members of the Hoage family, victims of yesterday’s early morning apartment house fire tragedy….Only one member of the Hoage family, Mary, 13, who was home at the time of the fire, managed to escape from the inferno. She jumped into a snow bank from a second-story window.
“Fire Chief Leo Barry said an investigation got under way last night immediately after the body of eight-month old Mark, youngest son of Richard Hoage, Sr., was recovered from the basement ruins of the building which yesterday housed 25 persons. Coroner J. Haberer said he will hold an inquest to determine if there was any criminal responsibility.
“Three of the 14 persons who escaped from the inferno were in a Utica hospital suffering from burns. One of them, Mrs. Dana Paye, 48, was in critical condition.
“Police said the bodies of the victims were so badly burned that positive identification was doubtful. Hoage’s 24 year old wife was identified through a wedding ring.
“Richard Hoage, Jr., .and his father were at work when the fire was discovered.
“Police listed the victims as:
Mrs. Richard Hoage,. Jr., 29, and her son,
Michael, 11-months old;
Virginia Hoage, 19, and her
one-month old son, Leroy;
Mrs. Richard Hoage, Sr.,
Mark;
Geraldine, 10;
Charity, 7;
Audrey, 5;
Diana, 3, and
Katherine, 2.”
(Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “Mass Funeral For Utica Victims Will be Held.” 2-14-1948, 1.)
Feb 15: “Mass services will be held at 2 p. m. Wednesday for 11 members of one family who perished Friday in the worst fire tragedy in the city’s history.” (Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY. “Third Major Fire Hits Utica Building.” 2-15-1948, p. 1.)
Feb 19: “. . . ‘Suffer little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.’ As the Rev. Maynard P. Beach, pastor of Dryer Church, intoned that and other scriptural passages at the mass funeral for eight children and three adults who perished in Friday’s fire a 5 Cedar St., sobs of many among the 200 mourners inside the Langdon Funeral Home, could be heard yesterday afternoon. Outside an even larger throng of perhaps 500 men, women and children, unable to get inside the Varick St. parlors for the private rites, stood with bowed heads. Soon the four caskets, one of them flag-draped, containing the bodies of the 11 victims, were carried to the waiting hearses, one after another, by the six bearers….
“In the third hearst was placed the flag-draped casket containing the body of Mrs. Shirlee Hirsch Hoage, wife of Richard Hoage Jr., and her 11-month-old son, Michael. Mrs. Hoage had served in the Women’s Army Corps and was entitled to the traditional soldier’s burial.” (Utica Daily Press, NY. “Hundreds Pay Tribute at Rites for 11 Victims of Cedar St. Fire.” 2-19-1948, p. 6.)
Sources
Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “11 Burn to Death in Utica Apartment.” 2-13-1948, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=53926622&sterm=utica+fire
Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “Mass Funeral For Utica Victims Will be Held.” 2-14-1948, p.1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=53926638&sterm=utica
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.)
Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY. “Third Major Fire Hits Utica Building.” 2-15-1948, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=17999492&sterm=utica+fire
Utica Daily Press, NY. “Hundreds Pay Tribute at Rites for 11 Victims of Cedar St. Fire.” 2-19-1948, 6. Accessed 5-20-2013 at:
http://www.fultonhistory.com/Process%20small/Newspapers/Utica%20NY%20Daily%20Press/Utica%20NY%20Daily%20Press%201948%20pdf/Utica%20NY%20Daily%20Press%201948%20-%200671.pdf
Text content