The 1941 Fire & Explosions at The Dreisbach Hardware Store
At 4am on Sunday May 11th, Louis Harris was awakened by the smell of smoke. Harris lived on a second floor apartment over his clothing store, in the building next to Dreisbach's hardware. Thinking the fire was in his own store, he sent in an alarm, and the siren sounded at 4:15 am.
Harry Beck was one of the first firemen on the scene, and the first to enter the blazing Dreisbach Hardware building. Before long, more than 150 fireman from Lewisburg, Milton, Mifflinburg, New Berlin and Sunbury all arrived. At the height of the blaze, 150 firemen worked shoulder to shoulder in directing eleven streams of water upon the building, and on nearby homes and businesses to keep the fire from spreading. A dam was hastily constructed in Bull Run as an additional water supply.
Mr Charles Wilson, treasurer of the Dreisbach firm, lived in an apartment in the southeast corner of the second floor of the Dreisbach building. Trapped by the flames, he climbed out onto a ledge in his night clothing, and was rescued by a ladder set up by the firemen. After Mr Wilson was safe, one of the fireman went into the apartment to retrieve his glasses for him, as Wilson was unable to see his way around without them.
Then between 5 and 6 am, a series of three explosions demolished the building, injuring by standers and firemen.
The first explosion was deep inside the building. The force of the blast threw Fireman Beck and others working with him into a wall. The show windows at the corner of the building were blown out.
Within minutes, another small explosion took place. Three firemen, George Matthews, Ralph Pelligrini and Paul Bowersox, were sent to the roof to open skylights in an attempt to relieve pressure in the building. As the three men reached the roof and began to work toward the skylights, the third, and most severe, explosion occurred.
This blast ripped a hole in the side of the building, and about 12 feet across the top of the second story. Glass, brick, and window shutters went flying into the crows, and into Broughs clothing store across the street. The force was so strong that several firemen and spectators were thrown across the street, and more than a dozen firemen were buried in the debris, as the building crumbled. The explosion shattered a window in the Stahl pool room, located on the north side of the street nearly a block away, almost at 3rd street. Several bricks in the side of the marsh building were cracked. Twenty six window panes in the Harris building were broken, along with the french doors on the home of Mrs William Leiser, 35 North Fourth Street. Windows at 412 Market St, the home of Mrs Margaret Gundy, and 335 Market Street, the Harry Miller Tailor Shop, were also smashed by the explosion.
Paul Bowersox , from his position on the roof, witnessed the explosion, and saw a dozen of his fellow firemen disappear under the fallen bricks and debris. He immediately rushed to their aid, directing the rescue operation.
Charles Liddick had been in the process of opening a shutter when the explosion happened. The shutter had covered him, and Bowersox was able to pull him from the debris. Badly crushed, with injuries to his chest and back, and suffering from shock, Liddick was unconscious when he was rushed to the hospital.
Elmer Moyer, president of the company, had been working beside Liddick, and had just turned his back to the wall when the explosion occurred. He was thrown by the force, but suffered only a scratch on his nose.
Five other firemen were dug out from under crumbled bricks and mortar, soon after the explosion. Clyde Ernest, John O'Brian, Ernest Flick, Kenneth Fisher and Raymond Jarret were all taken to Evangelical Hospital, where they were treated for cuts, abrasions, and shock. Fisher and Jarret were both admitted, and both spent a week in the hospital before being discharged.
Charles Stephens, age 56, had been fighting the fire right beside Liddick. At noon, when he did not return home for lunch, his family became alarmed and reported him missing. Authorities immediately began a search. His body was recovered from the debris at 3:45 that afternoon.
Every doctors office in Lewisburg was turned into a first aid station. More than 100 spectators had been standing on 4th street when the explosion occurred, and many received painful cuts and bruises from flying debris.
Assistant Chief Of Police, Conrad Filbert, was one of the crowd literally blown across the street by the explosion. He sustained cuts and brush burns. Four Milton firemen also sustained injuries.
After the body of Charles Stephens had been discovered, word spread that another fireman, by the name of Adam, from Milton, was missing. Digging crews searched frantically through the ruins. Charles Dietrick, Milton fire chief, began tracking down the half a dozen firemen named Adam in the Milton fire companies. Searchers were sent to contact families in Allenwood and Reading, and one man was traced to the home of his sister in Mifflinburg. Finally, at 6pm, with all accounted for, Chief John Walters ordered the firemen home to rest, many having worked 14 hours without a break.
A night patrol of 3 firemen a three fire policemen was placed on duty to watch for any new outbreaks.
At 11:50pm Sunday evening, Charles Liddick, died from his injuries.
On Monday, workmen pulled down a brick chimney and walls, to eliminate the possibility of them collapsing. Milton State Motor Police assisted the Lewisburg police force and fire police in keeping crowds back from the ropes, as thousands of curious crowds came to the scene.
On the back, warehouse portion,of the Dreisbach Building (today, Barnes and Noble) the faint outline of the Dreisbach logo can still be seen.
Fire doors and walls between the main store room and warehouse at the rear of the store confined the blaze to the main portion of the structure. The warehouse suffered only smoke and water damage.
Although the fire did not spread to the Harris building next door. The explosion jarred the windows and doors out of place, and caused the floors to bulge in places. Smoke and water streaked the walls in the Harris' newly refinished apartment. Harris had transferred his files to the store room at the national bank, directly across the street, in case the fire spread to his building.
The Dreisbach business papers had been contained in a fire proof vault that was buried beneath timers and roofing that collapsed in the explosion. Not only were the papers fine, but the safe can still be seen in the Barnes and Noble book store today.
Original reports that the explosions were caused by gun-powder were found to be untrue. The only explosives in the store were rifle and shotgun shells, which exploded harmlessly throughout the fire and could hardly be distinguished above the roar and crackling of the flames. A warehouse in the back of the building held another half car load of ammunition, but that was untouched by the flames.
The Dreishbach Store Before the Fire
The fire was thought to have started in the shipping room. It's assumed that it began much earlier than it was discovered. Miss Margaret A. Ocksreiter, the bookkeeper at Citizens Electric, resided at 318 Market Street. At 2 am, she had woken up smelling smoke, but when she investigated and found no fire, she went back to bed.
In the May 22 1941 edition of the Lewisburg Journal, a letter was published from a former NYC fire inspector. This inspector just happened to be passing through town Sunday afternoon, and saw what remained of the fire and explosion. Having heard that it may have been a "dust explosion", he wrote to say that he had seen several similar explosions in NYC, and that they were caused by a build up of carbon monoxide.
"When a fire, such as occurred in your town, goes on for hours before being discovered, the oxygen is not sufficient to allow complete combustion to take place, and carbon monoxide, a toxic explosive gas is formed - 2c plus 02 -2co. When teh fire is discovered the whole building may be filled with this gas. Someone breaks a window with a hose stream or some one opens a door and allows a draft of air to enter. This admits sufficient oxygen for complete oxidation, and the explosive carbon monoxide explodes."
The fire damaged store was rebuilt, although the war caused material shortages that delayed the process. in the interim they continued their retail business out of the former Musser Hosiery Mill on north 5th street. The wholesale end of the business continued from their three warehouses, which were untouched by the fire.
The new store opened in June of 1942, and operated until 1961.
A Dreisbach Hardware Store Advertisement
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Dreisbach Hardware begain in 1874 when Cyrus Dreisbach bought out the Albert Leinbach store and continued to run it under the Dreisbach name. Following his death, his four sons continued the businesses under the same name, until 1909 when they incorporated under the name C. Dreisbach's Sons.
After the fire in 1941, the company made immediate plans to rebuild, and in the interim they continued their retail business out of the former Musser Hosiery Mill on north 5th street. The wholesale end of the business continued from their three warehouses, which were untouched by the fire.
The new store opened in June of 1942, and operated until 1961.
June 1942
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