On May 19, 1943, three firefighters were killed in a fire at the Victory Theatre in Salt Lake City, Utah. On Sunday, members of the he Salt Lake Firemen’s Relief Association gathered to mark the anniversary of these deaths at the site of the fire in the city’s downtown.
The deaths of Lieutenant Melvin Hatch and Firefighters Harry Christensen and Theron D. Johnson constitute the deadliest incident in the history of the Salt Lake City (UT) Fire Department, according to a report from The Salt Lake Tribune (http://bit.ly/13C4R9k).
Nine other firefighters were injured in the incident, some of them seriously.
Read more about the memorial at http://bit.ly/13C4R9k.
The October 1943 issue of Fire Engineering had a recap of the deadly incident and a report on a investigation into the chief‘s actions at the fire. A special citizen’s committee initially submitted a report critical of the chief, who was demoted to the rank of captain. He was later exonerated of any charges of negligence or incompetence by an independent investigation.
You can read this article from the Fire Engineering archives as a PDF HERE.
