College Aide Admits Setting Haven Hall Fire
A University of Michigan Latin teacher who said he had been “studying hard and not feeling well” admitted Oct. 11 that he set the fire that burned Haven Hall, U. of M. campus landmark on June 6, 1950.
Robert H. Stacy, ,30, was charged with arson and jailed in default of $15,000 bond. According to authorities, Stacy attempted to leap down a stairwell from the 7th floor of a downtown Ann Arbor building after the warrant was signed.
Stacy, an overseas veteran of World War II, readily admitted his guilt. He had been undergoing treatment at the Veterans’ Readjustment Center in University Hospital, at Ann Arbor. The fire, which destroyed a priceless library, caused loss originally estimated al over $1 million, and later set at $618,000.
Stacy was arrested on a tip from several persons who were in Prosecutor Douglas K. Reading’s office on another matter. Following an all-night questioning and a lie detector test, Stacy confessed he set the blaze by touching a match to a roll of maps on the second floor of the old building.
New Orleans Uses Motorcycle Side Car “Apparatus”
In an effort to reduce the unnecessary response of heavier and more expensive fire-fighting equipment, the New Orleans Fire Department, Chief Howard Dey, has installed a new “firecycle.”
The “apparatus” is a large size motorcycle and side car, the latter equipped with two types of fire extinguishers (including CO2), 300 feet of small hose and other equipment.
The unit, driven by a fireman, responds to automobile fires in the principal business district.
