Our fallen hero

On November 26, 1928, at 5:37 pm, Box 1628 at 12^th Street and Snyder Avenue was struck for a fire at the Pyramid Motor Company. The fire was in a truck loaded with alcohol.

At the time Engine 49 was running as a two-piece company. They responded from their station at 15^th Street and Snyder Avenue at the intersection of Broad Street and Snyder Ave. Engine 49’s first apparatus collided with a PRT (Philadelphia Rapid Transit) bus. After the collision Engine 49’s apparatus crashed into the dwelling at 2106 S. Broad. The bus crossed Broad and crashed into the wall of South Philadelphia High School. Three men riding on Engine 49’s apparatus were thrown off and seriously injured. They were taken to St. Agnes Hospital, just a block away. The drivers of the engine and bus were not injured.

Injured were:

*   Ladderman Harry Cohen, detailed from Truck 5, who received acid burns, fractured ribs,

fractured skull, and a broken femur.

*  Hoseman Harry Carpenter of Engine 49, received acid burns, fractured skull, brain

concussion.

*  Hoseman Silvio Manganaro of Engine 49, received a fractured skull. He died of his injuries

shortly after getting to the hospital.

The other two men, although in critical condition, recovered and returned to duty.

The fire was extinguished by Engine 53.