1972 Gainsboro Apartment Fire

I recently got a hold of these pictures of a fire which occurred in 1972. Captain Clonnie Yearout got them to me and I do not know who took them, so I cannot give any credit. Clonnie was not on the fire, being that he was hired in 1973. That leaves only one other guy in the department who was here at the time. Maybe Chief Slayton knows a little more about the fire. I do know the building is the Gainsboro Apartments.

I thought the series of pictures was neat and I decided to share them with you all. Some of the things I noted were the use of the ladder with tormentor poles. The fact that every floor was laddered, although one of the ladders moved between the first and second floors. I imagine that there were several rescues made at this fire. It also "seems as though" the fire was pushed through the building from side 2 to side 4 moving up floors as it went until it vented itself out the roof. Obviously, it would have been ideal to attack the fire from the inside and push the fire out of side 2. But we may never know what issues the firefighters had to deal with when they showed up, or the strategy and tactics of command.

I will have to look up the fire to see if anyone was injured or killed in this fire.