Arnold Danes Hoffman Fire Story.
Steve Sava
So, here is the story of the photo. I spent time
as a young boy at the old fire station. My brother-in-law was
a fireman and I would stop by occasionally and run errands for
the fireman. To the drug store, Dairy Queen, etc. This was before
radios, cell phones and sub-station.
Firemen were pretty much tethered to the firestation.
I mention this because – it gave me familiarity with the
firemen of that era.
As an adult, I had business dealings at the (new) Safety Service
Complex. This allowed me access to the living area in the fire
station. In the hallway, they have the three photos. The Hoffman
Fire and the two (2) Staff Photos from the two different years,
1959 and 1969.
The Hoffman Fire photo always fascinated me because
of all the action that was taking place. Specifically, the fireman
in the bottom quadrant of the photo. He appears to have been blown
off a ladder – perhaps by a falling brick wall. That is
fascinating enough – but the photo appears to have been
taken immediately after it happened and before anyone else noticed.
Look at the other people in the photo. No one appears to have
noticed the fireman picking himself off the ground. Note: Most
of the firemen that pass the photo daily – never noticed
the guy in the smoke.
Back to familiarity with the firemen. Looking
at the photo, I always believed it to be Arnold Danes
for several reasons. The first is the dark black hair and the
sturdy build. And the second, I knew Arnold had been at the Hoffman
Fire. See photo of the crew in 1969 for a look at Arnold.
Earlier this year, I was working on our class
reunion. I had to contact Karen Danes regarding the reunion.
I thought it would be nice for her to have the photo. So, I went
to the fire station and asked permission to go in and take a photo
– of the photo on the wall.
Before sending the photo to Karen, I ran it past a retired fireman
(that fought the Hoffman fire) to verify it was Arnold in the
photo.
When I sent the photo to Karen, she recognized
her father. She offered some insight into her father's personality.
He was a decorated war veteran and professional fireman –
that never spoke of his good deeds and heroic actions. She knew
that her father had saved two women at the Hoffman fire –
but knew little else about his actions that day.
When she shared the photo with her sister, her
sister was familiar with a story (from that fire) that had her
father thrown from the building.
So, we feel pretty confident that the fireman
on the ground is Arnold Danes.