LAFIRE.COM
In Memory of
Apparatus Operator Thomas G. Taylor
Truck Company 60
B Platoon
Appointed July 22, 1973
Died January 28, 1981
Died of burns in roof collapse at arson fire.
Cugee's Restaurant
5300 Lankershim Boulevard
* * * * * * * * * *
|
|
Roof Falls, Kills Firefighter, Injures 8
Story by One
firefighter was killed and at least eight others were injured early
Wednesday when the roof of a burning restaurant in North Hollywood
collapsed. |
|
Several firefighters placed ladders on the side of the building and climbed to the roof, where they started to cut a hole to ventilate the blaze--standard practice in such fires, according to Chief Gerard. "Taylor had started the chainsaw and was beginning to make the cuts when the roof started to go," Sanders said later. Mike Meadows, a Times photographer standing on the ground, heard shouts for help and looked up toward the roof. "I saw a pair of hands grasping the parapet," he said. "Then a face appeared. It was a guy I know--Bud Lawson--and he was in trouble . . . "They put up a ladder and turned the hose on him, and someone pulled Bud onto the ladder." As the roof sagged, dragging Taylor with it, Thomas A. Shrout, one of those on the ladder, reached toward Taylor's outstretched hand. "Shrout reached down several times to try to grab Taylor, but all he could reach was his fingertips," Asst. Fire Daryl Thompson said later. "Then Taylor disappeared. . . "Shrout started to cry. . . " By that time, Sander and Reagan had managed to pull themselves to the parapet and lower themselves over the edge, dangling by their hands over the street. Firefighters tried to push a ladder within reach, but it was too short> 'Had to Let Go' "It was getting hot, "Sander recalled later. "I tired to hang on but it was just too hot. I finally had to let go." Sander dropped without a sound, followed moments later by Reagan. Firefighters and policemen rushed to their aid as the two lay there, Sander's legs tangled in the rungs of the ladder that had been too short to save him. Sander was admitted to Riverside Hospital, where his condition was reported to be good. Reagan was taken to the burn ward at Sherman Oaks Hospital, where he was listed as "serious but stable." The others injured included Lawson and Shrout, later treated for burns and smoke inhalation, Alan Masumoto, James R. Beach and Garry J. Ingram, who were treated for bruises, sprains and contusions, and Ronald S. Lydecker, who suffered second-degree burns on his face. It took firefighters almost an hour to extinguish the fire, which apparently started in the attic of the restaurant, according to fire officials. Damage was estimated at $175,000. At a press conference, Chief Gerard said the building was constructed about 1935, before stricter building code requirements prompted by the 1933 Long Beach earthquake had taken effect. The roof of the unreinforced brick structure was supported by wooden beams nailed into wooden "shingles" wedged between bricks, Gerard said. As the fire under the roof heated, the nails weakened and the roof collapsed, the chief said. "With all those buildings in the city, there's no way to guarantee it won't happen again," he said. Will Be Reviewed "It's essential to ventilate the roof in combating this kind of fire." he said, but in an effort to avert similar tragedies in the future, "we will continue to examine our procedures, trying to improve them." Gerard asked residences not to forget that "Tom Taylor gave his life for your protection and safety." Taylor, 34, was married and had two children from a previous marriage, according to department information officer Ray Walker. His father, George, and brother, Jeff, are also members of the department. Taylor was the fourth Los Angeles firefighter to die in the line of duty in the last two years. |
|
MIKE MEADOWS, L.A. TIMES Dramatic sequence of photo's showing firefighter's trying to escape from the inferno at the moment of roof collapsing. "COPYRIGHT 1981, BRIAN DIXON" |
|
"COPYRIGHT 1981, BRIAN DIXON" |
|
"COPYRIGHT 1981, BRIAN DIXON" |
|
"COPYRIGHT 1981, BRIAN DIXON" |
|
MIKE MEADOWS, L.A. TIMES Fire Captain Mike Reagan and Firefighter Burt Sander cling desperately to facade of burning restaurant before being forced to let go because of intense heat and falling to ground. Chief's aide Ronald Lydecker is seen on aerial ladder after his dramatic rescue of Firefighter Bud Lawson. Firefighter Tom Shrout's hand (arrow) is seen reaching for Tom Taylor just before he fell to his death. MIKE MEADOWS, L.A. TIMES Fire Captain Michael Reagan grimaces in pain after he and Firefighter Burton Sander, feet tangled in ladder, fell from facade of burning structure. |
|
"COPYRIGHT 1981, BRIAN DIXON" Firefighter Bud Lawson is helped away from fire after being rescued from the roof of burning structure. |
|
MIKE MEADOWS, L.A. TIMES Fully involved structure after the roof fell and just prior to building collapse. |
|
"COPYRIGHT 1981, BRIAN DIXON" Another heroic firefighter is shown among fallen bricks and debris after pushing fellow firefighter under a cover of a truck. "COPYRIGHT 1981, BRIAN DIXON" Firefighters dive for cover under truck as the wall collapses. |
|
|
|
A tearful firefighter consoles Taylor's first wife, Carol Ann, while her nine-year-old son Jason, looks on.
"COPYRIGHT 1981,
|
|
RESTAURANT
FIRE STATUS
OF FIREFIGHTERS INJURED
|
|
|
LAFIRE.COM
Copyright 2003 All Rights Reserved.