Fireman Hugh J. Travers, Los Angeles Fire Department

Fireman Hugh J. Travers
Salvage Company 28
B Platoon
Appointed March 28, 1942
Died November 23, 1947
Caught in flashover.
Harold Furniture Company
1315 Wilshire Boulevard

Fireman, Night Watchman
Killed in Wilshire Blvd. Blaze

Dog Saves His
Master's Life in
Store Flames

    An early morning fire in a furniture store at 1315 Wilshire Blvd. caused the deaths of two men yesterday and resulted in damage to the building and its contents estimated at $50,000.
    The dead men were Fireman Hugh Travers, 32, of 1081 Rio Grande St., Pasadena, and Vance Norlick, 58, a night watchman, of 109 S. Hills St. Travers succumbed when he was caught in a back draft. Norlick was trapped in sleeping quarters at the rear.
    Two other firemen, Harold Asher, 412 W. Gage Ave., and Jack Hudson, 740 W. 107th St., taken to Georgia Street receiving Hospital.

Dog Saves Master

    The building, occupied by the Harold Furniture Co., was gutted by the flames. Stanley B. Rybkowski, 54, a night watchman who resided on the premises, narrowly escaped with his life when his dog Zip tugged at him and awakened him in time for him to make his way out of the smoke-filled store.
    Norlick, Rybkowski's brother-in-law, was visiting Rybkowski for the week-end. They had gone out Saturday night for some food and beer. Rybkowski said, and upon returning had retired in quarters at the rear.
    "I felt my dog tugging at me." the night watchman said. "When I woke up and smelled smoke, I called to my brother-in-law. I ran for the telephone to call the fire company. He shouted he couldn't find his pants. He couldn't see good. I told him to forget his pants and follow me. But I guess he couldn't find his way."
    The quarters in which the two men were sleeping were windowless and doorless. Exit lay through a labyrinth of furniture. Norlick's body was found huddled in a corner behind a stack of charred furniture.
    Rybkowski's reunion with Zip, the dog he obtained from the city animal shelter, was tinged with emotion, firemen said. The husky man hugged the dog to him and told how the dog had paid a life for a life.
    "I saved him from bring gassed at the pound," the night watchman said, "and now he saved me"
    The firemen, members of Salvage Co. 28, were trapped in a back draft when they entered the building where the fire supposedly already was checked. Unburned gasses in the store ignited. Asher and Hudson made their way out, but Travers failed. His body was found in debris near the front of the building.
    Rybkowski was booked on suspicion of arson pending an investigation.