City Fireman, Trapped
in La Tuna Blaze, Dies
A
Los Angeles city fireman who was trapped by flames when the La Tuna Canyon
fire in Tujunga broke out last Sunday died yesterday as cleanup crews
continued to patrol the region blackened during the week-long blaze.
James L. Catlow, 35, succumbed at Georgia Street Receiving
Hospital after suffering face, hand and body burns that sent his temperature
up to 109 deg. He was caught by the flames soon after the fire exploded
in the canyon's dry brush.
Funeral services for Catlow will be conducted Tuesday at
1 p.m. in Utter-McKinley Wilshire Chapel. They will be in charge of
American Lodge 475, F&AM. Chaplain Joseph R. Hoffman of the Los
Angeles Fire Department will also take part.
Catlow was a veteran of World War II, serving in the submarine
service. He was a member of the Builders Club of the Fire Department,
and a member of Engine Co. 39B.
He leaves his widow Frances, of 7534 Yarmouth Ave.,
Reseda: his mother Mrs. Edith Catlow, and a brother, John D. Catlow.
50 Remain at
Posts
Some 50 firemen, meanwhile, remained in the La Tuna Canyon and Green Verdugo
Fire Road areas on "cold training" operations that covered most of
the fire's 3000 blackened acres.
Another fire that burned more than 17,000 acres in Ventura
County smoldered in the west end of Hidden Valley yesterday after weary
firemen succeeded in bringing the blaze under complete control Friday.
Mopping-Up Duty
Twenty men were retained on mopping-up duty which Ventura County Chief Fire
Warden C. D. Little said would continue for two days. Coastal fog was credited
with helping fire fighters in their battle to stem a firehead on the northern
slopes of Boney Mountain above Hidden Valley, the last flaming area.
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Burns Fatal
To La Tuna
Fire Hero
Heroic Fireman dies
Of Burns
Heroic attempts of James L. Catlow, 33-year-old city fireman, to
save his fire truck when it was circled by flames in the La Tuna Canyon
fire proved fatal today as he died of burns in Georgia Street Receiving Hospital.
Catlow was burned over 75 per cent of his body last
Sunday when he refused to leave the pumping rig as the fire raged nearby.
He fought to keep the fire from the truck until the heat forced him to
retreat.
Asst. Fire Chief Leonard Eggleston termed Catlow's
stand "the most outstanding example sheer courage" he had ever
seen.
Catlow, of 7534 Yarmouth ave., Reseda, registered a
temperature of 109.2 shortly before his dearth early today.
Meanwhile, other fire fighters began mop-up operations
on two fronts as the fires in La Tuna Canyon and the Hidden Valley area
of Ventura County were reported extinguished.
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