ANSWERED
HIS LAST ALARM
FIRE DEPARTMENT LOSES AND EFFICIENT
MEMBER
Capt. J. Clinton-Johnson of the No. 8 Engine Company Succumbs to Disease
Caused by Exposure Incident to His Duties as a Fire Fighter.
Capt. J. Clinton Johnson of the No.8 engine company, one of the best men in
the Los Angeles fire department, died at 8:30 o'clock last night at his
home, No. 2630 Peabody avenue, after an illness of many months, directly due
to exposure to which he was subjected in his line of duty.
Had he lived until next May he would have been eighteen
years a member of the department,, and during that period he has seen
it grow from a small beginning to one of the best equipped and most
efficient in the West, and he has helped to conquer some of the most serious
fires which ever broke out in the city.
The illness of Capt. Johnson dated from the tragic fire on
Commercial and Alameda streets six years ago, when the plant of the Los
Angeles Farming and Milling Company was destroyed and four men lost their
lives. He was on duty for forty hours without rest and when relieved
he had to take to his bed. At the big Standard Oil Company fire he was
overcome by the fumes of burning oil, but after he revived he insisted upon
remaining at his post until all danger of a spread of the fire was
over. His health was never as good after that, and the effect upon his lungs
of the fumes of the burning oil ultimately resulted in the disease which
caused his death. He was in many a serious fire after that, and was to
be found where most needed.
Unlike many of his fellow-firemen, Capt. Johnson spent
much of his leisure time in studying to make his service more
efficient. He read everything he could find which told of the proper
manner to fight fires, and in the knowledge of his life work he had no
superiors in the department. Nor did he parade his knowledge, but when
necessity arose he led his men to such points that their efforts would do
the most good, always unmindful of danger, but never ordering one of his men
to go where he would not go himself. During the past year his friends
became aware that he would not long be with them, but although he was at
times very sick, he remained on duty as long as he could. The ravages
of the "great white plague" upon him were slow, but none the less
certain, and only a few weeks ago he left the engine house at Washington and
Hoover streets and went home, his friends knew, to die. He leaves a
widow and three children, the oldest a daughter of 14 and a son of 7 and a
son of nearly 4.
Capt. Johnson was a native of Somerset, O., and was in
his thirty-eight year. He became a member of the Los Angeles fire department
in May, 1887, when he was appointed as callman. Two years latter he
became a regular fireman and in 1891 was appointed driver of the No. 5
engine company. Two years later he was transferred to the No. 8 engine
company, then the headquarters company. He was promoted to the rank of
lieutenant of the second class January 31, 1900, and assigned to the No. 4
hose company. His commission as lieutenant of the first class dates
from January 1, 1902, and in September of that year he was appointed to the
position of captain and assigned to the No.8 engine company. He was a member
of West End Lodge, No. 389, I.O.O.F., and the members of that lodge will
have charge of the funeral, the arrangements for which have not been made.
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Los Angeles Times, February 13,
1905
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Captain J. Clinton Johnson
Chief Engineer Moore was in
his headquarters office at the Hill Street station when he heard the six
strokes of the alarm gong, followed by a pause, then four more
clangs. Knowing the district and fearing the worst, Moore ran for
his buggy and left with the first alarm companies. Turning right from
Hill onto First Street, Moore saw a solid column of smoke and
flames. What he has been expecting for years was now
happening. He whipped his horse to greater speed. Assistant
Chief Smith also saw the rapidly-worsening loomup as he answered the
alarm.
Moore found the situation was worse than he imagined
it would be. The planing mill, lumber yard and out-buildings were well
-involved and flames were igniting the flour mill. He sent in a
second alarm from Box 64 at 1:34 and followed it five minutes later with
a general alarm calling out 14 companies, including eight steam pumpers,
four chemical companies and the Babcock and Hayes aerial ladders.
First-arriving engines were greatly-handicapped by
the area's water supply: four-inch mains of hollowed wood logs
joined together and no doubt dating from the city's earliest days.
There was an eight-inch main along Los Angeles Street to the east and a
supply from a nearby zanja. Firefighters would have to make-do
with that because the best hydrant supply in the area was at Alameda and
Commercial Streets. But heat was so intense the firefighters could
not get close enough to use it. Some 13,000 feet of hose was laid
as firefighters perimetered the fire while taking a fearsome beating
along Alameda Street. Wind from the west pushed heat and smoke
directly at them. Radiant heat shattered windows in industrial and
commercial occupancies across the street and behind them. As
flames took almost complete involvement of the flour and grain mill,
hundreds of pigeons, which had nested there for years, circled above the
smoke and flames and gradually fell into the fire. A new threat
was quickly discovered as the wind wafted great chunks of firebrands and
seeded fires on wood roofs of cottages and the Maier & Zebelein
Brewery. The value of chemical engines once again proved
themselves during the next hours as they snuffed the brewery flames
while darting among cottages in a huge area as far east as the Los
Angeles River. Chemical Company firefighters laddered the cottages
and while operating streams on the spot fires, helped citizens who were
beating out fires with wet blankets and wetting roofs with garden
hoses. Chemical Engine 5 was credited with knocking down incipient
fires on cottage roofs at 447, 449 and 452 Ducommun Street.
Sparks ignited the roof of Lou Simpson's cottage at
430 Aliso Street, three blocks from the main fire. When Chemical 3
arrived, the firefighters were attacked by Mrs. Simpson who told them:
"Don't you fool fellows know no better that to monkey with my
things. I will have you know I'm insured." Ignoring
her, the firefighters laddered the roof of the cottage which was not
well-involved. Firefighter H. A. Springer fell 18 feet through the
fire-weakened roof and suffered severe sprains.
When the wind slackened, the exposure problem
diminished as the fire, together with the thousands of gallons of water
from streams being lobbed into the flames, enabled Moore to declare the
fire controlled at 3:00 p.m. Three engines remained throughout the
night while firefighters wet down ruins which would smolder for
days. The fire, with damages exceeding $250,000, was the most
destructive the city had ever seen. It also was one of the most
exhausting the firefighters ever fought. Captain J. Clinton
Johnson of Engine Company 8, worked 40 hours without relief before
collapsing from overexertion. He never recovered and died,
February 12, 1905.
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Source: "A
Century of Service"
by Paul Ditzel
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