Incident Date:
June 9, 1952
Departments:
St. Louis Fire Department (MO)
Number of Line-of-Duty Deaths:
3
Scene photos © Lem Lynch Photography
On June 9, 1952, St. Louis Fire Department Engine 17 and Hook and Ladder 9 were dispatched to a residential fire call. As they responded to the incident, they collided at the intersection of Vandeventer Avenue and Easton Avenue (now Martin Luther King Drive).
Three firefighters were killed, and six others were injured in the crash. Among the deceased were 39-year-old Private Bernard Crump, 25-year-old Private Clarence Paschang, and 37-year-old Private William Grady.
Private Crump left behind a family of four children and Private Paschang was proceeded in death by both his parents. Private Grady was the first African American St. Louis firefighter to die in the line of duty in St. Louis.
