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On November 15th 1942, a large fire occurred at Luongo's Restaurant
in East Boston. After the fire was brought under control, a wall collapsed,
and tragically killed six Boston
Firefighters. The fire was overshadowed by the
Cocoanut Grove Fire which occurred
only 13 days later.
The Old Armory building stood in
Maverick Square at Henry Street, across from the subway station. In
the photo above from the 1950s, the building would be in left-center of the image. The Old Armory was constructed of wood, with
load-bearing outer masonry walls. A fire broke out in the rear of Luongo's
Restaurant on the first floor at about 2:26 a.m., with fire crews on the
scene in only a few minutes. The fire accelerated, and 2nd and 3rd alarms
were sounded.
At 04:15 a.m., without warning, the brick and stone wall on the Henry Street
side of the building collapsed, killing six Boston Firefighters, and
trapping others for up to 18 hours. With firefighters buried under
debris, 4th and 5th alarms were sounded to aid in the rescue effort. When
the wall collapsed, firefighters on the ladder of a fire truck had ducked
into the ladder bed, and escaped injury when tons of the debris passed over
them on the ladder rails. The firefighters that died were on the 2nd
floor of the building.
Let us honor the firefighters who sacrificed their lives to help others
that morning: Francis J. Degan, John F. Foley, Edward F. Macomber,
Daniel E. McGuire, Peter F. McMorrow, and Malachi F. Reddington.
This author lived in East Boston many years ago, and recalls dangerous
three-decker house fires back in the 1970s. I can remember a firefighter
carrying an elderly person down a ladder during a large
fire, and another firefighter saving a cat trapped on a porch during a
huge blaze. Members of the Boston Fire Department are among America's finest.
Site Of Luongo's Fire Today
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