Fire Guts DeHaven Plant, Home Father Rescues Daughter; Two Leap From Window; 2 Burned

Submitted by Peggy A. Wells

Ruth DeHaven was badly burned, her father Claude DeHaven suffered painful but lesser burns and the entire DeHaven family narrowly escaped death when fire destroyed the De Haven ice cream plant and home at Second and Jefferson streets shortly after midnight. At 1 o’clock this morning the blaze had been controlled but the joint ice cream-residence building had been gutted, entailing loss estimated at close to $6,000. Of this $500 was in cash and represented collections of the ice cream company during the day.

Ruth De Haven, who will be eight years old today, was rescued from her blazing home through the heroism of her father. Unable to locate all members of his family and hearing screams of a child on the interior of the building, he rushed through the first floor entrance and climbed fire-rimmed stairs, frenzied by fear, choking from smoke and escape seemingly cut off. Her father caught her up, ran down the stairs and both and his daughter were brushed by flames as he leaped toward the sidewalk. His escape from the building was so eager that the made a flying leap through the doorway, stumbled across the sidewalk and feel at the curbing. His daughter suffered second degree burns on leg from hip to knee, on the right foot, left arm and face and neck. She was treated at the scene by Dr. G. G. Hunter and was ordered removed to the Deaconess hospital, where she is receiving treatment. Her condition is not critical. The father was treated for burns about the face, arms and right leg, but he did not enter the hospital.

Narrowness of the escape from death is attested by the manner in which the family fled their home, located on the second floor of the frame building. Mrs. De Haven caught up her year-old baby Raymond and, followed by her daughter, Helen, 11, she ran down the stairway. An older daughter, Hazel, 15, climbed out a rear window to a porch roof and jumped from there to the ground. Screams came from the building after the parents had reached safety and Mr. De Haven dashed back in, to rescue his daughter Ruth. A son, George, age 13 years, was trapped in the bedroom and appeared at a smoke-filled window at about the same time the father was rescuing the daughter. Orville Bartram, Tom Culligan and Harry Brown, among the first at the scene, implored him to jump but he turned from the window and re-entered them room. He later explained he went after his trousers. He picked up a pair of his father’s by mistake, lost precious minutes in fruitless attempts to don them and finally he leaped from the window wearing only his underclothing. He was caught by the men and escaped any injury whatever.

Mr. De Haven, formerly in business here, returned about two months ago from Michigan and recently reopened his ice cream plant. Stock valued at approximately $1,000 was delivered at the building Friday and a large supply of ice cream was manufactured Saturday for today’s trade demands. Mrs. De Haven and children arrived in Ironton only Friday and new furniture was installed at the home. Mr. De Haven had closed his plant only a short time before the fire was discovered and he had stacked the collections, estimated at $500, upon a table. He forgot the money in the rescue of his family and it was lost. Total loss was estimated at close to $6,000, including furniture, machinery, clothing, cash and building. Absolutely nothing was saved.

The fire was first discovered by Tom Culligan and Orville Bartram. The former kicked in a door to a small machine room at the upper end of the plant and say the flames centered about a machine there. He battled them unsuccessfully while Bartram turned in an alarm at Second and Washington but the alarm apparently did not register for Harry Brown of the Rosemont apartments at Third and Jefferson says the entire building was in flames when he noticed it and telephones an alarm to the fire station. By that time the blaze was hopelessly out of control and the building was entirely gutted. An adjoining cottage owned by George Kline and occupied by W. E. Williams caught fire but this blaze was controlled before having caused great damage. Furniture had been removed from the dwelling by volunteer workers.

No insurance was carried on stock, furniture or equipment and Mr. DeHaven suffered practically a total loss.

Ironton Tribune, 19 June 1932, Sunday, Page 10.