JFK Prep Dorm Gutted by 1975 Fire
National Fire Prevention Week crossed our calendars this past week. Fire prevention week is set aside each year to honor our firefighters and to remind everyone to review fire safety procedures.
Throughout our history, there have been brave men and women who have looked out for the safety of our citizens and community. One such fire occurred at the St. Nazianz JFK Prep School in 1975.
As the Herald Time Reporter on Wednesday, April 9, 1975 described, “fire of undetermined origin gutted the boys’ dormitory at JFK Prep School at St. Nazianz Tuesday evening. About 25 freshmen and sophomores at the school were housed in the building but there were no injuries. Most of the residents were at dinner in the school cafeteria when the blaze broke out at 6:10 o’clock.”
The dorm building, known as George Hall, was built in 1938 of stone and concrete. The building had been previously used as the Salvatorian Seminary Publishing Department. It was remodeled to become a girls’ dormitory and became a boys’ dorm in the year before the fire.
A neighbor, Mrs. Dorothy Binversie, could see flames coming from the building and smoke, and called for help. The St. Nazianz Fire Department was assisted by other departments from Newton, Kiel, Valders, and the city of Manitowoc. Manitowoc’s Fire Chief, R. W. Herzog, offered assistance at the scene with a pumper and three men.
Famed basketball coach Marty Crowe said to the Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter newspaper that “tremendous smoke and water damaged his family’s living quarters, located upstairs in the dormitory.”
According to the St. Nazianz Fire Department’s 50th Anniversary Commemorative book, the Crow family was rescued from the roof of the building. “It was this rescue that later prompted a humerous exchange that [Fire Chief Rembert] Broeckert remembers to this day. After the fire was over and everyone was safe and sound, a firefighter was telling the story of the night to patrons of a local tavern. Upon hearing that the Crowe’s…had to be rescued from the roof, a woman who did not know the family had this simple question: ‘Why didn’t they just fly away?’”
As the newspaper went on to report, “one wing of the structure was completely gutted and the other wing was damaged by smoke and water. The boys, who lost most of their personal possessions, were spending Wednesday evaluating their losses and in cleanup operations.”
“Representatives of the Manitowoc County chapter of the American Red Cross were at the scene Tuesday evening offering to provide necessary services.”
In Manitowoc County, most of our firefighters are volunteers, which means they get paid very little or nothing for responding to citizens' emergencies. Most of them have other jobs, but they drop what they are doing when the alarm summons them.
If you haven't thanked a firefighter lately, this week would be a good time to do so. We applaud all of the efforts of our local firefighters and hope that they are kept safe during their efforts to protect our lives and property. It is also a time when we can remember the firefighters our community has lost: Frank Kopidlansky with Manitowoc Fire Department on February 22, 1922 and John Hall, also with the Manitowoc Fire Department on January 14, 1906.
