SHOPE, Charles B.
An alarm had been sounded at midnight Fireman Charles B. Shope responded to the fire pulling an Independent Hose Fire Co. No.1 man-drawn hose reel. Fireman John Francis Smith,from Junior Fire Co. No.2, saw that Fireman Shope was struggling and went to assist him. The following is paraphrased from Fireman Smith's eyewitness account: "An alarm was sounded at midnight and I over took a real belonging to one of the other companies being dragged slowly down the street by a man far past his youth. As I caught the tongue of the hose reel, I cried to him to hasten, but with a voice weak from illness and fatigue Fireman Shope answered "I can't, I'm played out". He then staggered, went down on the pavement, and in a few minutes was dead" Fireman Charles Buckey Shope was 67 years old and had served 26 years.
Listing Details
House
Independent Hose Company
Age
67
Years of Service
26
County
FREDERICK
