In Memoriam: Peter Savoie, 1923

At 3:30 am on February 13, 1923, the City was awakened by the fire alarm sounding box 14 for a fire in the buildings of the New Hampshire Orphans Home.

Snow was falling and the road was impassable for trucks.  The roads had not been rolled to allow traffic.  Equipment was loaded on sleighs and firemen had to be taken over the road.

At 5:40 am, four blows were sounded for more manpower.

There were 61 children in the nursery building, all under seven years of age.  All were saved and no injuries were reported among them.

Fireman Savoie and his fellow firemen were playing a stream into the nursery and were about to put up a ladder against the wall when it collapsed without warning.  Because of the deep snow, the men had no chance to run from the falling bricks and were buried beneath the debris.

The men were quickly dug out and were placed on cots of a baggage car on the 6am train to Franklin Depot.  The train proceeded to Franklin where the men were transferred to a truck supplied by Prescott’s Garage for transportation to Franklin Hospital.

Fireman Peter Savoie was operated on but died soon after, without regaining consciousness.

Five other firemen were injured but survived the ordeal.