The Daily News, December 26, 1944 Damage High In Duquesne's Worst Fire Council Orders Probe; 125 Left Homeless On Christmas Damage estimates ranged from $225.000 to $325,000 today as Duquesne officials investigated the cause of their city's worst fire disaster in history. A McKeesport man was killed and six buildings in the city's main business section were destroyed by the flames which broke out Sunday afternoon and left 125 persons homeless on Christmas. The disaster resulted in a special meeting of Duquesne's City Council at which Mayor Elmer J. Maloy ordered a sweeping investigation for the elimination of all "fire-traps". The condition of some of the buildings destroyed by Sunday's flames, Councilmen charged, accounted for the heavy loss. Crumble In Flames Some of the buildings, termed "three-story fire-traps" by Mayor Maloy, crumbled in flames with tinder-box speed and made possible the quick spread of the blaze. A damage estimate of $225,000 was made by Fire Chief Lawrence Trainor, but Councilmen said it would approximate $325,000. Albert Watt Sellers, 50, prominent McKeesport sports figure, of 835 Woodward Ave., was killed when he attempted to turn off a gas main leading into blazing buildings. A brick wall crumbled, showered him with debris. A foreman for the Equitable Gas Co., he was dead when extricated from the wall's wreckage. Firemen Hurt Two firemen were injured and another was overcome by smoke. Bernard Novak, 45, of 137 Third St., Duquesne, suffered back injuries when he was blown across the street by an explosion. Marshall Swauger, 47, of 2108 Wesley St., McKeesport, sustained cuts on the face and other injuries when he was struck by falling bricks. Both were taken to McKeesport Hospital. The smoke victim was Albert Herder, West Grant Ave, Duquesne. They were among members of more than 30 district fire companies which joined in the five-hour battle against the blaze which for a time threatened to wipe out the entire North First St. business area. Duquesne officials, meanwhile, prepared today to raze walls left standing by the flames. Businesses wrecked included Vivirito's Fruit Market, Escovitz Furniture Co., H. & H. Beauty Salon, Butch's Wonder Bar, Katz Clothing Store and Goltz Market. Families left homeless lived in apartments above the stores. Started In Furniture Store Flames broke out in the Escovitz Furniture Co. store, at 59 North First St., ate upward into the apartments where families were trimming trees and wrapping gifts, then spread north and south through five other buildings, threatening the entire block. Thirty-two families were homeless on the eve of celebrating their fourth wartime Christmas. The blaze leveled the Escovitz Building and an adjacent structure to the north, leaving only a brick wall as mute evidence of the city's worst disaster. Flames gutted the Allebrand and Vojnovich buildings, collapsing roofs and burning through floors. Firemen fought the blaze for three and a half hours to bring it under control at 5 p.m. An explosion at the furniture store several minutes after the blaze started gave impetus to speed of the inferno. It was thought to have come from a furnace in the store. Liquor Explodes Liquor at Butch's Wonder Bar, last of the business houses to be completely destroyed, exploded early in the afternoon, blowing out the store window. Police patrolled the section preventing possible theft of merchandise. Mayor Maloy at about 5 p.m. was preparing to order the ruined buildings dynamited to prevent the disaster from spreading, but firemen reported the blaze under control. A fire wall at the Goltz Building, 43 North First St., and yeoman work by hosemen combined to stop the blaze. The Goltz building was damaged by an $8000 blaze on July 4, 1943, and reconstruction work made the structure fire-proof. Most families reported total losses in furniture and other personal belongings. Some were left destitute with only the clothes they wore when forced to flee. The case of Milan Tritica, of 65 North First St., a policeman, was typical. He was having an afternoon nap but awakened when smoke began to choke him at his apartment home.     Helped Mother "I jumped from the bed," Tritica said, "helped my mother out of the building and rushed back, but it was too late to save anything." Tritica, who was to be married soon, had bought a complete suite of furniture. Shoeless, he donned rubber boots, a coat and helmet, and pitched in to aid Duquesne firemen, who were on the scene in a few minutes. The fire licked at frame homes on north Second St., but only scorched them as firemen kept the blaze confined to the First St. Block. "We had to get down and roll in the snow at times to keep our own clothes from burning, the heat was so intense," one fireman reported. Flames swept across the street to the Williams Apartments, but they were checked before much damage resulted there. Many families made homeless by the disaster were given refuge by friends and relatives. Mayor Maloy said facilities were being prepared in the Post Office and City Hall in case some homeless families should need shelter. A Red Cross canteen was set up at the Holy Name School Hall, South First St., to aid victims. Left Destitute Mrs. Francis Kostelac, 45 North First St., was among those left with nothing but the clothes she wore. Her husband, Sergeant Kostelac, is in Italy. Mrs. Michael Divjak, 49 North First St., reported her apartment in the Goltz Bldg. Damaged by smoke and water. Mr. and Mrs. R. H. Morrow, of the Escovitz building, lost all their possessions. Two ill women, Mrs. Martha Umholtz and Miss Carrie Green, were carried from their homes by two soldiers, a sailor and a civilian, William Flanigan Jr. Trucks answered the general alarm from Duquesne, McKeesport, East Pittsburgh, Versailles Township, Homeville, Duquesne Annex, Dravosburg, Homestead, North Braddock, Braddock, Munhall, Turtle Creek. Pittsburgh, West Wilmerding, Versailles, Trafford City, Eden Park, Park Terrace, Arlington, Westinghouse Electric and Mfg. Co., Dixie Hollow and other communities. Three trucks from McKeesport were on the scene. Police and civilian defense workers helped patrol the block, keeping crowds back and protecting stores and homes against looters. Duquesne's Chief Tim R. Long thanked volunteer workers in a statement issued today. Street Roped Off North First St. was roped off from Hamilton to Grant Ave. to prevent crowds from surging into the danger zone. Police worked extra shifts to protect business houses where windows had been broken. Men from Squadron 64 of the Civil Air Patrol worked with firemen. Afternoon movies in a nearby theater were called off. Meanwhile, H. Melvin Jaycox, chairman of the McKeesport District War Ration Board, announced that those families who lost ration books in the blaze may obtain replacements by applying at board headquarters in the Y. M. C. A., Ringgold Ave. entrance. Jaycox also explained that where immediate purchases of rationed commodities are necessary, they may be obtained without ration books. He urged that duplicate receipts, signed by the purchaser and merchant, be obtained. When new ration books are obtained, stamps as indicated by those receipts will be removed. Among the first on the scene were Seaman First Class Jack Kennedy, of 12 South Sixth St., and his cousin Eugene Kennedy, 50 North Sixth St. Seeing the flames, they shouted warnings to residents of the apartments who began racing down the stairs. Thomas Kearns Jr., who resides in the Williams' building, was among those who witnessed Sellers' death. McKeesport police sent 15 men, including four lieutenants and detective captain to aid.       Double-Trouble Duquesne's fire Sunday meant double trouble for Councilman John W. Bires, of 808 West Grant Ave. Bires helped handle the crowds which visited the fire scene, then returned home Christmas Eve in time to help fight a blaze started at the family's Yule tree. Damage was $500, Duquesne's Fire Chief Lawrence Trainor said.