Jun 7, 2009 9 min read

As another school year filled with memories draws to a close, Glenn Tunney’s column revisits an indelible memory from a school year long ago that lingered for many children. Today’s reprinted article is the second of a two-part series originally published in 2001.On March 9, 1962, Luzerne Township School District’s Maxwell school caught fire. When several teachers smelled smoke on that wintry Friday afternoon, all students and staff quickly evacuated the building. Then principal William Garofalo and custodian Steve Sikora ventured back inside and tried without success to pinpoint the source of the smoke. As fire trucks arrived at the scene, wide-eyed students and teachers stood in mud and snow, watching the smoke grow thicker and blacker. Soon flames were visible in the classrooms where they had been sitting only moments before.

Fire sirens and air horns echoed throughout the river valley. Fire trucks rushing along the narrow roads to Maxwell competed for space with the cars of concerned parents hurrying toward the burning school.

“The new South Side fire truck was involved in a minor mishap in its rush to Maxwell,” the Brownsville Telegraph noted the next day. “The truck was crowded off the road on the Narrows, smashing a fender, but it still made it to the school in fast time.”

“Many parents rushed excitedly to the scene when hearing of the fire,” the Telegraph continued. “Panic may have resulted if not for the work of men like Luzerne Constable John (Butch) Gresh, who directed traffic at the scene. Gresh stood bare-headed in the snow at the railroad tracks for several hours, directing traffic and assuring grief-stricken parents that everything was all right.”

According to the Telegraph’s account, seven volunteer fire companies responded to the fire.

“Although the blaze was out of control by the time the Luzerne Township Volunteer Fire Department arrived, “the Telegraph reported, “the firefighters refused to give up. Arriving at the scene shortly after the Luzerne firefighters were both Brownsville companies with three trucks, Republic, Allison 2 with two trucks, Isabella and Hiller.

“Luzerne Assistant Fire Chief Leonard ‘Whitey’ Havanets with volunteers Buzz Nichols, John Stiner Jr. and Joe Mazak immediately rushed into the blazing basement while the others played water on top of the structure. Although the fire was raging on all sides of the four men, they only left the basement when they couldn’t stop the inferno. The Luzerne department had 17 men at the scene besides Havanets, who stated that 12 men, although not members of the fire company, volunteered their services.

“Hiller firefighters arrived with 10 men and Frank Mekovich in charge. The Hiller company kept one truck in reserve in case a fire broke out in the areas vacated by the volunteers at Maxwell. While fighting the fire, the Hiller VFD broke one of its pumps and will have to order a new $500 pump to replace it.

“Also responding was Chief Harold Keberty of the Republic VFD, who brought six men and one truck with a portable pump to the scene. Second Lt. Joe Skoda of Isabella responded with two volunteers and one truck, and South Side Fire Chief John Byrne brought 14 men and two trucks. First Lt. Attilio Cicconi directed North Side’s 20 firemen, and Allison No. 2’s Fire Chief Silver Corella was in charge of 15 men and two trucks.

“Dan Goss of the Hiller VFD and Tom Meese at Luzerne handled radio communications between the fire departments and Brownsville, acting as relays from the base stations and mobile units at the fire scene. The men worked through the Brownsville Borough Building with Edwin R. Crawford, Brownsville police department desk clerk.”

The firefighters utilized four fire hydrants, and three trucks pumped from the river. The blaze was fought in miserable conditions, with the wet snow that fell throughout the day making the big playground area a sea of mud from snow and water. The volunteers were drenched and many were shivering, but none gave up the battle that lasted nearly four hours. Women’s auxiliaries of Luzerne and Hiller fire departments provided hot coffee and doughnuts for the firefighters and school children.

Despite the firefighter’s efforts, the school was doomed. Its oil-saturated floors, wooden furniture and other combustibles fed the flames and made saving the building a hopeless task. There was little danger of the blaze spreading to other structures, as the school was located at the end of town, with the closest home being about 50 yards distance. Yet the firefighters refused to concede defeat.

“We had plenty of water, but the pressure was erratic,” said Oliver Battaglini Jr., Luzerne Township Fire Department captain. The Telegraph reported that the firefighters “were also hampered by the lack of high aerial ladders, as there was no way to reach the top of the two-story brick building to spray water effectively.

“If we could have gotten to the top, we could have saved the school,” said Havanets, who was in charge of operations. Without ladders, the firefighters moved right next to the burning structure, completely ignoring the possibility of falling walls. One wall did cave in with a roar, but no firefighters were injured. Watching the exploits of the firefighters, one spectator was moved to say, I’ll never turn down a request for donations by the firemen again.'”

Standing by and watching the firefighting effort were Luzerne Township school officials. Upon learning of the fire, Luzerne Township schools principal Roger Garofalo had left his Brownsville office and hurried to the stricken school.

“He stood patiently in the mud and cold weather,” reported the Telegraph, “answering questions of worried parents and spectators for hours after the fire.”

“A disaster like this really proves that fire drills pay off,” Garofalo told the Telegraph as he and Maxwell school principal William Garofalo watched the blaze. Also at the scene were Luzerne Township school directors Joseph Whiteko, Joseph Verbanic, Andrew Duran, Joseph Zaucha and Dr. Ralph Garofalo, president.

By early evening, it was all over. Fire trucks had departed, dazed students had left with their parents or on buses, and shaken teachers were at home replaying the sequence of events in their minds. Spectators from Maxwell and nearby villages lingered at the scene, talking quietly as they stood in the cold, gazing at the smoldering ruins of a building that held so many memories for each of them.

Christa Vlases Hollingsworth, one of the Maxwell students, recently told me, “I remember thinking there would be no school for a while. Boy was I wrong! The fire was on Friday afternoon, and by Monday morning, they had us scattered in schools all over Luzerne school district!”

Luzerne Township school directors had convened in emergency session and quickly devised a plan of action. Redstone Township and Brashear school districts had both offered classroom space to the Luzerne Township School Board, but the board was able to find room in other Luzerne school buildings to accommodate the Maxwell students. Frances Gechoff, who taught seventh grade in Maxwell school, told me how the students were dispersed.

“Where were the homes of the students who had attended Maxwell school?” I asked Frances.

“They were from the towns of Maxwell, East Millsboro, LaBelle, Dutch Hill, Melrose and a little village of about seven houses they called Luzerne.”

“And the board found room for all of these children and their teachers in other district buildings?”

“Yes. Kindergarten, sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders were sent to Central school. My seventh-grade class had about 30 children in it, and we were moved into the recreation room in the basement of Central school, right by the girls’ restroom. The sixth-graders were over by the boys’ restroom, and the eighth-graders were upstairs. Our kindergarten students attended in the morning, and Central’s kindergarten in the afternoon.”

“What schools were the other grades assigned to attend?”

“Fourth and fifth grade went to Allison 2 school, a very nice wooden building near the Allison 2 fire hall. Third grade went to Isabella, first and second grades to Hiller.”

“How did the Maxwell students get to those widely scattered schools?”

“For the rest of the school year,” Frances said, “the teachers and students from Maxwell reported each morning to an area across from the burned school. We teachers parked our cars there, then we rode the buses with the children to our assigned schools. When school was dismissed each day, Maxwell teachers and students would board the buses again for the ride back to Maxwell. It was a long day for students and teachers.”

Frances smiled and said, “I still remember one afternoon when we got off the bus at Maxwell. I was greeted by Mrs. Lenk, the mother of one of my students, who had baked a cake for me.”

The following autumn, all former Maxwell school students were permanently assigned to township schools and were integrated into classes with the other district students.

Eventually, the fire at Maxwell school was determined to have been caused by defective electrical wiring. Final estimates placed the building’s loss at $250,000.

A Luzerne district spokesman noted that the district had recently submitted to the state applications to build two new schools. “Because of the fire,” he said, “it is believed the state will give the district preference’ in the request.”

Of course, neither he nor anyone else could have known in March 1962 that the Luzerne school district itself would cease to exist just a few years later, when it would merge with Redstone Township and Brashear school districts to form the Brownsville Area School District. A few of the old township school buildings still remain as empty reminders of those days of township school districts and hometown schools.

But for generations of Maxwell school alumni, their school will exist only in old photographs and in their collective memories.

Comments about these articles may be sent to Editor Mark OKeefe, 8 18 E. Church St., Uniontown, Pa., or e-mailed to mokeefe@heraldstandard.com