| Notes |
- Lockport NY Union Sun Journal - 12/15/1958
The James J Landen farm.
scene of Saturday's fire played an
important part in a tragic fire
that took the lives of five persons
two years ago in November 1956,
just one-quarter of a mile east of
the Landen farm.
It was to the Whitehaven Nur-
ing home that a woman ran to
telephone for aid in the fire that
took the lives of Mr. and Mrs.
Linus Ball and their three sons.
Two other children, sisters, es-
caped the tragic fire.
The Ball fire happened Nov. 19,
1956. Mrs. Ball was a part-time
employe at the Whitehaven Nurs-
ing Home. it was to the home that
Mrs. Ben Licata, next-door neigh-
for to the Balls, raced for help.
The Ball's frame farmhouse was
located on the north side of the
road.
There had been four major fires
in 46 years on the Ball farm.
The Landen barn fire was the
first fire in the area since the
Ball fire.
Three volunteer companies an-
swered both alarms. They were
Wright's Corners, Terrys Corners
and South Lockport.
ALSO
North Tonawanda NY Evening News - 11/19/1956
Five members of one
family perished in a fire today
which swept their two story
frame home in the
High St. extension, one-half
mile east of Lockport city
line.
Two other members of the family
were treated at Lockport Memorial
Hospital for injuries suffered
when they escaped from their
burning home.
Dead are Linus Ball, his wife,
Hilda, and three of their five children:
Dennis, 9; Frank, 4, and Arthur,
9 months.
Suffering from shock are Elaine,
15, and Karen, 6. Elaine also suffered
leg injuries when she jumped
from a second floor porch. Karen
suffered-burns about her head.
She was dropped to the ground
from the porch by her older sister.
.A wakened by Father
Elaine told Sheriff's Deputy Rudolph
Ziehm that her father awakened
her about 6 a.m. and told
her the house was on fire. She
said her father rushed down stairs,
where the *est of the family was
sleeping.
Elaine said she ran to the home
started to follow her father, but
that she grabbed her and pulled
her to the second floor porch,
dropped her to the ground, and
then jumped.
Elaine said she ran to the tome
of Benjamin Licata, a next-door
neighbor, and told him to summon
firemen. Mrs. Licata, found her
telephone was out of order and
had to run to another neighbor's
house to call help.
Heat Intense
Mr. Ziehm said that by the time
firemen and sheriff's deputies arrived,
the fire was so intense that
they couldn't get withm 50 feet of
the burning home.
Firefighters from Lockport,
South Lockport, Rapids, Wright's
Corners and Terry's Corners were
unable to save the structure. Two
badly charred bodies were taken
from the rubble by the volunteer
firemen. They were not immediately
identified.
The bodies of the other three
victims were recovered from the
ruins shortly before 10 a.m.
Firemen and neighbors said
Elaine was a real heroine. They
said she saved her sister and herself
by smashing an upstairs window,
severely cutting her right
arm. Both leaped to the ground
where she beat out flames which
were picking at both her clothing
and that of her sister. Then Elaine
sprinted to a neighbor's house to
sound the alarm.
When she had recovered sufficiently,
Elaine told authorities
that the last time she saw her
father he was at the foot of the
stairs shouting that he was "going
back to get the other children."
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Abt 1956 - 1956 (~ 0 years)