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HERALD Serving tin' Villager of Delevan and Arcade and the Towns of Sardinia. Jam. Maehias. Eagle. Holland. Freedom. Sheldon. Fa rni e rs r i 11 e. Yorksh i re 'and Arcade Since IS!)I Vol. LXXVIII—No. 14 ARCADE, NEW, YORK—THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1911 Price 20f Three Children Die in Type Foundry Fire Freedom Board Awards Bid on Former Town Butding A fire that erupted shortly before 8:40 last Wednesday morning in Delevan claimed the lives of four year old Angel Dullen and her brothers, Joshua MeKune, 1% and Jeremy McKune, 1%. The children died in their mother's apartment on the second floor of the former Empire Type Foundry building on North Main Street. According to reports, the mother, Rhonda Dullen, 24, was in a room at the rear of the apartment when her two older children came crying and screaming to her down the long hallway that connects the front and rear of the apartment along the north side of the building. Mrs. Dullen, smelling smoke, pushed her children into the bathroom,- also located at the rear of the. apartment, and told them to stay there while she went for help. She attempted to reach the front living room where Jeremy was in a playpen, but was forced back by the thick black smoke and the heat. She then left the apartment, apparently thinking that Angel and Joshua would be safe in the bathroom, and began rousing other tenants on the first and second floors. By this time, the State Police, located just to the south, had been notified. Zone Sgt. Herbert Archer and Trooper David Hall ran to the building where smoke and flames were coming out of the front living room window They were met on the sidewalk by Mrs. Dullen, who told them that her children were inside. At about the same time, volunteer fireman Bob Smith, a brother-in-law of Morris McKune, the children's father, tried to make his way from his third-floor apartment to the second floor hallway. He was unable to enter the second floor and was forced to return upstairs and exit via the fire escape. (Mrs Dullen's apartment has only one exit and there are no rear exits fn the entire structure.) Sgt. Archer. Trooper Hall, and Und Assistant Fire Chief Randy Hedges by this time had obtained a ladder and tried to enter the apartment through the bathroom window, located on the back side. They were forced back by the smoke. Next, fireman Glenn Green donned an airpack and gained entry through the bathroom window. He went into an adjacent bedroom and found Arigel and Joshua lying in their mother's bed with the blanket over them They were removed from the building and firemen used CPR in a frantic, but unsuccessful, attempt to Boarded up windoivs give evidence oj the fire that killed three children last week. The front windoivs indicate the living room, where the fire itself ivas located, and where the youngest child died. Not visible in the picture is the baarded-up window near the back of the building, where tiro of the children died of smoke inhalation in a bedroom. revive them. State Police Investigator Patrick Connelly speculated that if the children had closed the door between the bathroom and the bedroom, the smoke might have been delayed long enough to have kept them alive Meanwhile, firemen were told by the mother, who by this time was described as \hysterical\, that Jeremy was in the front living room. Efforts to retrieve him were delayed until the living room fire was exting uished, by which time part of the ceiling had fallen in. Delevan Fire Chief Frank Wesley said that the fire was definitely accidental in nature, and that it originated in the living room, though he told the Herald on Sunday that it would be two or three weeks before an exact cause is determined. He also said that much of the living room furniture contained foam stuffing that liquified in the fire and gave off a deadly cyanide gas, taking oxygen out of the system. TtTe smoke, which claimed the lives of Jeremy's brother and sister, spread quickly because of the long hallway arrangement that sucked the smoke in what fire authorities call a \chimney effect\. Built in 1895, originally for use as a hotel, the landmark structure for many years was the home of the Empire Type Foundry. In recent years it had been used as an apartment building. Due to quick action by the Delevan, Yorkshire and Machias Fire Depart ments, damage to the structure itself was not extensive The bodies of the three children were transported by Gene Hilts to the Erie County Medical Center, where autopsies perform ed on Thursday revealed that they all died from asphyxiation due to carbon monoxide poisoning and smoke inhalation. The children are survived by their mother, Rhonda Dullen; their father,-^ Morris McKune; and their grandparents. Funeral services were held on Sunday at the W.S. Davis Funeral Home in Delevan with the Rev. H. Allan Taylor officiating. Burial was in Mt. Prospect Cemetery, Franklinville At a recent meeting, the Freedom Town Board awarded a. bid to Spencer & Haley. Ine for the old municipal building on Route 98. When bids were originally let in August, three were received, but were all rejected by the Board as being insuffic ient. The Board re-bid with more stipulations in the bids, and again received three bids. Spencer & Haley bid $15,810. and final closing of this bid is now in progress. The Board received two bids for a new pickup truck, but decided that the amounts of the bids were so high that it would be better to fix up the present truck and continue to drive it. Russell Covert was given the job of constructing a wall between the repair bay and the mezzanine in the new building to improve heating effic iency. The Board created the new positions of Court Clerk and Dog Control Officer, and voted to grant a $.45 per hour increase to the members of the 11 igh way I )eparlmcnt as of January 1. 1982. At the Revenue Sharing hearing.a suggestion was made In use the money for new equipment, but a majority of the Board prefers to use it for the new building As required by the Alternative Franchising Procedure, all procedures have been followed to obtain a franchise with V S Cable TV of Sala manca, but all of the responses have been negative The Board agreeil ti> start legal proceedings to prohibit refuse centers in the tow nship Delevan Fire Auxiliary Entertains Youngsters Approximately 60 youngsters attended the Halloween party hosted by the Delevan Firemen's Auxiliary Halloween night in the Municipal building. Games were played, refreshments serveds and prizes awarded to the following children. In the 2 to 5 year group. Brandy Wheeler and Waylon Pastorious. dres sed as Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy: B to 9 year group. Jason Tingue dressed as a Hobo; 10 to 12 year group. Patty Tingue dressed as a clown Pictured is part oftfie ra inbow that appen red throughout much of the area late Sundaii afternoon
