On May 14, 1964, around 10:30am, the Gnecco and Grilk Tanning Company at 27 Howley Street exploded. It was a 6-story frame building. Fire departments from 10 local communities aided in putting out the fire, which burned for hours. By noon, the roof had collapsed. Aerial water guns and water pressure lines were deployed. They used a water curtain to shield the nearby factories from being engulfed. J. B. Hospital nurses Dorothy Ring and Lorra Cody were on site to triage burn victims. There was $500,000 in physical damage.
Gnecco and Grilk Fire, May 14, 1964.
Courtesy of the Ray Wallman Collection.
Gnecco and Grilk Fire, May 14, 1964.
Courtesy of the Ray Wallman Collection.
Five men died that day: Guisseppi Cavalho, Paul A. Caron, Anthony Silva, John Vierra and B. Robert Conway. Six more men were seriously injured.
On May 18th, Guisseppi Cavalho, Anthony Silva and John Vierra were laid to rest in one funeral service, which began at the Portuguese-American War Veteran Post on Tremont Street. 300 people marched behind the hearses to the funeral mass at St. Thomas the Apostle Church. The men were buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Salem.
Paul A. Caron and B. Robert Conway’s funeral services took place a few days later on May 20th. B. Robert Conway’s service took place at Annunciation Church in Danvers. Paul A. Caron’s life was celebrated at St. Joseph’s Church in Salem.
References
The Salem News and The Boston Globe, May 14-18, 1964