As I walked the hallowed grounds at Blossom Hill Cemetery, I stopped to reflect at a gravestone just north of the cemetery pond. Memorial Day is approaching, it is a time to remember our veterans, our family, our friends, and our heroes that now rest eternally. A plain dark granite stone engraved with a few simple words intended to honor a life well lived. The day is cool and a gentle rain is falling from a sky that resembles smoke from a long-ago fire. The slight breeze gently moves both the American and the Concord Fire Department flags that were placed to honor a local hero that has faded into our past over the last century. I spent some time with Amos Turner and reflected upon his hardships and heroic acts that concluded his life here in Concord back in 1914.
The temperatures in Concord were cool and the clouds prominent during the summer of 1914. Our ancestors were fortunate to have the protection of a fine police and fire department and the latest technology available to combat both crime and fires within our small town. On July 27th the atmosphere at the firehouse was typical with many of the local firemen tending to chores that were required while remaining light hearted and fulfilled. The trained men were fortunate and proud to be members of a department that was first organized back in 1807 and managed efficiently with support from generations of Concord men. It was just after 3:20 p.m. when the first alarm sounded and the Concord Fire Department was summoned to the New Hampshire State Prison for a fire in one of the outbuildings used to craft wooden chairs in the prison shop. Concord Fireman Amos Turner responded as a member of Combination Company 1 and bravely entered the scene to assist.
The flames engulfed the stored wood, ultimately destroying 600,000 feet of lumber owned by the Granite State Manufacturing Company which was contracted by the prison to manage the chair manufacturing program with the prisoners incarcerated by the state. The lumber was stored in large piles just north of the prison buildings. While the members of the Concord Fire Department directed a stream into one of these large lumber piles there was a collapse of the heavy timber that buried three firemen. Amos Turner and Phillip O’Connell of Combination Company 1 and Clarence Clark of Truck No. 1 were buried under the heavy pile of lumber.
With the anticipation of an afternoon baseball game there were more than one hundred prisoners and volunteers on the grounds of the prison. With the collapse of the lumber pile on top of the three Concord Firemen, the many volunteers and prisoners converged on the burning lumber to rescue the trapped men.
With the fire still not controlled, the volunteers assisted the firemen and recovered the three firemen quickly with great sadness. It was immediately evident that the Concord Fire Department had suffered their very first death of a firemen engaged in the line of duty in their entire history. The body of Amos Turner was removed while both firemen Phillip O’Connell and Clarence Clark were saved and rushed to the hospital in serious condition.
The New Hampshire State Prison fire was seen as one of the most difficult fires to fight in the department’s history. The fire was investigated and found to be caused by sparks from a locomotive setting fire to grass and igniting the large storehouse. With the wind, the fire did spread across the entire yard with the prison building being saved by Chief Green and his valiant firemen. The Concord Fire Department was also assisted by the New Hampshire State Prison Fire Brigade as well as the many volunteers and prisoners that had gathered. Prior to the fire being under control, there was another outbreak, and dynamite was used to open up the burning lumber piles so that the firemen could douse the embers hidden deep within. The lumber had to be tossed and turned to continue the process of extinguishing the hot embers. The fire was not deemed under control until 2:00 a.m. the next morning with fear that the embers and wind would again ignite.
As the days followed, further investigation concluded that the soil under the heavy lumber piles collapsed when doused with the stream of water from the firemen and resulted in the entire heavy pile of burning lumber to topple onto the Concord Firemen.
Concord Fireman Amos P. Turner was 54 years old when he died at the New Hampshire State Prison fire in 1914 and he was survived by three daughters.
Amos P. Turner has rested in peace at Blossom Hill Cemetery for the past 109 years. A simple granite stone with both the American and the Concord Fire Department flags gently waving in the breeze as I reflected on the true meaning of the word hero.