William Gorman
1919-1926
LODD
William Gorman died in a structure fire on February 14, 1926 which was listed as an accidental fire. The fire call came in that Ben Moirs Limited place was all on fire located at Pepperell Street. The new box alarm system did not work properly and other stations had to be notified by phone. With the time it took for other firefighters to arrive firefighter Gorman and Captain Harber advanced a hose line into the building where they were overcome by smoke. By some miracle Harber was able to get out but Gorman was not so fortunate. Harber tried to locate Gorman but could not find him in the smoke filled building.
When other firefighters arrived from West Street Captain Harber told them that Gorman was still inside the building, and immediately J C Doherty broke a second floor window and entered the structure looking for the victim. It didn’t take long for Doherty to find Gorman in the building and he carried him out still alive, but he was unconscious and bleeding from the nose and mouth.
He was taken to the Victoria General Hospital but he died shortly after. His death certificate lists his cause of death as “Acute Pulmonary Œdema, Asphyxia”
Gorman joined the Fire Department in 1919 where he served until his untimely death. Gorman lived at 16 Philip Street in Halifax. He was 32 years old and single.