The Kansas CW | Firefighters Remembered 40 Years After Their Deaths

Firefighters Remembered 40 Years After Their Deaths

by Roger Cornish (WICHITA, Kan.)

Wichita got a tragic reminder 40-years-ago how dangerous a job can be for those serving us in uniform.

November 21, 1968 was an unseasonably warm day. During the evening a small fire started at the Yingling Chevrolet dealership at English & Topeka. Employees took time to move cars out of the building before calling the fire department. It would prove to be a deadly delay.

Location of Dealership

Retired fire captain Earl Tanner says, "The men who died shouldn't have died, because of the delayed alarm."

When fire crews did arrive, they saw smoke but didn't realize much of it was coming from an attic area between ceilings. Tanner says he's never forgotten what happened as he and other firefighters were attacking the blaze on the roof.

"Just as we were getting over the roof, over the firewall,she went in. That's how close it was for us."

Tanner was okay, but not Wichita Fire Chief Tom McGaughey and three others.

Retired Battalion Chief Ed Bennett says, "They were actually standing in the middle of that sales floor area, they were discussing the need to pull the ceiling down, and it caved it. Just like that."

Chief McGaughey was killed along with inspector Merril Wells, and firefighters Jimmy Austin and Dale Mishler.

It was the 36th wedding anniversary for McGaughey and his wife. Their daughter Patty was a teenager at the time.

"There was a knock at the door and it was my godmother Eileen Hall and our pastor. I just knew."

Another daughter, Judy says, "I remember thinking it was such a waste, such a waste.  After this my biggest prayer was don't send another man in if there's not a person in there. There's not a building in this town worth the lives of those people we lost."

The four killed in November of 1968 and others killed in the line of duty are honored at the Kansas Firefighters Memorial on South Broadway.