05/14/2026
Driver Engineers Amil “Mule” Hahnl & Jack Edward Sullivan LODD May 14, 1945;
At approximately 7:25 PM on the evening of May 14, 1945, Box 45 was transmitted for a fire at the Continental Battery Company at 1914 South Pearl, in the Farmer’s Market District. The small fire at this address would soon yield the immediate loss of two Firefighters, and days later, their Battalion Chief.
While responding to the box, Battalion #4 and Engine #12 collided at the corner of Harwood and Corinth, and ultimately ended up inside Jesse’s Barbeque Stand before coming to rest. Driver Engineer Amil Hahnl, Driver of Engine #12, and Jack Sullivan, Driver of Battalion #4 both perished at the scene. Several other Firemen were injured, as well as civilians inside the establishment.
The Dallas Firefighters Museum humbly recognizes their dedication to their Families, The Dallas Fire Department, and The Citizens of Dallas. R.I.P. Gentlemen.
As it was written……
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
DALLAS, TEXAS, TUESDAY, MAY 15, 1945
2 FIREMEN KILLED; 7 PERSONS INJURED IN EQUIPMENT COLLISION ON WAY TO FIRE
A collision between two speeding pieces of fire equipment at Harwood and Corinth, which sent both vehicles crashing into a near-by barbecue stand, cost the lives of two firemen and resulted in the injury of seven persons at 7:30 p.m. Monday.
Dead are Jack Edward Sullivan, 34, of 2516 Pine, driver of District Chief F. E. McCarthy's car, and Amil Hahnl, 49, driver of a pumper from Fire Station No. 12, 2300 South Ervay. Both were killed instantly. Critically injured was Chief McCarthy, 48, of 6932 Clayton, riding in the car with Sullivan. He was taken to St. Paul Hospital, where attendants said he suffered head and internal injuries. John Dees, a fireman who was riding on Engine, 12 was also transported to St. Paul Hospital with a broken Back.
Visitor Hurt
Seriously hurt was a civilian visitor also riding on Engine 12 named L. G. Rupe, 33, of 4317 Colonial. He was taken to Parkland Hospital, where attendants said he sustained a compound fracture of the left leg.
Rupe, Accident Investigator C. L. Brown said, recently was discharged from the Army for wounds received in France. He was visiting friends at the Ervay Street fire station and decided to make the run with them when the call came in, although he was not a fireman.
Others injured were R. H. Robbins, 70, of 1805 South Ervay, a customer in the café, leg injury and bruises about the face; Leo Fox, 38, of 636 ½ West Neely, a fireman on the truck; H. L. Mayfield, 39, 6805 Clayton, a fireman on the truck, bruised forehead and arms; and Mrs. Leheila Stinson, 41, wife of Jesse Stinson, owner of the café, minor cuts and bruises.
Accident Blamed on Sirens
All except Mrs. Stinson were taken to Parkland Hospital where they were treated and released. Mrs. Stinson was released after treatment at St. Paul's Hospital. At the time of the accident the two vehicles were in route to a fire at the Continental Battery Company, 1914 South Pearl, which was extinguished quickly by other firemen who reached the scene. Damage, fire department officials said, was minor.
Fletcher Webb, a hoseman on the fire truck, blamed the accident on the sirens. He was not hurt. "Our siren was going full blast," he said, "which prevented our hearing the siren of Chief McCarthy's car. And because of his siren, his driver was most likely unable to hear our siren."
An eyewitness to the accident, Grady E. Smith, 2107 South Harwood, who was standing at a service station across the street from the wrecked café said both vehicles had their sirens going full blast. The car, southbound, was going approximately forty miles an hour while the eastbound truck was making about thirty miles an hour, he said.
After the collision, the two vehicles separated, the truck crashing through the west wall of Jesse's Barbecue Stand and the automobile plowing through the south wall. The car was demolished.
Truck Plunges into Building
The truck almost knocked down the wall it hit and plunged several feet into the building. Only its rear end remained out. The nose of #4 Chief’s car went through the galvanized iron of the south wall as if it were paper. Smith said two of the firemen riding on the truck's rear platform were hurled about ten feet into the air. "One of them landed on the top of the district chief's car but was hurled to the ground some thirty five feet away when the car rammed into the building." Although there were six people in the café at the time of the accident, all but Mrs. Stinson and Robbins, a night watchman, escaped injury.
Heard Tremendous Crash
Both these victims were knocked under the fire truck. They were extricated by Mrs. Stinson's husband who said he believed she escaped death or serious injury only because Robbins fell on top of her. Stinson, who said he was standing near the bar, located toward the rear of the café, said he heard a tremendous crash and saw the front wall of his café bow in and the truck's nose crash through.
"I ran to the south," he related, "but at that moment the nose of the automobile plowed through the wall and knocked me back toward the center of the room." Stinson escaped injury. Stinson, in an effort to escape the plunging truck, ran to his left toward the building's south wall. At that moment, he related, the nose of the automobile plowed through the wall and knocked him to the center of the room. He was not injured.
Eight Ambulances Respond
Eight ambulances and more than a dozen pieces of police and fire equipment, including three squad cars, two detectives, two accident investigators and the fire chief, were dispatched to the scene, Police Inspector Dal Loe said.
Ambulances sent to the accident included four from the O’Neal Funeral Home, two from the Buckalew Funeral Home, one from McKamy-Campbell and the city ambulance, Loe said. Police Capt. Flay Nelson, head of the traffic division, who handles all accident investigations, was called to the scene from a lodge meeting.
Accident Investigators Brown and Bill Burch, who made most of the investigation at the scene, described the accident as the most destructive traffic crash since the collision of a streetcar and a heavily loaded six wheel truck, in Oak Cliff almost a year ago.
Newly appointed Fire Chief C. N. Penn and First Asst. Chief J. W. Owens were called to the scene and took personal charge of the fire department's investigation. Both agreed with Webb's opinion that the accident was caused by the fact the driver of each vehicle was unable to hear the siren on the other piece of equipment.
Traffic Toll Reaches 32
In another fire department accident last December, Fireman Embree L. Hughen was killed on the Fort Worth Cutoff at Edgefield when the rescue car he was driving on an emergency call sideswiped another car and crashed into a pole.
The death of the two fireman brings the traffic toll in Dallas County to 32 for the year. Thirteen of the deaths have been in the city, nineteen in the county outside the city limits, and one in University Park.
Immediately after the seriousness of the accident became apparent, City Manager V. E. Smitham and Parkland Supt. Russell W. Nye were notified. Together they alerted all the hospital's doctors and nurses.
Traffic was blocked on both Harwood and Corinth for nearly two hours before the wreckage was cleared. A special fire department heavy wrecker, with the aid of an extra block and tackle and operated by Master Mechanic O.C. Martin, pulled the truck from the café. Investigators and rescue workers were hampered seriously by throngs of spectators who crowded into the street. Later the area was roped off.
Gasoline Adds to Danger
Gasoline from the truck covered the floor and police and firemen were constantly forced to warn bystanders against lighting matches and smoking ci******es.
Accident Investigator Brown said witnesses told him Hahnl, driver of the pumper truck, slowed down a moment before the accident, then started across Harwood, crashing into the driver's side of the chief's car. McCarthy and Sullivan made their run from the fire station at Forest and Central.
L. E. Tischmacher, 3214 South Boulevard, nearby when the accident occurred, said the crash sounded like a cyclone and was almost deafening. Police officials at the accident praised W. H. Hill, driver of the O’Neal ambulance, for the speedy and efficient manner, in which he splinted Rupe's badly mangled leg before transporting him to Parkland.
Sullivan, whose body was taken to the O’Neal Funeral Home, is survived by his wife, a daughter, Jackie Sullivan, and his parents, Mr. And Mrs. J. F. Sullivan of Dallas. Hahnl's body was taken by the McKamy-Campbell Funeral Home.
