Recollection of Lewkowicz Accident
(From retired FF Jim Fleming)

February 10, 1969 was a cool day and we all knew we would be fighting a house fire that day because of the use of portable kerosene heaters and cooking stoves. About 12:30pm we got a house fire alarm about ten blocks away. We responded from Station #2 and went south on Parramore Street. When we reached South Street, there were no vehicles stopped at the intersection. This concerned me. The buildings were close to South Street and the windows were painted and you could not see through them on to South Street.

Since we were six blocks from the house fire address, I looked up to see if I could see the color of the smoke. There was no smoke. At this time the semi-truck hit us dead center in the fire pump. I was standing in the catwalk between the hose beds when I was thrown down onto the left hose bed. The deluge gun mounted on the left hose bed kept me from going between the two trucks. I saw the truck driver come out of his seat, hit the windshield, and return to his seat.

I became airborne and landed in front of the building on the southwest corner on the water meter. When I got up an elderly man asked me if I was all right. I went back to the truck and helped Walt Busby and Bill Anderson out of the crew seat. Rescue-1 stopped to assist the injured and they transported John. Bob Shane had the task of caring for John’s injuries enroute to Orange Memorial Hospital. When Lt. Charles Hoffner, Eng. Herman Clarke, FF Walter Busby, FF Bill Anderson and I arrived at the hospital, our injuries were minor compared to John’s injuries. Dr. Turnipseed advised Chief Mel Rivenbark that he did not believe John would survive.

My wife, Margaret, found out about the Station #2 FF’s death on her way to Station #2 from the radio. She knew all six men and was not given any information at Station #2 by the substitute crew. She was sent to Orange Memorial Hospital, where she found me injured but alive.

John Lewkowicz was given a full Firefighter’s funeral, including his last ride on a fire engine. John’s grave is marked and is the first space off the pavement in Greenwood cemetery’s block 6, Section 39, Lot 8. The fire turned out to be a pot on the stove.

John Lewkowicz and I graduated from the Orlando Fire Academy in the same training class together. John was married and had a daughter and a son under five years of age when he was killed. John was the newest man in our 6-man crew. Therefore, he got to ride the tailboard as the hydrant-man. John had been in the Air Force for 8 years as a meteorologist. John was 30 years old at the time of his death