JOHN W. WALKERJohn W. Walker - July 24, 1944 (#96)
Truck Co. No. 11 - 315 Duncan

COLLISION WITH “J” STREET CAR - DUNCAN & CHURCH

Appointed October 1, 1942

Assigned to Truck Co. No. 11, 1943

FIREMAN DIES IN S.F. CRASH.
TWO OTHERS INJURED AS TRUCK HITS FRONT OF STREET CAR.

1944 July 25

A fireman was killed and two others were injured yesterday afternoon when a hook and ladder truck, in route to a blaze, struck the front on the street car at Church and Duncan Streets and whipped across the street to shear off a fire hydrant.

Attendants at Mission Emergency Hospital said John Walker, 30, of 161 Twenty-Seventh Street, tillerman on the fire truck, apparently died instantly when he was hurled from the machine against a telephone pole.

FIREMAN INJURED.

Arthur Stenberg, 46, 550 Hill Street, and Raymond Conroy, 29, of 3465 Twenty-Second Street, were injured. They were taken to San Francisco Hospital.

Conroy suffered injuries to his left arm, right leg and back, while Stenberg received serious internal injuries attendants reported.

Witnesses said the truck, responding to a blaze at Munich and Brazil Street, was picking up speed after leaving its station a quarter block away on Duncan when the accident occurred.

TRUCK SWERVED.

The driver swerved the front of the truck around streetcar, operated by Charles Hirsbruner, of 3683 Twenty-Fourth Street, but Walker was unable to avoid the accident. The rear end of the truck struck the front of the car.

Investigating officers Al Helder and Ralph McDonald said Hirsbruner would be booked on suspicion of manslaughter. They quoted witnesses as saying he failed to stop, although the fire truck’s siren had sounded.

Officers were attempting to get in touch with Walkers widow, who, 2 year old daughter and Walker’s mother, was reported vacationing at a Russian River resort.
Source; San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco, 25 July 1944, Page 3.