Fireman Killed in Collision Between Hose Wagon and Streetcar
Dan Noonan, a veteran relief fireman, dies after a tragic collision on the steep Twenty-third street hill.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
As a result of a collision between the hose wagon of engine house No. 2 and inward-bound Spanaway car No. 146, at 6 o'clock last evening, Dan Noonan, relief fireman, received injuries from which he died at 3:45 this morning. J. W. Taylor, relief driver of the hose wagon, was also hurt in the accident. Noonan was standing on the rear step of the wagon as it whirled down the steep Twenty-third street hill in response to an alarm from the tideflats, when the wagon collided with the streetcar and was overturned against the curb. Noonan suffered a compound fracture at the base of the skull. The collision was exacerbated by high billboards that obstructed the motorman's view.
“His head was split open and a doctor's examination proved that he suffered a compound fracture at the base of the skull.”
Transit safety and visibility remain a recurring tension in Tacoma's urban planning, especially on the city's steep grades. Today's traffic safety advocates would recognize the fatal consequences of poor line-of-sight infrastructure in a high-density, mixed-traffic environment.
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