Firefighter Edward H. Bell

Last alarm December 7,1979

October 31, 1972, the Key Corvette custom paint and body shop located at 2 East 6th Street caught fire. An employee spotted fire in a cardboard box near some fiberglass resin. Attempts to put the fire out by employees with extinguishers were unsuccessful and ultimately a 3-alarm call resulting in 16 fire trucks responded, getting the blaze under control in 30 minutes. Numerous paint and chemical containers were burned in the building, releasing toxic fumes into the air.

Firefighter Bell died seven years after the incident on December 7, 1979 as a result of injuries to his heart muscle sustained from chemical fumes he inhaled while fighting the “Key Corvette Corner Fire”. Firefighter Bell had been a member of the department for 14 years.