Chester Hall - 1951

From The Salisbury Times February 5, 1951

MAN DIES IN SHACK FIRE NEAR DELMAR

DELMAR, Feb. 5 - Delaware State Police today were investigating the death of Chester Hall, 61, a negro, in a fire in a shack near here.

Hall's charred body was found near the shack late Saturday. It had burned to the ground by the time firemen arrived.

It was on Ford Warrington property on the Delmar-Millsboro road. Hall was an employee of Warrington, according to State Police. Hall was believed to have been alone when the fire started. The probable cause was an overheated oil stove.

Delmar firemen got two calls for the shack fire. The first sent them to the Pepper Box area but they found no fire in the place described by the caller.

Then a second call came in. The caller said someone would be along the road to direct firemen to the burning shack. It was in a lonely wooded area. The shack burned during the Saturday snowstorm.

Four other alarms kept Delmar firemen busy. An oil burner caused an alarm at the Desmond Apartment on North Second Street No damage was reported. This was Friday.

Later Friday an alarm sent firemen to the old brickyard where a trash fire was getting out of control. Then in the afternoon chimney sparks set the roof ablaze on the home of Albert Waller, Chestnut St. Damage was estimated at $25. Saturday morning little damage was reported in a chimney fire at Fed Cooper home on the Delmar-Sharptown highway.