Captain Frederick “Fred” Niessen

Last Call: Fri, Apr 4th, 1879

Date of Incident: Fri, Apr 4th, 1879

Cause of Death: Structural Collapse

Service Time: Not Known

Age: 40

Survivors

His wife and three children

Incident

The fire that claimed the life of Captain Niessen destroyed an entire city block boarded by Fourth and Fifth Streets and Washington Avenue and Saint Charles. A collapse occurred while several firefighters were on the roof attempting to get hoselines into positon. Firefighter Billy Ruetz also died in the incident.