Fireman Dies At Wheel Of Truck

Death Cause Not Yet Established

Henry Clement, 57, May Have Suffered Heart Attack On Run

By William B. Treml

A veteran Ann Arbor fireman who often talked of retirement but could never bring himself to quit died at the wheel of his aerial ladder truck while on a run to University Hospital yesterday afternoon.

Henry W. Clement, 57, of 558 Sixth St., who had served with the Ann Arbor Fire Department for 27 years, was pronounced dead in an emergency room of University Hospital at 2:45 p.m.

He died despite the desperate efforts of a team of physicians who worked on him for 20 minutes in a vain effort to revive him

Cause Of Death Uncertain

An autopsy performed last night on Clement’s body revealed no direct cause of death but pathologists said the fireman may have suffered a heart seizure as he drove his truck to the fire scene. Further examinations by doctors are scheduled today.

Clement’s death in the bright sunshine of a November afternoon occurred in spectacular fashion and was witnessed by a dozen passersby.

His 36,000-pound, 43-foot-long fire truck was the last vehicle to leave the central fire station at W. Huron St. and Fifth Ave. A fire had started in a wastebasket on the fifth floor of University Hospital and the Fire Department received the first call at 2:13 p.m.

Clement, who had been a driver for the department for the past two decades, was alone in his open cab and appeared alert and capable as he passed Ann Arbor Patrolman Walter DeDula holding traffic for the fire vehicles at N. Forest Ave. and E. Ann St. Seconds later his fire truck, moving north on Forest Ave., was at the Catherine St. intersection and spectators watching waited for him to turn down a driveway leading to the main section of University Hospital.

‘He Never Turned’

“He just never turned,” Mrs. Anne VandeWalker of 1216 W. Cross St., Ypsilanti, said later. “I saw his brake lights flicker on for just a second and then the truck went straight ahead.”

Other witnesses told police that before the truck reached the drive going down to the hospital proper Clement slumped over the wheel of his truck.

Police said there were no skid marks at the scene and Clement was apparently unconscious when his truck reached Catherine St.

Officers said the vehicle jumped a curb on the north side of Catherine St., sailed between a large tree and a street sign, brushing both as it passed, and then came crashing down on the front of 1958-model sports car parked in a University lot.

The car, owned by John J. Voorhees of 1811 Pauline Blvd., was pushed into a second car parked beside it owned by M. Dean Hoops of 1737-4 Cram Circle. A siren from the truck was sent sailing through the air and hit a third parked car owned by Ned M. Reinstein of 1500 Pauline Blvd.

Clement hit his head on the windshield as the truck crashed, breaking his fire helmet. His body then was thrown partially out of the opened front door of the cab.

The truck, which cost more than $30,000 when it was purchased in 1951, was extensively damaged and will be returned to its manufacturer in Elmira, N. Y., for repairs. During the three months required for the repair, an older aerial ladder truck which had been kept in reserve at the E. Stadium Blvd. station will be used at the central station.

IMAGE TEXT: DEATH ON A FIRE RUN: Ann Arbor Fireman Henry W. Clement died at this scene yesterday afternoon when he was stricken as he drove an aerial ladder truck to a minor fire at University Hospital. No one else was hurt in the crash.