Sub Officer Robert White in an RTA in Drumchapel while on route to a fire on Wednesday 22nd May, 1957.
FIREMAN KILLED IN ROAD SKID
A 48 year old Clydebank fireman was killed yesterday on his
way to a chimney fire in Bearsden.
He was Sub officer Robert White, married with a nine year old son, who lived at
131 Lennox Drive, Faifley, Clydebank.
Sub Officer White was trapped in the cabin when the 8 ton fire tender taking him
to the fire skidded and collided with a lamp standard on Garscadden Road,
Drumchapel.
Minutes before the crash White and the driver of the wagon, Fireman George
Harwell (35), had been talking of the dangerous corner they were approaching.
(The Greenock Telegraph, Thursday, 23 May, 1957. Page 1)
FIREMAN IS KILLED IN VAN SKID
<PHOTO> The overturned fire
tender at Garscadden Road (NYR119)
A Clydebank fireman, Robert White, was killed this afternoon when the fire
tender taking him to a chimney blaze in Bearsden skidded and hit a lamp standard
in Garscadden Road, Drumchapel.
The vehicle overturned against a garden wall and White was pinned by the
electric standard. He died almost immediately after the accident.
The driver, suffering from shock, was taken to a near by house but was later
moved to the Western infirmary, Glasgow.
SPRAYED WITH FOAM
On its way to Bearsden the
tender rounded a sharp corner and skidded into the standard. The standard
slashed through the steel sides of the van, which tilted over and came to rest
against a garden wall.
The standard, hanging at a crazy angle, stuck through the top of the van. Glass
was scattered in all directions and firemen sprayed the damaged vehicle with
foam to prevent fire.
The crash was seen by several workmen, and one of them – 24 year old Francis
Cochrane, 41 Peel Glen Road, Drumchapel – told the “Evening Times” that the
vehicle passed him only a few yards from the bend.
“I walked on and a few seconds later I heard the skid and the crash. The driver
escaped unhurt but seemed to be dazed. Workmen nearby ran to do what they could
for the trapped fireman, but were unable to do anything.”
A neighbour summoned an ambulance and a doctor and the driver was taken to the
house. Shortly afterwards the doctor arrived, found White was dead, and treated
the driver for shock.
Traffic was diverted as a result of the accident. Vehicles heading for
Garscadden Road were rerouted.
(Evening Times, Wednesday, May 22, 1957. Page 1)