20. Jacob John Karman (1930)
Served 1 Year
Jacob Karman was born September 17, 1892, in New York City and was the son of George and Mary (Maria Helfring) Karman. Jacob’s parents moved the family to Sackett Street in Hicksville. His father passed away when Jacob was just 8 years old, leaving his mother Mary to look after Jacob and the 8 other siblings on her own. He was employed as a gold beater before taking on employment with the Long Island Railroad. He married Hilda Reidlinger on June 30, 1920 and moved to Park Avenue (now 4th Street) in Hicksville. His Brother-In-Law was Hicksville tow truck owner/operator, Gus Reidlinger of the “Don’t Cuss, Call Gus” fame.
Jacob had three children: Virginia, Evelyn, and George. Jacob joined as a member on May 14, 1917, and his brother George was a member of Protection Hook and Ladder Company 1.
In 1922, the members appointed Jacob Karman captain of the racing team. Jake, as he was affectionately known was a very popular fireman and had the men behind him. As Captain he planned the racing team entertainment and suppers. Captain Jake had experience in the racing game and was one of the Hicksville Fire Department's crack runners.
He was elected 2nd Assistant Chief in 1927 and 1st Assistant Chief in 1929, before being elected the 20th Chief in 1930. George Neder and John Puvogel served as his 1st and 2nd Assistant Chiefs.
On February 9, three youths were charged with setting a fire at the Nustone Corporation on Charlotte Avenue that caused about $30,000 damage. The youths entered the business to rob it and when they found no money, they spread gasoline around the inside of the building. The youths were later found guilty of burglary and arson in the 3rd degree. Just days later February 12, 1930, the department was summoned to heavy smoke coming from a two-story stucco office building at 6 Herzog Place. Carpenters had left the building sometime prior to the fire and they had left behind benzene and turpentine being used to finish the floors. Nassau County Police detectives investigated the fire and found that it was started by spontaneous combustion.
On April 22, 1930, there was a gasoline explosion and fire in the hangar at the Long Island Aviation Country Club. The department had limited the overall damage to just three of the 23 private planes. The members used grappling hooks and their trucks to pull planes out of the hangar onto the runway. A 21-year-old auto mechanic suffered burns to his hands and face and the damage was estimated at $150,000.
In 1930, Jacob slipped from the roof of a house fire in Plainview and badly bruised his elbow, spending weeks recuperating.
It was December 13, 1930, when firemen were called out to the home and business of William Weickman, 54, Village Goldbeater. It appeared that an oil stove exploded, and he was found by his neighbor, Helen Hauxhurst on the floor with burns over a good part of his body. He was not expected to make it. The firemen were able to extinguish the fire and get William to a Nassau hospital. His brother Henry owned a Goldbeating shop near Sackett Street and the family have been residents of Hicksville since the late 1800’s.
As part of his term, Jacob gave members auto plates which were to be placed on the radiators of the cars of the firemen, which gives them right of way to the fire house or the scene of the fire. When the alarm sounds, all signal lights in the village will turn red, holding up all traffic but that of the firemen.
Jake was an active part of the Annual Labor Day Parade and Drill, and he served as the Chairman in 1931.
Jake was a World War I Veteran, serving in the 4th Company 152 Deputy Brigade as a Private, before transferring to Company F 327 Infantry as a Corporal and he was slightly wounded in action in 1919.
The 327th Infantry Regiment trained out of Fort Gordon, Georgia and after training, Jake and his Division embarked to northern France. The 327th Infantry by the end of the summer of 1919 was one of the first American units to see combat at St. Mihiel. This was the first operation in World War I conducted entirely by American forces. The Regiment then occupied defensive positions on the Lorraine Front in eastern France. The final allied offensive, in November, found the 327th Infantry engaging in the great Meuse-Argonne offensive, before Jake’s Regiment took a prominent part in the operation leading the flank attack on the Foret de Argonne and the attack north of Sommerance, where he was wounded and received a purple heart.
He was a member of the Charles Wagner American Legion Post, St. Ignatius Roman Catholic Loyola Church and Joseph Barry Council of the Knights of Columbus. His Great-Grandson, Kevin Karman is a former Captain of Independent Engine and Hose Company 2 and still active today.
Chief Karman had thirty-five years of service when he passed away on April 22, 1947, at the age of 54, of a heart attack and he is interred at Holy Rood Cemetery in Westbury.
