HILLTOP - 1951

Photos: Denver Fire Dept., gendisasters.com

The skies over Denver wrought disaster in the early 1950s.

On Dec. 3, 1951 a disabled B-29 bomber trying to reach Lowry Air Force Base plowed into a row of homes in the Hilltop neighborhood, killing eight airmen - the Denver area's second deadly military crash in 19 months.

Six survived, including the pilot.

A woman in one of the homes was also hurt, the Rocky Mountain News reported.

The bomber "seemed to hit the treetops and just exploded," said Mrs. S.G. Brooks, a witness to the accident from a knoll several miles away, quoted by the Associated Press.

Mrs. Homer H. Owen, who lived half a block from the crash site, said four homes were ablaze. "It's terrible," said Mrs. Owen, also quoted by AP. "I thought from the terrible noise it was going to hit our house."

The site of  the crash was near Eudora and Bayaud streets,  a new development at the time.

On May 14, 1950, an Air Force F-80 departing Lowry crashed into a single-story home at 1600 Macon St. in Aurora, killing its pilot, according to the National Fire Protection Association Quarterly, October 1950 edition.

Flames and debris damaged homes at 1608, 1616 and 1624 Macon as well as an auto at 1601 Macon, and injured a girl at 1609 Macon and a man at 1616, the NFPA reported.

The Aurora Volunteer Fire Department was assisted by Lowry crash crews.

Later in the decade, on June 1, 1956, a military aircraft departing Lowry ``cartwheeled between homes'' killing four people aboard the flight, the AP said.

B-29 CASUALTIES - Dec. 3, 1951

The AP identified the dead as:

T/Sgt. ROBERT F. JARVIS, 29, of 269 Margaret St., Plattsburg, N.Y., gunnery instructor.
T/Sgt. HERBERT OESER, 26, 72 Palmer St., Springdale, Conn., gunnery instructor.
Cpl. RICHARD P. YUKOB, 19, 21 Shephard St., Lynn, Mass., gunnery instructor.
Pfc. JAMES E. SNYDER, 19, 400 Cambridge St., Huntsville, Ala., gunnery instructor.
Pfc. RONALD W. WIERSMA, 20, 345 Cherry St., Grand Rapids, Mich., gunnery
Pfc. WILLIAM J. ABLONDI, 2C, 11 Cypress St., Framingham, Mass., gunnery student.
Pfc. BAXTER SURBER, 20, Gold Bond, Va., gunnery student, whose parents' address was listed at Rural Route No. 3, Chestertown, Ind.
Pfc. JOHN R. SERVIC, 20, Flint, Mich.

Injured were:

Captain JAMES W. SHANKS, 33, pilot of plane, 2929 Glencoe St., Denver, condition, fair.
First Lt. ROBERT H. SNURE, 27, Spokane, Wash., temporary residence 1733 Paris Street, Aurora, Colo., condition, critical.
S/Sgt. WILLIAM A. ZIPPEL, 29, of Baudette, Minn., condition, good.
Corporal RAY E. WIDNER, 19, of R.R. 3, Westby, Wis., condition, good.
Pfc. TEDDY D. ALLEN, 18, South Gate, Cal., condition, fair.
Pfc. JOE D. WIGGINS, 20, R.F.D. 6, Williamsburg, Va., condition, good.