Featured Testimonial About Creighton University
We couldn’t have gotten along without the students.
By Jon Nyatawa
It was 4 a.m. on Feb. 6, 1974, when dozens of groggy Creighton nursing students woke up to their phones ringing.
Dorothy Lewis, administrative assistant to the nursing dean, was calling. The Red Cross planned to bring evacuees to Creighton’s gymnasium. She needed help from students to care for victims.
About a mile away, a disaster was unfolding...
For more stories about Creighton's 2024 anniversaries, read our Year of Years series installments, Part I and a basketball-themed Part II.
Note: This story would not be possible if not for the great work of the University Archives and Special Collections department.
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Omaha’s first five-alarm fire
Just before 2 a.m., a fire was reported at Lorenz Chemical Co., a plant located on 17th Street about two blocks north of Cuming Street. It escalated quickly.
About 90 minutes later, here’s what the scene looked like, according to Omaha World-Herald reports.
>> More than 300 firefighters came to fight blazes that stretched 100-200 feet in the air. It was the first five-alarm fire in Omaha’s history.
>> Evacuations of hotels and apartments started around 2:30 a.m. after two explosions at the plant. Soon, the air filled with dangerous pesticide fumes and chlorine gas.
>> “You couldn’t even see to drive up Cuming Street,” Lt. Robert Pfeffer told the paper. “Everybody, police included, was hacking and coughing.”
>> Police officers went door-to-door to get residents to safety. Evacuation instructions were delivered via emergency radio frequencies as well.
Creighton ready to help
Fr. Michael P. Sheridan, SJ, dean of students, told the Creightonian that he and Fr. Frank T. Jelinek, SJ, almost immediately decided to open the gymnasium after learning of the fire. Creighton faculty and staff began working the phones from there.
About 25 students, a dozen faculty and several Oblate seminarians answered the call.
They were on site for about nine hours. They helped the Red Cross set up cots. Once evacuees arrived, they handed out food, blankets, toys and other supplies. They comforted the displaced residents, many of whom were elderly. A few card games broke out. Some evacuees in wheelchairs were transferred to Gallagher Hall, where it was warmer.
“We couldn’t have gotten along without the students,” Red Cross shelter manager Anita Clark told the Creightonian.
In total, about 500 people were evacuated from downtown Omaha hotels and apartments. Nearly 300 came to Creighton’s gymnasium.
The evacuees were able to return home by the afternoon.
Student Michael Theby, BA’76, MBA’85, told the Omaha World-Herald that “it really felt great to be of assistance to people.”
The College of Nursing did have to cancel a scheduled exam that day. There were no reported complaints.
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The cause of the Lorenz plant fire wasn’t determined until weeks later. Police told The World-Herald that a teenager broke into the plant to take coins from a candy machine, but at some point, tossed his cigar in the trash can. The fire caused an estimated $500,000 in damage.
