On the night of Friday, January 15, 1926, the Cranston Heights Fire Company was alerted to a house fire in Marshallton, Delaware. While responding, just before the Marshallton school house in front of Mackinson’s store, the engine skidded on ice as they rounded the curve. The engine struck several trees and landed overturned, trapping three of the firefighters under the apparatus, and seven others were thrown clear of the engine. Firefighters Edward C. Ainsworth, 19, and David E. Hook, 20, were killed in the crash and Alfred E. Ogdon, 21, died the next day from his injuries.