Historic Huffman

If you live in the Dayton area, you probably saw images of the fire at the Franklin Iron and Metal Company this past Thursday. While news reports mention that Franklin is located in an industrial area, it is rather near Huffman. The size of the fire and smoke plume were large enough that advisories for all of downtown Dayton were issued. Even though the smoke was determined not to carry toxic chemicals, we were lucky that light winds kept it generally over the scrapyard and adjoining industrial areas to the north and west of the facility. From what I understand, there was never a threat of the fire spreading outside of Franklin. Even if there were a threat, Franklin is over a half-mile from Huffman. I don’t think Dayton has seen a fire spread on that scale since the flood of 1913 ruptured gas lines downtown.

While nearby industries provide the gritty urban texture that give us much of our character and are certainly a reason our neighborhood exists, it is important that Huffman residents remain aware of the business that takes place not only in and immediately adjacent to us, but also a little further away. These companies have been great anchors for their surrounding communities – some of them for generations. Even as residents of surrounding neighborhoods have become less likely to work for East Dayton industries, it is important that we stay in touch with them so we can each take advantage of the benefits of a close relationship.

Investigations are still underway to see how the fire started at Franklin. I believe the cause is less important than the measures taken by Franklin and its neighbors to prevent future fires.

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