Veteran TV reporter's new book focuses on 'Ten Ohio Disasters'

Veteran reporter Neil Zurcher was inspired to write his new book, "Ten Ohio Disasters," when he remembered a story he had heard a half century ago while riding on an elephant.

Zurcher, who worked for WJW-TV in Cleveland, had been assigned to meet the circus train of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in the town of Peninsula, near Akron, and ride one of the elephants from the train to the nearby Richfield Coliseum, where the show was going to be held.

.As he was riding along, he chatted with a caretaker for the elephants. The caretaker asked if he had ever heard of the big fire that almost wiped out Ringling Bros. Zurcher said no. "He said, you really ought to do a story on it," Zurcher recalled.

He wrote the story down in the back of his reporter's notebook and then forgot about it.

"After I retired for a second time in 2017, I was sitting around my office one day, and I happened to go through one of these old notebooks and I found the story," he said. "I thought, gosh, I ought to look this up and find out more about it. I did, and I was so amazed, that I thought, wow, that fire almost wiped out Ringling Bros."

That led him to write his new book. It recounts the story of 10 disasters from Ohio history "that should not be forgot," as the book cover says.

The disasters include the Xenia tornado of 1974 that killed 33 people and injured over a thousand; the Blizzard of 1978; the Who concert stampede in Cincinnati in 1979; and the escape of exotic animals in Zanesville in 2011.

He used newspapers articles from the time for his research, as well as new interviews with eyewitnesses to the events.

Zurcher, 87, who began his reporting career in 1954, will be coming to Dover on Thursday to discuss his book at program at 6:30 p.m. at the Dover Public Library. He is best known for his "One Tank Trip" travel series on WJW-TV.

The Ringling Bros. circus fire occurred on Aug. 4, 1942, in Cleveland. The circus had set up in a vacant field on E. Ninth Street. The fire began around 11 a.m. in a menagerie  tent used to house horses, elephants, giraffes and other animals between performances.

The circus had coated the tent with paraffin and kerosene to make it waterproof, but it also made it flammable. Zurcher said the fire spread like crazy. More than 50 animals were killed in the blaze, including four elephants, 13 camels, 12 zebras, four lions, three tigers, a puma and at least 16 monkeys. 

The cause of the fire was never determined.

Zurcher wrote that a herd of elephants escaped and ran down Lakeside Avenue. They were spotted by Chester Koch, a World War I veteran.

"He was standing in front of Cleveland City Hall and he saw all these elephants coming down the street," Zurcher said. "So he thought, boy, that's going to cause an awful traffic jam. So he ran out into the street without thinking, pulled out a whistle that he carried since World War I with him, and put it in his mouth and blew it very loudly. He said, halt, and the elephants stopped."

The animals formed a circle around him, but Koch had no experience in dealing with elephants. Fortunately, their keepers soon arrived and took control.

"They later said that he apparently looked like a friendly face, and that was what they were looking for. They were controllable at that time, Zurcher said.

One of the hardest stories for Zurcher to write was the Fitchville nursing home fire, which killed 63 elderly people on Nov. 23, 1963, the day after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

"Every reporter has stories that kind of haunt you for the rest of your life. You just see things that you really don't want to see and things that you can't forget. Mine was the Fitchville nursing home fire in Huron County back on Nov. 23, 1963," he said.

Zurcher was a reporter for WEOL-AM radio in Lorain at the time. When he heard about the fire, he rushed to the scene. There, he was confronted by the sight of charred bodies and the smell of burning flesh.

"When we were doing the story, I really found it hard to write about. I just really didn't feel comfortable the whole time," he said. 

Zurcher succeeded in tracking down a woman who, along with her husband, had rescued people from the nursing home. He interviewed her over the phone.

"She was crying most of the time through the interview. She just still got very emotional thinking about it. It affected her the same way it did me. It was just so horrible to look at," he said.

Zurcher noted that the fire led to changes in nursing home regulations in Ohio.

He said is looking forward to coming to Dover. The last time he spoke at the library he drew a large crowd and had a good time.

"I love Dover. You guys down there are one of my favorite spots that I used to go in my One Tank Trip series," he said..