Dallas Firefighter Dies at House Fire
William T. Cochran

Firefighter William T. Cochran suffered a heart attack and died shortly after working to douse a one-alarm fire at 5422 Bonita Street.  Firefighter Cochran had been dragging hose away from the burned house when stricken.  He was 41 years old at the time of his death and had served on the Fire Department for 18 years.

The Dallas Times Herald Account:
October 14, 1951
 


Monday Funeral Set For Fireman
 W. T. Cochran

     Funeral services for William T. Cochran, 40 year old Dallas fireman who suffered a heart attack while fighting a blaze Friday, will be held at 11:30 a.m. Monday at Sparkman Brand Funeral Chapel.  Interment will be in Hillcrest Memorial Park.

Mr. Cochran was stricken while fighting a fire in the 5400 block of Bonita St. and died 30 minutes later.  He had been a member of the Dallas Fire Department for the past 18 years, except for voluntary service during World War II, when he served three years in Africa and Italy with the 606th Ordnance Battalion.

He was born in Dallas, graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School and attended North Texas State Teachers College in Denton for two years before entering the Dallas Fire Department service in 1933.  Funeral services will be conducted by Rev. John H. Bannister of the Sears and Summit Church of Christ.  Music will be by the Pearl and Bryan Church of Christ chorus.

Surviving are his wife, Mrs. Dorothy Sue Cochran; four sisters, Mrs. Helen Frances Johnson of DeSoto, Mrs. Janice Hill and Mrs. Murial Denment of Lemay, Mo. and Mrs Thelma D. Marshall of Flat River, Mo.; stepmother, Mrs. Cora Cochran of Flat River; a brother, Edwin Eric Cochran of Denver, Colo., two aunts, Mrs Altha McKinney of Dallas and Mrs. Anice Oldfield of Wheeling, Ark.; two uncles, Edwin Cochran of Dallas and Claude Cochran of Shreveport, La.

Pallbearers will be J.W. Turner, M.C. Hendrix, E.F. Cronin, L.T. Fletcher, H.B. Reed and R.B. Tucker, all members of the Dallas Fire Department. Honorary pallbearers will include other members of the department.