On November 17, 1855, a catastrophic fire broke out at the Dowell China Shop on King Street, claiming the lives of seven Alexandria volunteer firefighters: Robert Taylor, James W. Keene, William Evans, George O. Plain, G. David Appich, J. Carson Green, and John A. Roach. Their deaths marked one of Alexandria’s greatest civic tragedies, and the city mourned deeply for the men who died in service to their community.
Many of the fallen were later buried in cemeteries within the Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex. Taylor, Evans, and Plain rest in the Methodist Protestant Cemetery, alongside Keene, whose burial is traditionally believed to be there as well. Appich was laid to rest in the Presbyterian Cemetery, while Roach is interred at St. Mary’s Cemetery. The final resting place of J. Carson Green has been lost to history.
A year after the tragedy, on November 16, 1856, the city dedicated a solemn memorial obelisk at Ivy Hill Cemetery, where it still stands today in honor of the fallen.
As a unique tribute, the image of James W. Keene was later featured on the 1858 Prettyman Hose Reel, an ornate fire carriage now housed at the historic Friendship Firehouse Museum. Crafted by Robert Prettyman—himself later buried in the Presbyterian Cemetery—the reel replaced earlier designs from 1839 and 1851. After Alexandria installed water mains and fire hydrants in 1852, reels like this became vital for transporting hoses from hydrants to engines—and were often decorated in memory of the fallen.