# Road Camp 12 / Berrydale Prison Fire — Primary Source Findings **Research session:** 2026-05-31 **Task:** Find and download actual primary source documents for the July 16, 1967 prison fire that killed 38 inmates at Road Camp 12, Berrydale (Jay), FL. --- ## What Counts as a Primary Source for This Site - **Primary:** A document produced by the original actor — government agency, wire service, institution — at or near the time of the event. The Florida DOC writing its own history of its own agency is primary. An AP wire dispatch from July 16, 1967 is primary. The NFPA's own fire record is primary. - **Not primary:** Wikipedia, researcher compilations, disaster catalogs. The usdeadlyevents.com site extensively quotes primary sources but is not itself one. --- ## SOURCE 1: NFPA Fire Journal, Vol. 62, No. 3 (May 1968) — DOWNLOADED **Citation:** National Fire Protection Association. "The Major Fires of 1967." *Fire Journal*, Vol. 62, No. 3, May 1968, pp. 5–7. **Primary source type:** Institutional report — NFPA's own fire record department statistical and narrative summary of every major US/Canada fire in 1967. The Road Camp 12 fire is the lead story, designated the worst loss of life from fire in the US and Canada in 1967. **Status:** FULLY DOWNLOADED. File at: `/home/captain/taco-certs/road-camp-12-research/fire-journal-1968-may-vol62-no3.pdf` **Download command:** ``` curl -sL \ -H "User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:120.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/120.0" \ -H "Referer: https://nfpa.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_2939bb37-912d-4a32-9cbf-faca146058cd/" \ "https://nfpa.access.preservica.com/download/file/IO_2939bb37-912d-4a32-9cbf-faca146058cd" \ -o fire-journal-1968-may.pdf ``` **File details:** PDF, version 1.6, 55.9 MB (full journal issue). Verified readable with mutool. The article "The Major Fires of 1967" begins on journal page 5; the Road Camp 12 "Prison Barracks" section is on journal page 6. **Source location:** NFPA Universal Access archive (Preservica), Fire Journal collection. Direct issue URL: https://nfpa.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_2939bb37-912d-4a32-9cbf-faca146058cd/ Collection URL: https://nfpa.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/SO_37af88e4-36cf-4ceb-bc1b-c498dcd81a80/ **Accessibility:** Public — no login required. The download URL above works directly. **Copyright notice as it appears in the document:** "Copyright © 1968 National Fire Protection Association." The Preservica metadata states "IN COPYRIGHT (NFPA owned content)" and directs to their copyright request form. For press.taco internal use, this is not a reproduction issue. For publication, fair use of factual excerpts applies. --- ### Extracted Text — Primary Content (verbatim from PDF) **Photo caption (page 6):** > "A fire started by prisoners during a riot quickly consumed this wooden prison barracks in Berrydale, Florida, leaving 38 prisoners dead — the largest loss of life in a single fire in the United States or Canada in 1967. The metal cage in the foreground was the guard station." > Photo credit: **MILTON, FLA., Press Gazette** **Article introduction (page 5):** > "THE MAJOR FIRES OF 1967 — In 1967 there was a 34 per cent decrease in the fires that killed three or more persons. There was a 10 per cent decrease in the fires that caused $250,000 or more damage; but the total loss from those fires increased 25 per cent. > > "THE 253 multiple-death fires (in which three or more people were killed) caused the death of 1,120 persons in the United States and Canada during 1967. [...] There were seven fires in which 10 or more people were killed (the total number of victims in those seven fires was 126). The largest loss-of-life fire occurred in a prison barracks building, killing 38 prisoners." **"Prison Barracks" section (page 6), full text:** > "The worst loss of life in the United States and Canada in 1967 occurred on July 16 in Berrydale, Florida. The 51 prisoners who were housed in a one-story wooden barracks building started a riot. One guard gave his keys to another, who left to open the arms cabinet in the prison office, which was in a separate building. While he was absent the inmates set the building afire. The fire spread quickly, with heat and smoke drawn through the building by a large window fan. The remaining guard did not have his keys to release the prisoners from the building. When the second guard returned the doors were opened, but by that time 35 of the prisoners had already died in the fire. Of the 16 who managed to escape, three died later." **Notes on the NFPA account:** - Death toll given as 38 total (35 died in fire, 3 died later of the 16 who initially escaped). - Describes a single guard, not two on duty at the time the fire started. - Does not name any individuals. - Attributes fire to "inmates set the building afire" during a riot. - Identifies the fan as a key factor in rapid fire spread. - This is a brief summary, not a full investigation report. --- ## SOURCE 2: Florida DOC — "Florida Corrections: Centuries of Progress, 1966–1969" **Citation:** Florida Department of Corrections. *Florida Corrections – Centuries of Progress, 1966–1969*. Tallahassee: Florida Division of Corrections, [c. 1969]. **Primary source type:** Government agency's own official history of its own operations. The Florida DOC wrote this about events within its own administration. This is primary. **Status: NOT DOWNLOADED — cannot be retrieved this session.** ### Access Attempts and Results **Current live URL:** https://fdc-media.ccplatform.net/historical-archive/1966-1969.html - HTTP 500 Internal Server Error. The FDC site is a Next.js SPA; this specific page returns a server error. **Old URL (pre-site-migration):** http://www.dc.state.fl.us/oth/timeline/1966-1969.html - Redirects to the new FDC site, which 404s on this path. **Wayback Machine — snapshot confirmed to exist:** - Snapshot of current URL: `http://web.archive.org/web/20250811111852/https://fdc-media.ccplatform.net/historical-archive/1966-1969.html` Confirmed via Wayback availability API: HTTP 200, timestamp 20250811111852 - Snapshot of old URL: `http://web.archive.org/web/20180717155956/http://www.dc.state.fl.us:80/oth/timeline/1966-1969.html` Confirmed via Wayback availability API: HTTP 200, timestamp 20180717155956 **Why download failed:** The Wayback Machine CDX and page endpoints returned HTTP 429 (Too Many Requests) on every attempt during this session. Approximately 10 attempts were made across 90 minutes with delays ranging from 5 to 60 seconds between attempts. The Wayback Machine is rate-limiting this IP. This is a temporary condition — the pages are confirmed archived and accessible. **Download commands (for next session):** ```bash # Try the 2018 snapshot of the old URL (simpler HTML, more likely to render correctly): curl -sL \ -H "User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:120.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/120.0" \ "http://web.archive.org/web/20180717155956/http://www.dc.state.fl.us:80/oth/timeline/1966-1969.html" \ -o fdc-1966-1969-wayback-2018.html # Or the 2025 snapshot of the current URL: curl -sL \ -H "User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:120.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/120.0" \ "https://web.archive.org/web/20250811111852/https://fdc-media.ccplatform.net/historical-archive/1966-1969.html" \ -o fdc-1966-1969-wayback-2025.html ``` ### FDC Text Confirmed via USDeadlyEvents (secondary source, but quoting verbatim) The usdeadlyevents.com page (https://www.usdeadlyevents.com/1967-july-16-riot-and-fire-state-prison-road-camp-12-barracks-jay-fl-38/) explicitly cites the FDC book as its source and quotes it at length. The following is quoted from the FDC text as reproduced there: > "But on July 16, 1967, the flash inferno of a 40-by-90-foot old World War II barrack used as a stockade at Berrydale, near Jay, helped end this type of chain gang system in Florida. > > "According to the Pensacola Journal of July 17, 1967, 37 men burned to death in the fire. The building was a known fire hazard and was scheduled to be phased out by the state. At this camp and similar camps all over Florida, convicts were locked inside the stockade. By that time, leg irons and sweat boxes had been eliminated, but a guard still controlled inmates from behind a chain link fence or cage. The guard watched over the only entrance and held a shotgun. Inmates needed his permission to make any move. > > "The tragic incident took place during the civil rights era when racial unrest simmered around the country. The camp was composed of all black inmates until the beginning of July, when the state brought in 15 white prisoners to integrate the camp and increase its population to 51. During the first two weeks of July guards broke up two fights in the remote camp. The riot on Sunday, July 16, began about 10 p.m. when a guard took a contraband book away from Thomas E. Ard of Pensacola. > > "Prisoners began smashing the fluorescent light fixtures. They hurled their television set to the floor. A.O. Lovett, the guard on duty, realized the situation had gotten out of control. He ran outside and tossed the keys over the high barbed wire fence so guard Richard E. Cobb could unlock the prison arsenal for additional guns. In the meantime, Ard and Earl Hoffman, another white prisoner, and black inmate Joseph E. Wynder set fire to pieces of newspaper and toilet paper at each end of the building, possibly believing their actions would get them transferred. > > "When Lovett returned the fire was tree-top high. He claimed he made four passes before he could open the stockade door due to the tremendous heat. But others told of a long delay because the guard had to go to the camp office to get the key. > > "Only 14 escaped the fire. Afterward 19 bodies were found huddled 4 feet high in the shower room where they sought safety. Sixteen were discovered stacked beneath a barred window. In the smoldering fire the next morning, one wall remained standing along with the steel cage, where the guard had been stationed. In Milton, the coroner's jury ruled the fire was a criminal act of arson. Ard, Hoffman and Wynder all died in the flames." **Also quoted (from the July 1967 Correctional Compass employee newsletter, reproduced within the FDC book):** Director Louie L. Wainwright's statement: > "In the tragic fire which claimed the lives of 38 inmates at Jay Road Prison on July 16, 1967, newspaper accounts commended the action of Officer Arnie O. Lovett. He was one of the men on duty when the inmates set their barracks on fire. Some of the inmates were apparently immobilized by fear as the curtain of flame separating them from the door grew nearer. Lovett went in and brought five of them out by pushing them ahead of him through the door. As a result, Officer Lovett was himself burned and later received treatment at Century Hospital. His action in the face of considerable danger is in the highest tradition of the correctional service." --- ## SOURCE 3: AP Wire Reports — Contemporary Newspapers, July 1967 **Primary source type:** Wire service news dispatches filed contemporaneously by Associated Press reporters on the scene or covering official proceedings. **Status:** CONFIRMED to exist. Full text verified via USDeadlyEvents (quoting with access dates and URLs). All are behind paywalls (newspaperarchive.com). ### 3A. AP — "37 Killed in Fire At A Prison Camp In North Florida" Published: *New York Times*, July 17, 1967, p. 1 URL: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1967/07/17/issue.html (paywalled, subscription required) **Full AP text (dated July 16 night, verbatim as reproduced in USDeadlyEvents):** > "By The Associated Press. Jay, Fla., July 16 — Fire, apparently started during a convict brawl, flashed through a wooden barracks at the State Prison road camp late tonight, killing 37 inmates and injuring six others. Eight of the 51 prisoners in the aging structure escaped the fire unharmed. The six injured prisoners were seriously burned. They were taken to the hospital at nearby Century. > > "G. C. Mayne Jr., assistant warden at the racially integrated camp, said fighting prisoners broke a gas line inside the building. Escaping gas flared when a fluorescent lamp was broken, he said. > > "Guards had raced to get their guns to quell the fighting when the fire erupted, according to a guard, Cocker Nelson. The building was destroyed within eight minutes, Mr. Nelson said. > > "Pasco Rowells, a foreman of the State Highway Department, who supervised the men at work, said the fight began between a Negro and a white man. [...] > > "Paul Skelton, assistant to the director of Florida's Division of Corrections, said it was inconceivable to him that men were killed because they were not able to get out of the prison, which he said is composed of one-story wooden buildings with no bars on the windows. > > "The camp is in Jay, a farming community in the extreme northwestern tip of Florida's Panhandle. The camp is about 30 miles north of Pensacola at the Alabama state line." **Note:** Death toll is 37 at time of first dispatch. 38th victim (Jimmy Copeland) died July 20. ### 3B. AP — "Convicts, Guards Tell Of Fatal Prison Fire" Published: *Panama City Herald*, July 18, 1967, p. 1 URL: https://newspaperarchive.com/panama-city-herald-jul-18-1967-p-1/ (paywalled) **Full AP text (verbatim as reproduced in USDeadlyEvents):** > "Milton, Fla. (AP) — Convicts under shotgun guard have testified that three cellmates deliberately set the prison fire that burned 37 inmates to death. Among those who died were the three accused of setting the blaze. > > "As the formal inquest into the Sunday night fire at State Prison Road Camp 12 at Jay, Fla., started in Santa Rosa County Courthouse, 22 bodies sacked in olive drab body bags lay outside the old county jail awaiting positive identification. The coroner's inquest will decide if criminal negligence or homicide was involved in the tragedy. > > "On the table before County Judge Marion McCall Monday were the prison files of all 51 men who had been in the locked and barred barracks at Camp 12. Of the 51, eight were in the county jail unharmed, six were in hospitals with burns and 37 had perished. > > "The convicts testified that it was about six minutes after the fire started before guard A. O. Lovett unlocked the barred 'cage door' and a solid wooden door to let them flee. > > "Lovett took the stand and testified that a smashing, shouting disturbance broke out first and he ran to toss the keys over a high barbed-wire fence to guard Richard E. Cobb, who used them to unlock the prison arsenal. 'We had to get longer guns,' Lovett said. When he saw the fire and returned, Lovett said, 'I made four passes before I could open the door. It was so hot I had trouble seeing.'" ### 3C. AP — "Jay Prison Camp Was Fire Hazard" Published: *Panama City Herald*, July 19, 1967, p. 5 URL: https://newspaperarchive.com/panama-city-herald-jul-19-1967-p-5/ (paywalled) **Full AP text (verbatim as reproduced in USDeadlyEvents):** > "Tallahassee, Fla. (AP) — A state prison camp where 37 convicts died in a fire was a known fire hazard that was scheduled to be phased out of operation, Florida's Cabinet learned Tuesday. Doyle Conner, state agriculture commissioner and chairman of the Cabinet's subcommittee on corrections, said state agents 'knew' the World War II type wooden barracks at Road Camp 12, near Jay, were hazardous because of their flammable nature. Conner said the Jay camp was one of 13 with wooden barracks that the state has been removing from the prisons system. 'We've been phasing out two to three each year,' he said. 'Obviously this should be accelerated and many of us regret we did not do it sooner.' > > "In Milton, a coroner's jury ruled the Sunday night fire was a 'criminal act of arson.' It said the fire was started by three prisoners — Thomas E. Ard, 28, of Pensacola; Earl F. Hoffman, 41, of Tallahassee; and Joseph Earl Wynder, 21 of Marianna. All died in the flames. The jury indicated it did not attempt to determine why the prisoners set the fire, but a guard testified he believed the fire was intended as retribution for his confiscation of a pornographic book from Ard." ### 3D. AP — "Death Toll Rises In Road Camp Fire" Published: *Sarasota Herald-Tribune*, July 20, 1967, p. 18 URL: https://newspaperarchive.com/sarasota-herald-tribune-jul-20-1967-p-20/ (paywalled) **Full AP text (verbatim as reproduced in USDeadlyEvents):** > "Tallahassee (AP) — The death toll of prisoners killed in the Jay prison camp fire rose to 38 Wednesday with the death of Jimmy Copeland, who escaped from the fast-spreading flames but was severely injured. Prison authorities confirmed here that Copeland died in Baptist Hospital in Pensacola. Copeland was 29." **Access path for all AP articles:** NewspaperArchive.com subscription. University library access through ProQuest Historical Newspapers. The University of West Florida Pace Library (Pensacola) holds local paper microfilm. --- ## SOURCE 4: Pensacola Journal — July 17, 1967 **Citation:** *Pensacola Journal* [*Pensacola News Journal*], July 17, 1967. **Primary source type:** Local newspaper — the closest geographic news organization to the fire. The FDC historical account explicitly cites "the Pensacola Journal of July 17, 1967" as its source for the initial death count. **Status:** NOT YET FOUND in any free digital archive. Not in Chronicling America (Cloudflare blocked this session, but 1967 Florida papers are generally not in CA due to copyright). Not in Internet Archive (no hits). Not in Florida Memory. **Access paths:** - University of West Florida John C. Pace Library: 11000 University Pkwy, Pensacola, FL 32514. Phone: 850-474-2424. They hold microfilm of local papers. - GenealogyBank.com (subscription): Lists Pensacola papers; 1967 coverage not confirmed in free search. - Florida State Library, Tallahassee: May hold microfilm of Pensacola papers. **This is the highest-priority unfound primary source.** The local paper would have the most detailed reporting, on-scene reporting, photos, and witness accounts not captured by AP wire. --- ## SOURCE 5: Coroner's Inquest Records — Santa Rosa County, July 1967 **Primary source type:** Official government legal proceeding. The coroner's jury convened before County Judge Marion McCall at the Santa Rosa County Courthouse in Milton, FL. Witnesses included surviving inmates and guards. The jury produced a formal finding. **Status:** NOT DIGITIZED. Not available online anywhere. **What is known from AP coverage:** - Presiding: County Judge Marion McCall - Location: Santa Rosa County Courthouse, Milton, FL - Finding: "Criminal act of arson" - Named responsible: Thomas E. Ard (28, Pensacola), Earl F. Hoffman (41, Tallahassee), Joseph Earl Wynder (21, Marianna) — all died in the fire - Key testimony: Guard Lovett testified he spent approximately 6 minutes before opening the cage door **Access path:** Santa Rosa County Clerk of Courts, Milton, FL. Phone: 850-983-1975. Florida Public Records Law (Chapter 119, F.S.) applies. Request the 1967 coroner's inquest proceeding records for the Road Camp 12 fire. --- ## SOURCE 6: Correctional Compass Employee Newsletter — July 1967 **Primary source type:** Internal Florida DOC employee publication. Contains Director Louie L. Wainwright's official statement commending Guard Lovett. **Status:** Not available online. The text is reproduced within the FDC "Centuries of Progress" book (Source 2 above). **Text confirmed:** See the Wainwright statement quoted under Source 2 above. **Access path:** Florida State Archives, Tallahassee. The Florida Division of Corrections would have published this as an internal newsletter. Physical copies may exist in agency records held at the State Archives. --- ## SOURCE 7: Florida Cabinet — Meeting Records, July 18, 1967 **Primary source type:** Official Florida Cabinet meeting. The July 19 AP dispatch (Source 3C) reports testimony from Doyle Conner before the Cabinet regarding the known fire hazard status of the camp. **Status:** Not searched this session. **Access path:** Florida State Archives. Florida Cabinet meeting minutes and transcripts are official public records. The meeting occurred approximately July 18, 1967 (report published July 19 under "Tuesday" dateline). --- ## WHAT WAS NOT FOUND — Full Account ### Internet Archive — Newspaper full-text search All searches returned zero results: - `"berrydale" fire 1967` — 0 results - `"road camp 12"` — 0 results - `"jay florida" prison fire 1967` — 0 results - `pensacola journal 1967` — 0 results (IA has 1917 Pensacola Journal but nothing from 1960s) The Internet Archive does not have 1967 Florida newspapers in its text collection. The IA search API (advancedsearch.php with `mediatype:texts` Lucene filter) was used; it works and returns results for other queries. ### Chronicling America (Library of Congress) Cloudflare (HTTP 403) blocked all access during this session. The service's `/search/pages/results/` endpoint also appears to have been restructured (returns 404 for the documented URL format). The typical CA date range for Florida newspapers does not extend to 1967 due to copyright restrictions — CA generally covers newspapers through approximately 1928. ### NFPA Fire Journal — Additional Issues The Fire Journal is bimonthly. The May 1968 issue (Vol. 62 No. 3) was confirmed and downloaded. The July 1967 issue (Vol. 61 No. 4) would have been published approximately the same week as the fire — too soon for editorial coverage but might have a fire record entry. The September 1967 issue (Vol. 61 No. 5) might contain an initial report. Neither was checked; both are available through the same Preservica collection at: - Vol. 61, Issue 04: https://nfpa.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_a51b82a1-b088-4a90-9dae-34d65654ef15/ - Vol. 61, Issue 05: https://nfpa.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_262cfd40-eaf5-41b0-81cb-194cc1c8c2cb/ Download using the same method as Source 1: ```bash # Download Vol. 61 Issue 05 (September 1967 — most likely to have initial fire coverage) curl -sL \ -H "Referer: https://nfpa.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_262cfd40-eaf5-41b0-81cb-194cc1c8c2cb/" \ "https://nfpa.access.preservica.com/download/file/IO_262cfd40-eaf5-41b0-81cb-194cc1c8c2cb" \ -o fire-journal-1967-sep-vol61-no5.pdf ``` ### Fire Engineering Magazine 1967 Index Downloaded and searched. Fire Engineering 1967 Vol. 120 Index (IA identifier: `sim_fire-engineering_1967_120_index`, 1.88 MB PDF) contains a reference to "Ohio Prison Fire" and "Warren County, Ohio, Prison" — this is a different fire. No Florida prison fire content. The Fire Engineering 1968 Vol. 121 Index similarly contains no Florida prison fire entries. ### Florida Memory (State Archives Photo Collection) Cloudflare HTTP 403 on all requests. Cannot be accessed without a browser. See RESEARCH-FINDINGS.md Section 1A for known relevant items. ### HathiTrust, WorldCat, Open Library All returned Cloudflare 403 or no results for "Florida Corrections Centuries of Progress." The FDC publication is not in any of these catalogs. ### Florida State Archives Online URL structure has changed; requests returned 404. Physical archives in Tallahassee hold the relevant materials but have no relevant online portal accessible via API. --- ## Downloaded Files This Session | File | Size | Location | Verified | |---|---|---|---| | `fire-journal-1968-may-vol62-no3.pdf` | 55.9 MB | `/home/captain/taco-certs/road-camp-12-research/` | Yes — text extracted, Road Camp 12 section confirmed | | `fire-engineering-1968-index.pdf` | 1.63 MB | `/tmp/road-camp-12/` | Yes — no Florida prison content | | `fire-engineering-1967-index.pdf` | 1.88 MB | `/tmp/road-camp-12/` | Yes — Ohio prison fire only, not Florida | Note: The two Fire Engineering index files are in /tmp and will be lost on reboot. Only the NFPA Fire Journal was moved to permanent storage. --- ## Summary Assessment **What we have (confirmed primary sources):** 1. NFPA Fire Journal May 1968 — **DOWNLOADED, on disk** — the official designation of this as the deadliest US/Canada fire of 1967, with factual account. This is directly usable. 2. FDC "Centuries of Progress" text — **confirmed, verbatim, via secondary source** — the full FDC narrative is preserved in USDeadlyEvents. The original document is confirmed archived on Wayback Machine; cannot retrieve this session due to rate-limiting. 3. Four AP wire dispatches — **full text confirmed, verbatim, via secondary source** — all quoted in full in USDeadlyEvents. Originals behind newspaper paywalls. **What we do not have (and where to get it):** 1. Pensacola Journal July 17–21, 1967 — UWF library microfilm 2. Coroner's inquest proceeding — Santa Rosa County Clerk of Court 3. FDC Wayback Machine page — retry tomorrow (rate limit will have cleared) 4. NFPA Fire Journal September 1967 — same Preservica download method as above --- ## Wayback Machine CDX — Key Snapshot URLs The following snapshot URLs are confirmed accessible (HTTP 200 verified via Wayback availability API): - **FDC 1966-1969 (2025 snapshot):** `http://web.archive.org/web/20250811111852/https://fdc-media.ccplatform.net/historical-archive/1966-1969.html` - **FDC 1966-1969 (2018 snapshot, old URL):** `http://web.archive.org/web/20180717155956/http://www.dc.state.fl.us:80/oth/timeline/1966-1969.html` The 2018 snapshot of the old URL may be simpler to parse (plain HTML rather than Next.js SPA). Try that one first.