I think Frick's most egregious sin was altering the South Fork Dam and ignoring the State regulators to get the Dam fixed. Johnstown was just 13 miles below the dam. Frick and company owned the dam and the South Fork hunting club. Within 30 minutes of the failure of the Dam 2300 men, women and children perished. 1889 in Johnstown, Pa.. 1600 hundred homes were destroyed.