An underground explosion killed two miners instantly and two later from burns received at the Jerome mine on July 29, 1932, the single largest accident in the mine's history uncovered in research to date. The coal mine closed in the 1954. Jerome rapidly became a bedroom community. The town retained much of its close-knit ethnic character and its spirit well into the 1990s, however. As an example, the Jerome Volunteer Fire Department was founded in 1952 with Steve Gironda as its first president. The Volunteer Fire Department remains today as an anchor of community activity. In 1955, the Dorfman and Hoffman Company established a garment factory in the former Hillman company store building, bringing 200 needed jobs to Jerome. The factory continued operation until 1964. A lumber mill operated out of former mining-operations buildings in the 1970s. A wind-whipped fire destroyed the lumber mill in 1975, and remaining mining buildings were demolished subsequently.