|
1901 |
|
|
May 3rd, fire destroys 1700 buildings in
Jacksonville, FL. |
|
1902
|
|
† |
February 3rd, 7 firefighters are killed in
St. Louis, MO at the American Tent and
Awning Company at 3rd and Chestnut Streets.
This marks the single largest Line of Duty
Death incident for the St. Louis Fire
Department. |
|
|
Spring-raise aerial ladder invented by Seagrave, Columbus, OH. |
|
1903 |
|
|
December 30th, the
Iroquois Theater burns in Chicago, IL
killed 602 people and injured countless
hundreds, some with grotesque burns. The
fire resulted in new fire inspection laws. |
|
1904
|
|
|
February 7th, the Great Baltimore Fire
burned eighty blocks and 1343 buildings. The
Baltimore fire raised national attention for
the need to standardize fire hose couplings
and screw threads. |
|
|
April 19th, the
Great Toronto Fire
began in an elevator shaft of the Currie
Neckwear Factory at 58 Wellington Street.
The fire destroyed 104 buildings but killed
no one. |
|
|
June 15th, the General Slocum, an excursion
steamer with combustibles on board, catches
fire while in New York's East River. 1,030
were killed with most of them being
children. This fire lead to inspection of
ships in New York Harbor.
|
|
1906
|
|
|
April 18th,
San Francisco is rocked by a 7.7 to 8.3
earthquake. The quake and resulting
fires are considered one the worst natural
disasters in United States history. |
|
|
Motor apparatus begin to appear in United
States and begin to rapidly faze out steam
fire engines. |
|
1908 |
|
|
January 13th, the
Rhoads Opera House
in Boyertown, PA burned killing 171 people
with some being entire families. |
|
|
March 4th, a fire at Lakeview Grammar School
in Collinwood, OH kills 175 children and 1
teacher.
|
|
|
April 12th, a fire in Chelsea, MA burns
2,822 buildings including 13 churches, 9
schools, 3 banks, and 2 hospitals. The fire
also killed 18 people. |
|
1909 |
|
|
First triple-combination apparatus, built by
Tea Tray Company on American Motors chassis
and delivered to Middletown, NY. |
|
1910 |
|
† |
December 21st, 13 firefighters and one
police officer killed in a Philadelphia, PA
leather remnants factory. located at
1116-1120 N. Bodine Street. |
|
† |
December 22nd, 21 firefighters killed at a
stockyard and cold storage warehouse in
Chicago, IL. |
|
1911 |
|
|
March 25th, the
Triangle Shirtwaist
Fire killed 148 garment workers
and is listed as the largest industrial
disaster in New York, NY. This fire directly
resulted in improved safety standards for
workers. |
|
1912 |
|
† |
January 9th, one Battalion Chief was killed
and many firefighters hurt at the Equitable
Building Fire in New York, NY. This fire
also was the scene of unparalleled bravery
produced by Engineer Seneca Larke. He was
awarded the James Gordon Bennett Medal of
Valor for the multi-hour rescue of a trapped
man behind steel bars. |
|
|
February 21st, Houston, TX was struck by a very large fire that caused over
$5million in damage. |
|
1913 |
|
|
December 3rd, a fire
raced through the
Arcadia Lodging House
at 1202 Washington Street. The Boston Fire
Department was credited with saving many
lives. Even with the heroic efforts of the
BFD 28 men died and 20 were injured. Some of
the fatalities had jumped from the upper
floors. |
|
1916 |
|
|
October 5th, 6 men
were killed in a fire at Christian Brothers College High School in St. Louis,
MO. |
|
1917 |
|
|
November 17th, The Catholic Hill School Fire
claims 8 black children in Asheville, NC.
|
|
† |
December 6th, over 2,000 people were killed
when two ships, one loaded with munitions,
collided and
exploded in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Nine firemen of the Halifax Fire Department
were killed. They were Fire Chief Edward Condon, Deputy Chief William Brunt,
Captain William T. Broderick, Captain G. Michael Maltus, Hoseman
Walter Hennessey, Hoseman Frank Killeen,
Hoseman John Spruin, Hoseman John Duggan,
and Hoseman Frank D. Leahy. The only surviving member at the scene was driver William Wells, who was in the vehicle at the time of the blast.
The fire engine along with several other
pieces of apparatus and several fire horses
were destroyed and killed. |
|
1918 |
|
|
Great Flu Pandemic of 1918 spread though out
the United States lasting for nearly 3
years. |
|
|
April 13th, an
electric fire at the
Oklahoma State Hospital for Mental Patients
in Norman, OK kills 38 men and boys and
injures countless others. |
|
|
October 4th, the
T. A. Gillespie Company Shell Loading Plant explosion occurred leading to many artillery shells being launched into the air, some of which landed on a neighbouring warehouse where 4000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate were stored in barrels. One of the shells caused a large explosion, but the majority of the ammonium nitrate did not detonate.
|
|
1923 |
|
|
May 17th, 77 people
died the
Cleveland Schoolhouse
Fire
that occurred in Camden, SC. Citizens had
gathered to watch a children's play when a
ceiling oil lamp fell to the floor and
started the horrible fire. Many children
died as well as ENTIRE families.
|
|
1924 |
|
|
March 1st,
the Nixon Nitration Works disaster, a fire and several large explosions destroyed a warehouse containing ammonium nitrate on March 1, 1924. The explosivity of the product was perhaps enhanced, as it had been prepared using nitric acid which had previously been used for the production of TNT.
|
|
|
December 24th, whole
families and many children died in a fire at
the
Babbs Switch
Schoolhouse fire in Babbs Switch,
OK. The death toll stands at 36. |
|
1925 |
|
|
Last fire horses retired from service with
the Boston, MA Fire Department. |
|
1927 |
|
|
January 9th, the
Laurier Palace Theater
Fire killed 77 children in
Montreal, Quebec, Canada. |
|
|
|
|
1929 |
|
|
May 5th, a fire caused
by spontaneously combustion of
nitrocellulose film caused the deaths of 123
people in the
Cleveland Clinic Fire
in Cleveland, OH. |
|
1930 |
|
|
April 21st, the worst
fire in American Prison history occurred
when 322 inmates where killed in the
Ohio Penitentiary fire
in Columbus, OH. |
|
1931 |
|
|
July 24th, a
fire at the
Pittsburgh Home for
the Aged kills 48 people. |
|
1934 |
|
|
January 5th, a
fire at Fenway Park
sparked by construction equipment went to 5
alarms in Boston, MA. 2 FF's were slightly
injured and the stadium was fixed before
opening day. |
|
|
December 11th, a fire
at the
Hotel Kerns
kills 34 people. 5 of them were never
identified and are buried in a mass grave. |
|
1937 |
|
|
May 6th, the German
Zeppelin "LZ129
Hindenburg" crashed at the
Lakehurst Naval Air Station in Manchester
Township, NJ. The resulting crash and fire
killed 36 people of which 13 were
passengers, 22 crew members and one person
on the ground. |
|
1938 |
|
|
May 17th, 27 guests of
the
Terminal Hotel
died in a blaze that broke out in the
basement of the five story brick hotel in
Atlanta, GA. |
|
1940 |
|
|
April 23rd, 209 people
were killed in the
Rhythm Nightclub Fire
in Natchez, MS. |
|
1941 |
|
† |
March 10th, 13 firefighters killed in a roof
collapse at the
Strand Theatre in Brockton, MA.
The brothers that perished are Captain John F. Carroll
of Ladder Company 3,
Lieutenant Raymond A. Mitchell of Engine Company 4,
Firefighter Roy A. McKeraghan of Squad A,
Firefighter Denis P. Murphy of Squad A,
Firefighter William J. Murphy of Squad A,
Firefighter Daniel C. O'Brien of Squad A,
Firefighter George A. Collins of Engine Company 1,
Firefighter Frederick F. Kelley of Engine Company 1,
Firefighter Martin Lipper of Engine Company 1,
Firefighter Henry E. Sullivan of Engine Company 1,
Firefighter Bartholomew Herlihy of Ladder Company 1,
Firefighter John M. McNeill of Ladder Company 1, and
Firefighter Matthew E. McGeary of Ladder Company 3. |
|
† |
December 7th, the Honolulu Fire Department responded
to assist with fires raging at Hickam Field.
At 0826 a Japanese aerial bomb was dropped
on crews from Engine Co.1, 4, and 6. 3 firefighters,
Cpatain John Carreira, Captain Thomas S.
Macy, and Hoseman Harry T.L. Pang were
killed. An additional 6 were wounded from
shrapnel. They were Lieutenant Fred Kealoha,
Hoseman Moses Kalilikane, Hoseman John A.
Gilman, Hoseman Solomon H. Naauao,
Hoseman Patrick J. McCabe, and Hoseman
George Correa. In 1944 they all were awarded
the Order of the Purple Heart. They are the
only civilian firefighters to have received
this award. |
|
1942 |
|
† |
November 15th, the
Luongo Restaurant Fire
killed six firefighters and injured 43. Many
of the victims were trapped under collapse
debris for hours after a wall failed and
collapsed without warning. This fire is
largely forgotten about due to the fact that
the infamous Cocoanut Grove Fire occurred
just two weeks later. FF's killed in the
fire were Hoseman John F. Foley of Engine Company 3, Hoseman Edward F. Macomber
of Engine Company 12, Hoseman Peter F. McMorrow
of Engine Company 50, Hoseman Francis J. Degan
of Engine Company 3, Ladderman Daniel E. McGuire
of Ladder Company 2, and Hoseman Malachi F. Reddington
of Engine Company 33. Sadly this tragedy
occurred after the fire was declared under
control. |
|
|
November 28th, the
infamous
Cocoanut Grove Fire
killed 492 people and injured hundreds more.
This fire led to reform of fire codes and
safety standards across the country. The
fire replaced headlines of World War II and
led to mourning across the country for the
victims. |
|
|
December 12th, a fire
at the
Knights of Columbus
Hostel Fire in St. Johns
Newfoundland, Canada killed 99 people and
injured 107. The cause of the fire was never
determined but it popularly accepted that a
German spy set the fire. |
|
1943 |
|
|
September 7th, the
worst loss of life in a single fire in
Houston's history occurred shortly after
midnight at
The Gulf Hotel at 615 Preston Street. In all 55 people
lost their lives and 36 were injured , of
which 23 were never identified. |
|
1944 |
|
|
July 6th,
The Hartford Circus
Fire will always be known as one
of the most notable fire disasters in United
States history. Circus workers had recently
coated the Big Tent with 1,800lbs of
paraffin and 6,000 gallons of gasoline, a
popular water repellant of the day. A small
fire started approximately 20 minutes into
the show and soon raged out of control. The
estimated 8,000+ people stampeded through
the blaze. Paraffin (wax) rained down like
napalm and many killed were burned beyond
recognition. Also made famous was the
tragedy of one of the littlest victims,
Little Miss 1565. Her name was is attributed
to the number assigned to her body as she
lay unclaimed in the city's makeshift
morgue. Eventually she was reburied in 1992
with the name Eleanor Cook, however, to this
day serious doubts still rage as to her true
identity even by the Cook Family themselves. |
|
1945 |
|
|
July 28th, a
B-25 Mitchell Bomber
crashed into the 79th and 80th
floors of the Empire State Building killing
14 people and injured numerous others. One
of the engines of the bomber crashed through
the building and down an elevator shaft
severing the cables to the elevator car. The
resulting 75 story free fall of the car with
Ms. Betty Lou Oliver, the car operator,
stands today as the longest SURVIVED
elevator fall recorded by the Guinness Book
of World Records. |
|
1946 |
|
|
December 7th, 119 people lost their lives in
the
Winecoff Hotel Fire in Atlanta, GA. |
|
1947 |
|
† |
April 16th and 17th, 27 firefighters killed following fires and ammonium nitrate
explosions aboard two ships docked at
Texas City,
TX. Those killed were Chief of Department Henry J. Baumgartner, Assistant
Chief Joseph Milton Braddy, Captain Sebastian B. Nunez, Captain Carl Johnson,
Lieutenant Marshall B. Stafford, Lieutenant William D. Pentycuff, Private Zolan
Davis, Private William C. Sullivan, Private Roy Durio, Private Marcel Pentycuff,
Private Archie Emshoff, Private Harvey Menge, Private John Findeisen, Private
Jimmy Reddicks, Private Virgil Fereday, Private Robert Smith, Private Ed
Henrickson, Private Joel Stafford, Private Fred Hughes, Private Maurice Neeley,
Private George Cain, Private Marion Westmoreland, Private Frank Jolly, Private
Clarence Wood, Private William Kaiser, Private Clarence Vestal, and Private
Jacob Meadows. The entire fire department was destroyed and only one firefighter
survived. |
|
1949 |
|
† |
August 4th, 12 firefighters killed in
infamous
Mann Gulch Fire in the Helena National
Forest at a section known as the
Gates of the Mountain in Montana. The dead
were Smokejumper Eldon Dietter, Smokejumper Robert Bennett,
Smokejumper Philip McVey, Smokejumper David Navon,
Smokejumper Leonard Piper, Smokejumper Stanley Reba,
Smokejumper Marvin Sherman, Smokejumper Henry Thol, Jr.,
Smokejumper Newton Thompson, Smokejumper Silas Thompson,
Smokejumper William Hellman, and Smokejumper Joseph Sylvia. |
|
1953 |
|
† |
July 9th, 15 firefighters killed in
Rattlesnake Fire located in the
Grindstone Canyon in Mendocino National Forest in California.
14 of the firefighters were from the New
Tribes Mission working under the US Forestry
Service. Their names were Alan Boddy, Robert
Mieden, Sergio Coller, Darryl Noah, Benjamin
Dinne, Howard Rowe, Paul Gifford, Ray
Sherman, Harold Griffis, Dan Short, Cecil
Hitchcock Jr., Stanley Vote, David Johnson,
and Robert Whitehouse. The 15th firefighter
was Robert Powers of the US Forestry
Service. |
|
|
|
|
1956 |
|
† |
July 29th, 19 firefighters killed in the
Dumas-Sunray Disaster at the Shamrock Oil
and Gas refinery in Sun Ray, TX. 7 of those
killed were Ollen W. Cleveland, Billy Joe Dunn,
Sam A. Gibson, Jr., Albert O. Milligan,
Paschal Pool, Meryl W. Slagle, and
Donald W. Thompson of Dumas Fire Department. 8 more were Chief Ray Biles, Lewis A. Broxson,
Gilford R. Corse, Claude Emmett,
Alvin Freeman, D.C. Lilley,
James L. Rivers, and Virgil W. Thomas of the Sunray Fire Department. The
remaining 4 were from the Shamrock
Industrial Fire Brigade. |
|
1958 |
|
|
December 1st, a fire
broke out in the
Our Lady of Angels
Catholic School in Chicago, IL
killing 92 children and 3 nuns. This was the
2nd use of the new "Quinn's Snorkel" in a
major fire in as many months. |
|
1959 |
|
† |
August 7th, "The Blast"
occurred at 1:14 a.m. when a fire that had started inside the Gerretsen Building Supply Co. on Southeast Pine Street.
The fire ignited 6 1/2 tons of dynamite and
nitro carbo nitrate, an ammonium nitrate
based explosive, that was loaded onto delivery truck parked in front of the three-story building. It not only leveled buildings and blew to bits those nearby, it left a crater 52 feet across and 20 feet deep.
Emergency personnel killed in the blast were
Roseburg Assistant Chief Roy McFarland and a
rookie Patrol Officer for the Roseburg
Police Department. Another 12 people were
instantly vaporized by the explosion and
another 125 were seriously to critically
injured. |
|
1961 |
|
|
November 30th, the
Boston Fire Department used over two tons of
dynamite to help extinguish a pier fire at
the
Castle Island Terminal
in South Boston. The fire burned
uncontrolled for nearly 3 days. Dynamite was
used to blast through the hard pier surface
to penetrate into the seat of the fire.
Within a few hours of the explosions, the
fire was brought under control. |
|
1964 |
|
† |
October 1st, This is the night of the
infamous "The
Trumbull Street Fire". A massive
collapse of part of the building buried
firefighters killing 5 and injuring 12. The
5 "jakes" that died that night were Lieutenant John McCorkle
of Engine Co. 24, Lieutenant John Geswell of Ladder Co. 26
(detailed to Ladder Co. 4), FF Francis Murphy
of Engine Co. 24, FF James Sheedy of Ladder Co. 4, and FF Robert Clougherty
of Engine Co. 3.
|
|
1966 |
|
|
January 28th, an
explosion and resulting 5 alarm fire at the
Paramount Hotel
in Boston, MA killed 11 people and injured
57.
|
|
† |
October 16th, the floor collapses in a fire
at the
Wonder Drug Store on 23rd Avenue killing
12 New York City firefighters lost their
lives. They were Battalion Chief Walter J.
Higgins of Battalion 7, Deputy Chief Thomas
Reilly of Division 3, Firefighter William
McCarron of Division 3, Probationary
Firefighter Daniel Rey of Engine Company 18,
Firefighter Joseph Kelly of Engine Company
18, Firefighter Bernard Tepper of Engine
Company 18, Firefighter James Galanaugh of
Engine Company 18, Lieutenant Joseph Priore
of Engine Company 18, Lieutenant John Finley
of Ladder Company 7, Firefighter Carl Lee of
Ladder Company 7, Firefighter Rudolf
Kaminski of Ladder Company 7, and
Firefighter John Berry of Ladder Company 7. |
|
1967 |
|
|
January
27th, Apollo1
catches fire and burns on its launch pad. Three astronauts are killed in the
blaze. |
|
|
July 16th, a fire at the Jay Camp for the
Florida Department of Corrections killed 37 inmates. The fire was intentionally
set by several inmates within the barracks holding prisoners that were part of
the chain gangs. This fire had a direct influence in the decommissioning of the
chain gang system in Florida. |
|
1970 |
|
|
December 20th, a fire at the Pioneer Hotel in Tuscon, Arizona killed 29 people. |
|
1972 |
|
† |
June 17th, the Boston
Fire Department responded to the
Vendome Hotel Fire.
Tragically a collapse of the buildings
southeast section claimed the life of nine
firefighters and injured and additional
eight. The nine firefighters killed were Firefighter Richard B. Magee
of Engine 33, Lieutenant Thomas James Carroll
of Engine 32, Lieutenant John Edward Hanbury
of Ladder 13, Firefighter Joseph F. Boucher
of Engine 22, Firefighter Paul J. Murphy
of Engine 32, Firefighter John Edward Jameson
of Engine 22, Firefighter Charles Everett Dolan
of Ladder 13, Firefighter Joseph Peter Saniuk
of Ladder 13, and Firefighter Thomas W. Beckwith
of Engine 32. |
|
1973 |
|
† |
July 5th, 12 firefighters killed at the Doxol Gas
Explosion in Kingman,
AZ. They were
Captain William L. Casson, Assistant Chief Myron B. Cox,
Firefighter Roger A. Hubka, Lieutenant
Joseph M. Chambers III, Firefighter Marvin
E. Mast, Probationary Firefighter
Arthur C. Stringer, Captain Christopher G. Sanders, Firefighter
Richard Lee Williams, Firefighter Frank S. Henry, Firefighter John O. Campbell,
Firefigher Donald G. Webb, and Firefighter Alan Hansen. |
|
|
July 12th, a disastrous fire raced through
the
National Personnel Records Center in St.
Louis, Missouri destroying 16 to 18 million
official military personnel files. |
|
|
October 14th, a fire alarm was received from
Box 215 at the corner of Third and Arlington Street
at 3:56pm.
This would alert the Chelsea, MA Fire
Department to one of the worst fires in it's
town's history. The fire began at 122 Summer Street
less than 200' away from the disastrous 1908
fire that destroyed most of Chelsea. Sixty-seven departments throughout Massachusetts and one from Hampton, New Hampshire responded to the fire.
The fire had destroyed eighteen city blocks, forty-five acres, an area one mile long and one half-mile wide. There were no reported fatalities, but the injuries were numerous. |
|
1975 |
|
† |
August 17th, 8 firefighters lost their lives
at the
Gulf Oil Refinery Fire in Philadelphia,
PA. Those lost were John Andrews of Engine
Company 49, Joseph Wiley of Ladder Company
27, Roger Parker of Ladder Company 27, Hugh
McIntyre of Engine Company 56, Robert Fisher
of Engine Company 33, Ralph Campana of
Ladder Company 19, James Pauliot of Engine
Company 20, and Carroll Brenek of Engine
Company 57. |
|
1977 |
|
|
May 28th, 165 people were killed and over
200 were killed in the
Beverly Hills Social Club Fire in
Southgate, KY. |
|
1979 |
|
|
December 31st, 48 people were killed in a
fire at the Opemiska Community Hall Fire in
Chapais, Canada. |
|
1980 |
|
|
November 21st, 87 people were killed when fire raced through the
MGM Grand
Hotel in Las Vegas, NV. An additional 650 guests were injured in the blaze. |
|
1982 |
|
|
The Thanksgiving Day
Fire
of November 25th and 26th in
Minneapolis, MN burned an entire downtown
block including the 16 story headquarters of
Northwestern National Bank (now Wells
Fargo). 2 juveniles were arrested for arson
and later convicted for setting the fire
with an acetylene torch. |
|
1988 |
|
† |
November 29th, a fire in two trailers
storing
50,000lb's of Ammonium Nitrate detonated in
Kansas City, MO. Six firefighters were
instantly killed and only small remains of
the firefighters were found. The resulting
chaos would shake the city, even to this
day. It took nine years to convict five
people for the disaster. Now some people
have come forth to dispute claims of their
testimony and say the wrong people were
convicted and federal prosecutors coerced
them into testifying against the defendants.
Those fire fighters killed were Captain
Gerald Halloran of Engine Co.30, Firefighter
Luther Hurd of Engine Co.30, Captain James
Kilvenston of Engine Co.41, Firefighter
Michael Oldham of Engine Co.41, Engineer
Robert McKarnin of Engine Co.41, and
Firefighter Thomas Fry of Engine Co.30. |
|
1990 |
|
|
March 25th, an arson fire set at the
Happy
Land Social Club killed 87 people in New York, NY. |
|
1991 |
|
|
September 3rd, 25 people were killed in the
Imperial Foods Processing Plant disaster that occurred in Hamlet, NC. |
|
1994 |
|
† |
July 6th, 14 firefighters killed in a
wildfire on South Canyon mountain near
Glenwood Springs, CO. They were
Kathi Beck,
Tami Bickett,
Scott Blecha,
Levi Brinkley,
Robert Browning,
Doug Dunbar,
Terri Hagen,
Bonnie Holtby,
Rob Johnson,
Jon Kelso,
Don Mackey,
Roger Roth,
James Thrash, and
Richard Tyler. |
|
1995 |
|
|
December 5th, a large fire at the Electric
Wire and Cable Company in Houston, TX
demanded the largest response of apparatus
in the HFD's history. In all 33 engine
companies, 12 ladder companies, and over 200
firefighters responded to the 6th alarm
blaze. |
|
1999 |
|
† |
December 3rd, 6
firefighters are killed in the
Cold Storage Warehouse
fire in Worcester, MA. The men
killed were Firefighter Paul Brotherton of Rescue
Company 1, Firefighter Jeremiah Lucey of Rescue
Company 1, Lieutenant Thomas Spencer of Ladder
Company 2, Firefighter Timothy Jackson of Ladder
Company 2, Firefighter James Lyons of Engine
Company 3, and Firefighter Joseph McGuirk of Engine
Company 3 |
|
|
|
