Firefighter Close Calls

On 2/3/1939 nine Syracuse, New York firefighters were trapped and died in the collapse of a burning office building, buried under tons of wreckage. “The fire was discovered at 1:50 a.m. Scores of fire companies were called out by a general alarm and poured streams of water into the building for 45 minutes before the […]

On 2/2/1978 the Wade Dump fire was “a spectacular general-alarm fire that involved the illegal three-acre ABM-Wade hazardous material dumpsite. Wade Dump was a rubber recycling facility and illegal industrial waste storage and disposal facility in Chester, Pennsylvania. It was located at 1 Flower Street on the western bank of the Delaware River just north […]

A firefighter was injured while responding to a house fire in Vienna just before midnight. Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department units were dispatched to the 1000 block of Westwood Drive NE at 11:58 p.m. yesterday (Tuesday), according to a tweet. “Crews arrived [with] fire visible from 2nd floor of a house under construction,” the department said. The […]

OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — An Oklahoma City firefighter was injured after falling through a two-story home while fighting a fire. Firefighters responded to a call on a house fire near SW 25th and Blackwelder around 7 a.m. on Wednesday. Officials say the firefighter was trying to rescue a person “dancing around,” going in and out of […]

On 2/1/1985 the Vicstar Electronics Store fire killed three Chicago, Illinois firefighters. “Early in the morning, a two-story building at 2847 North Milwaukee Avenue was destroyed by fire. Three firefighters perished while fighting the blaze. The building’s first floor housed Vicstar Electronics, a consumer electronics store. Jang Han Bae, one of Vicstar’s owners, was convicted […]

On 1/31/1945 the Lacoste Babies Home (an orphanage) fire killed seventeen (sixteen babies) in Auburn Maine. The privately-owned unlicensed boarding home was destroyed by a fire that originated in the kitchen around a coal stove. The home was boarding more than the maximum number of babies allowed under the state code, but no action had […]

From the FDNY Facebook Page: “At approximately 3:20 this afternoon, calls began to come in reporting a fire at 404 East 63rd Street. Our first unit arrived in approximately five minutes, faced with an extensive fire condition on the first floor, rapidly extending to all the floors above. The incident rose to three alarms, we […]

From the FDNY Facebook Page: “At about 11 this morning we received an alarm for smoke and fire at 843 Freeman Street. Units arrived in approximately four minutes and found heavy fire throughout the building, a three-story private dwelling. Units had a tough interior attack and due to structural stability concerns and the volume of […]

NORTH LIBERTY, Iowa (KWWL) – First responders braved the elements Sunday evening to rescue a snowmobiler who had fallen through the ice on the Coralville Reservoir. The North Liberty Fire Department along with Johnson County Ambulance Services responded to the area south of Mehaffey Bridge Road just after 5 p.m. Sunday night. Once on scene, […]

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – Fort Wayne firefighters saved one of their own during a fire on the southeast side of the city Thursday night. Crews responded to the kitchen fire in the 2800 block of Stinson Drive around 10:30 p.m. While inside the home, a firefighter had a medical event. Fellow firefighters pulled him […]

MIAMI (WSVN) – A firefighter was injured after battling flames in Miami. On Saturday, around 10 a.m., a fire broke out inside an efficiency near Northwest 59th Terrace and Fifth Avenue. When Miami Fire Rescue crews arrived, they found a single-story home with smoke coming from the back of the building. Officials said the firefighters […]

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — A Philadelphia firefighter was injured while rescuing several people from a house fire. The blaze started shortly after 6 p.m. Sunday on the 5800 block of Ellsworth Street in Cobbs Creek. Arriving crews found flames coming from the second story of a two-story rowhome. Four people were rescued and taken to nearby hospitals. […]

On 1/30/1976 at 11:30 a.m. an arson fire at the Wincrest Nursing Home, 6326 N. Winthrop Avenue Chicago, Illinois killed twenty-three that started in a wardrobe closet in room 306. The building was occupied by eighty-three residents and a staff of sixteen. The room of origin was completely gutted, and the adjacent corridor sustained moderate […]

A fire broke out Saturday afternoon at a triple decker in South Boston, officials said, injuring one firefighter and leaving four people without a place to live. The Boston Fire Department was called to P Street and found fire on the second and third floors, as well as through the roof, of the mixed occupancy […]

On 1/29/1973 in Pleasantville, New Jersey, just north of Atlantic City, a nursing home fire at “Street’s Rest Home” killed ten and injured six in a two-story wood-frame structure. When firefighters arrived “flames were shooting out of first-story windows.” It is believed the fire began in a linen closet. “The nursing home’s fire alarm, which […]

By Cornelius Frolik, Staff Writer Dayton Daily News Updated Jan 27, 2023 Union VP: ‘If we die for this city, let it be an honorable death, knowing that you have our backs.’ A fire station in West Dayton that has most often been closed for multiple years is being called a safety concern in harsh […]

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A Maui firefighter was critically injured Friday after being sucked into a 4-foot wide storm drain in Kihei and swept to sea during heavy rains, officials said. Officials said the firefighter was carried by storm waters approximately 800 yards to where the drain emptied into the ocean. The incident happened near Waiapo […]

On 1/28/1986 the Challenger spacecraft exploded 73 seconds into its flight killing all seven crew members after an O-ring seal in its right solid rocket booster failed. The Challenger disaster occurred over the Atlantic Ocean, in U.S. waters, off the coast of central Florida, at 11:39 a.m. On 1/28/1961 nine Chicago Illinois firefighters died while […]

Statement: The death of Firefighter Barry Martin Publish Date: Friday 27 January 2023 Issued on behalf of Barry Martin’s family. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is deeply saddened today to confirm the passing of Firefighter Barry Martin.Interim Chief Officer Ross Haggart said: “It is with profound sadness that I confirm, on behalf of his […]

On 1/27/1967 a fire onboard Apollo 1, the Apollo/Saturn 204 (AS-204) spacecraft, killed Command Pilot Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Senior Pilot Ed White, and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee during a training exercise at Launch Complex 34 at Cape Canaveral (Cape Kennedy) Florida. “A NASA review board found a stray spark (probably from damaged wires near […]