Firefighter Close Calls

GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — A man is facing several charges after allegedly stealing a fire truck, according to the Greensboro Police Department. The stolen truck was recovered at 1:59 p.m. at Princess Ann Street and Liberty Drive. Police say that the fire truck was stolen from the Public Safety Training Facility in Greensboro on North […]

On 10/2/1922 the first National Fire Prevention Week was proclaimed by President Warren Harding. October is Fire Prevention Month!  And the week of October 3rd to the 9th is Fire Prevention Week this year. The goal of Fire Prevention Month (and the week of October 3rd – 9th) is to raise fire safety awareness and […]

On 10/1/1916 the NFPA’s Fire News began as NFPA News Letters On 10/1/1964 Boston’s Trumbull Street fire killed five firefighters and injured twelve when part of a vacant four-story abandoned factory collapsed in the South End of Boston. At 12:32 a.m. a passerby pulled Box 1671 transmitting the alarm; upon arrival Engine 3 and Ladder […]

On 9/30/1896 a Brooklyn. New York (FDNY) firefighter died while he “was working from an extension ladder at the Greenpoint Telephone Office, a four-story building fire, at Manhattan Avenue and Greene Street. He lost his balance and fell to the ground, a distance of thirty feet. He was taken to the hospital, where it was […]

On 9/29/1902 a Stockton, California firefighter “was fatally burned as he attempted to drive the horse cart between two burning structures at the Pavilion fire. The Pavilion fire was one of the largest fires in Stockton.” On 9/29/1908 a Dallas, Texas firefighter died “while working at a fire, he was hit by falling debris and […]

DALLAS — The pain, the scars and memories remain but so does the will to serve others. “To this day I can’t believe I am alive,” said Captain Christopher Gadomski of Dallas Fire-Rescue. “You just kind of feel like you owe it to everybody to come back,” said firefighter Ronald Hall. Two of the three […]

On 9/28/1800 the first fireboats arrive in the United States. “New York City (NY) volunteer firefighters first mounted a crude hand-operated pump on a small boat, the era of the American fireboat was born. The fireboat would not become a mainstay of the American fire service; however, until after the Civil War when the nation […]

On 9/27/1915 a gasoline explosion in Ardmore, Oklahoma left forty-three people dead and at least 200 injured, and the town was destroyed. One source suggests that a workman repairing a gasoline tank car in the Santa Fe railyard hammer caused a spark resulting in an explosion, followed by a second detonation when stored dynamite exploded. […]

UPDATE: HIGH POINT, N.C. (WGHP) — Two firefighters sustained first and second-degree burn injuries while battling a warehouse fire Monday afternoon. High Point Fire Chief, Thomas Reid said the two firefighters were burned on parts of their hands, faces, and ears while trying to battle a fire caused by a dust collection system in the […]

SPRINGFIELD — One Springfield firefighter was taken to Miami Valley Hospital and two other firefighters were hurt while battling a fire in Springfield Sunday, according to a news release. >>PHOTOS: 1 firefighter hospitalized, 2 others hurt, after fire in Springfield Crews were called to the 600 block of Rice Street around 2 p.m. on reports […]

On 9/26/1898 a San Jose, California firefighter died “while manning a hose line with other members of his company on the second floor of the old Vendome Hotel on North First Street, shortly before midnight. The firefighter was caught in a sudden collapse of the rear wall and three upper floors. Scalded and suffocated by […]

Two firefighters suffered injuries while battling a fire in the 6000 block of Massachusetts Avenue late Saturday afternoon, Indianapolis Fire Department officials said. Firefighters were dispatched to the scene a little after 5 p.m. where they found heavy fire and smoke coming from a building owned by Golden Rule Automotive. One of the firefighters injured […]

On 9/25/2003 a four-story nursing home fire killed fourteen, and injured twenty-five (twenty critically) in Nashville, Tennessee. Most of the 120 residents were bedridden and unable to escape; firefighters carry many elderly occupants downstairs and ladders. The concrete building had no sprinkler system. “The building was a classic 1960s multi-story nursing home of concrete construction […]

On 9/24/1928 the Teatro de Novedades theater fire in Madrid, Spain killed up to three hundred persons, one report placed the death toll at 68, a second suggests 100, and a third estimated 300 and 200 injured. Hundreds were trampled in the panic that followed an explosion and fire that occurred on stage during a […]

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — One firefighter has been hospitalized as crews battle down a blaze in Salem, officials say. The Salem Fire Department says crews began responding to the house fire on Church Street SE around 1 p.m. on Friday afternoon. It was eventually upgraded to a second alarm and the Salem Police Department arrived […]

DENVER (KDVR) — The Denver Fire Department is investigating a house fire that happened on Friday morning. The fire started around 3 a.m. near 5th Avenue and Bannock Street. When firefighters arrived at the home, the encountered heavy fire. Denver Fire Department DFD said there was no one in the home at the time of […]

On 9/23/2005 a fire on a bus near Dallas, Texas killed twenty-four of the thirty-eight elderly residents and six employees evacuating from Hurricane Rita on a gridlocked highway. The fire was accelerated by patients’ oxygen making it too hot to rescue the victims. The fire may have been caused by the brakes. “The bus was […]

The Colorado Springs Fire Department was dispatched to a working structure fire at Gunther Toody’s on East Woodmen Road in Colorado Springs just after midnight Thursday morning. Upon arrival, firefighters reported fire and smoke coming from inside the building Springs firefighters reported the fire was under control around 1:45 a.m. Thursday morning, and that one […]

On 9/22/1899 a Strathroy, Ontario, Canada firefighter “was trapped for over twenty minutes with other members after the rear wall fell on them at a barn fire at the corner of Kittredge Avenue and Caradoc Street. The other firefighters received minor injuries, but this firefighter died from his injuries, after being removed and taken to […]

According to a report from CBS SF, more than 100 firefighters were on scene at a massive three-alarm that erupted inside a large San Leandro, California, warehouse thought to be housing a marijuana grow operation. Alameda County Fire (ACF) officials dispatched crews at around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday on reports of the fire at 139th and Washington […]