Firefighter Close Calls

SELTZER, NORWEGIAN TOWNSHIP, SCHUYLKILL COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU-TV) — Charred homes, a dramatic rescue, beloved pets gone. And state police say it all could have been prevented. Crews spent hours fighting a massive fire in Schuylkill County Wednesday afternoon that law enforcement says was no accident. And it could have turned deadly if it weren’t for a neighbor […]

12/3/1999 the Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire claimed the lives of six firefighters in Worcester, MA. A fire started when a homeless and mentally disabled couple knocked over a candle and fled without reporting it. The structure was located five blocks east of the central business district, near the train station and adjacent to Interstate […]

12/2/2016, at approximately 11:20 p.m. a fire broke out in a “former warehouse” converted into an artist collective with living spaces known as Ghost Ship. The warehouse in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland, California, was hosting a concert in a building permitted only for industrial purposes. Residential and entertainment uses were illegal. Eighty to one-hundred […]

All, The Our Lady of Angels fire anniversary (Dec. 1, 1958) in Chicago where 92 kids and four nuns lost their lives – a day in 1958 where the heroics of Chicago firefighters were well documented. 3 VIDEOS OF THE OUR LADY OF ANGELS SCHOOL FIRE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLkKJZqsSMQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgrTXKbFmcI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW9ZTeFs25Q&t=69s EACH December, there are some very […]

12/1/1958 Our Lady of the Angels elementary school fire killed ninety-five (92 students and 3 nuns) and another one-hundred were seriously injured in Chicago, IL at the intersection of West Iowa Street in the mostly Italian-American middle-class community; after smoke, heat, and fire cut off their escape. The two-story structure built in 1910 held approximately […]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Sunday marks 32 years since six Kansas City Missouri firefighters died in an explosion. The explosion happened at a construction site on Nov. 29, 1988. The crews were fighting a trailer fire. They were unaware the trailer had thousands of pounds of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil inside, and the firefighters were […]

Cowlitz County Fire District #5 (Kalama Fire) sadly announces the passing Firefighter/EMT Alan Dean Basso on Friday November 27, 2020 at 1355 hrs. Al Basso, or ‘Big Al’ to his friends and colleagues, was serving as a Firefighter/EMT with Kalama Fire on the morning of November 27th, running his last medical emergency response at 0848 […]

11/30/1872 a Philadelphia, PA firefighter, an original member of the paid Philadelphia Fire Department formed on March 15, 1871, died while fighting a fire at Box 3, 2nd and Dock Streets. “Upon arrival members found smoke showing from the second-floor of a four-story tall building. While investigating the extent of the fire, the firefighter was […]

11/29/1988 six firefighters, two entire pumper companies, lost their lives in a construction site explosion while they were extinguishing a fire in Kansas City, MO. The fire involved a trailer/magazine containing a blasting mixture of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil and probably had no markings or placards indicating their contents. At 3:40 a.m. they received […]

By Lauren Martinez, Byron Teach, KVVU A retired New York firefighter who served on the frontlines during September 11, 2001 is on mission to honor fallen firefighters. Frank Pizarro calls Las Vegas home, but served 22 years on the New York Fire Department. He is on mission to retrofit a fire engine to carry caskets […]

Without federal assistance, Pittsburgh could a massive cut in public safety jobs. By Lindsay WardNovember 20, 2020 at 12:28 pm PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Like many cities across the country, Pittsburgh is in desperate need of pandemic relief funds. In a recent budget hearing, the city discovered without that federal money, they may be forced to […]

Nov 23, 2020 John Whittaker Editor jwhittaker@post-journal.com Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed legislation for state agencies to make recommendations to the governor and state Legislature to better recruit and retain volunteer firefighters. A.9779/S.7589 was sponsored by Assemblyman Fred Thiele, I-Sag Harbor, and Sen. James Gaughran, D-Syosset, and passed both houses of the legislature unanimously. The […]

11/28/1942 the Cocoanut Grove night club fire killed 492 in Boston, MA and 166 people were injured as fire swept through the nightclub, some patrons died at their tables as toxic smoke rapidly spread through the club. Panicked victims ran to the only exit they knew, a revolving door that jammed or doors that opened […]

MONTEZUMA, Ind. (WTHI) – Three firefighters are recovering after the truck they were in was involved in an accident. The crash happened on Wednesday evening. The Montezuma Volunteer Fire Department was responding to a fire when one of their trucks was trying to avoid getting close to other drivers that were pulled over. Because of […]

The name “Black Friday” originated in Philadelphia, when it was coined by the Philadelphia Police Department in 1966 to describe the chaos caused by massive traffic jams, car accidents and congested sidewalks that resulted from the shopping day after Thanksgiving. Contemporary use of the term now refers to it as the point in the year […]

LAWRENCE (WLUK) — The Hobart Lawrence Police and Fire say they were working on a crash scene on I-41 Southbound, north of CTH S just before 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. Police say another crash happened just north of the first crash. A sport utility vehicle crashed into the back of a parked Lawrence fire truck. One […]

UNION, S.C. (AP) — Authorities say a 7-year-old girl died and another person in a South Carolina home has been injured in a fire. Authorities say two firefighters were also injured fighting the blaze around 5:45 p.m. Wednesday at the home in Union, but are in good condition. Investigators say an autopsy has been ordered […]

Happy Thanksgiving, today kitchens become one of the busiest places in a home. Thanksgiving is the leading day for home fires involving cooking equipment. Three times as many fires occur in Thanksgiving than on any average day. Cooking remains the leading cause of home structure fires and home fire injuries, according to the NFPA. Home […]

By Brooke Hasch, WHAS11 his Thanksgiving will be especially hard for the Zoneton Fire Protection District, whose chief is in the fight of his life, battling both COVID-19 and cancer. “It happened so quick,” Capt. Steven Corbin with Zoneton Fire said. It was late September when Chief Rob Orkies told his crew the news. “He sent […]

By Raymond Mesa, NBC Los Angeles On May 16, 2020, eleven firefighters were seriously injured during one of the most intense and dangerous fires in the history of the Los Angeles Fire Department. One of those firefighters was Fire Capt. Víctor Aguirre, who suffered serious burns. He spoke with our sister station Telemundo 52 about […]