Firefighter Close Calls

On 3/25/1911 the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire left 146 dead in New York City. The company employed approximately 500 workers, mostly young immigrant women, some as young as twelve working 60 to 72 hours per week sewing clothes. “The company occupied the top three floors of the iron and steel loft ten-story Asch Building on […]

On 3/24/1999 the Mont Blanc Tunnel fire occurred when a truck carrying 12 tons of flour and 9 tons of margarine entered the French side of the 7.2-mile tunnel connecting France and Italy in the Alps. Smoke from the area around the truck’s cab was detected by a tunnel smoke sensor at 10:52 a.m. the […]

UPDATE: Officials say the injured firefighter’s condition is improving and is responding well to medical treatment. RANSOM TOWNSHIP, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)— A firefighter was transported to the hospital while responding to a fire in Lackawanna County. At 5:20 p.m. Thursday afternoon, crews were dispatched to the 1100 block of Community Drive for a working house fire. Officials […]

DRACUT, Mass. — A firefighter was injured while battling a three-alarm fire at an apartment building in Dracut, Massachusetts. The fire started in a kitchen shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday on the second floor of a building at 200 Merrill Lane and spread up the wall to the attic. Mutual aid from six cities and […]

On 3/23/1974 the Caboose Bar at 128 N. 6th Street fire killed nine and injured a dozen more in Allentown, Pennsylvania when a gasoline can was ignited and tossed into a crowded bar. The occupants “were trapped by a boarded back door that should have been their escape route…” “Rage and alcohol fueled the arson […]

On 3/23/1974 the Caboose Bar at 128 N. 6th Street fire killed nine and injured a dozen more in Allentown, Pennsylvania when a gasoline can was ignited and tossed into a crowded bar. The occupants “were trapped by a boarded back door that should have been their escape route…” “Rage and alcohol fueled the arson […]

BARTOW COUNTY, Ga. — A 41-year-old firefighter in Bartow County died following “complications” during a training exercise, according to the Bartow County Fire and Emergency Services Facebook page. The agency said Matthew Smith died around 5 p.m. on March 16 from “complications of an apparent medical incident” during training. According to Smith’s sister, he went down […]

On 3/22/2002 around 11:54 a.m., “the Jersey City (New Jersey) Fire Department was dispatched for a fire reported at 580 Henderson Street a cold storage warehouse. The building was part of an industrial complex that had stood vacant for many years. The building was well known to the Jersey City Fire Department, as it was […]

From the Edneyville Fire & Rescue Facebook Page: On March 20 at approx. 4:22 am, EFD along with auto aid, was dispatched to a structure fire on Fruitland Rd with a subject trapped inside. The first arriving unit found heavy fire to both the 1st and 2nd floor of the home. Two firefighters entered to […]

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — The Syracuse Fire Department was sent to 343 Park Street around 6:04 p.m. on March 20 for a fire reported by the Onondaga County 911 center. Firefighters from Station 9 went to the scene in just over two minutes, according to Syracuse Fire Department. Following, they reported heavy smoke coming from […]

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A 3-alarm fire at Our Mother of Consolation Catholic School in Chestnut Hill was placed under control shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday, the Philadelphia Fire Department said. The school is located on East Chestnut Hill Avenue near Germantown Avenue. It was badly damaged during the blaze. Crews were called to the scene at around […]

CHICAGO (WLS) — Four firefighters were injured after a roof collapsed during a fire in a Jeffery Manor townhome Tuesday morning. The extra-alarm fire broke out at about 3:38 a.m. in a two-story residence in the 2200-block of East 100th Street. Chicago Fire First District Chief Jim McDonough said two firefighters became trapped after the second […]

On 3/21/1996 two arson fires in an occupied operational general merchandise warehouse in New Orleans, Louisiana destroyed the 1,134,770 square-foot facility. A combination of 65-foot-high bay racks and 30-foot-high low bay racks was protected by 30 overhead and 17 in-rack sprinkler systems supported by two 2,500 GPM fire pumps. The fire started in an area […]

One firefighter was injured at the scene of a fire in Westlake Monday morning. Firefighters responded to the single-story house fire located at 162 North Reno Street near Council Street at 6:10 a.m. Monday. It took 52 firefighters 40 minutes to extinguish the flames inside the vacant one-story structure, according to the L.A. Fire Dept. […]

On 3/20/1905 in Brockton, Massachusetts a boiler explosion, and fire claimed fifty-eight lives at the R. B. Grover & Company, a four-story wooden (heavy timber) shoe factory. There were 360 of the 450 employees working when the old out-of-service fire-tube boiler was reconnected. The faulty boiler erupted with a force comparable to 661 pounds of […]

SALINA, Kan. (KAKE) – The Salina Fire Department says a battalion chief who’s served the community for nearly 30 years has died. John Goertzen died Friday at the age of 52. A cause of death was not released. “John served the community and the Salina Fire Department with professionalism, compassion and dedication for 27 years, progressing […]

Crews fought a fire Sunday afternoon that collapsed the garage of a home in Upper Allen Township, Cumberland County, briefly trapping two firefighters. Both firefighters were quickly extracted with only minor injuries, but were taken to the hospital as a precaution, according to John Bruetsch, Cumberland County’s emergency services spokesman. Although first responders were initially […]

WATERBURY — A firefighter was trapped on top of a truck when live electrical wires came down as crews were fighting a blaze Wednesday night, a fire official said. He wasn’t injured, Deputy Chief Robert Stoeckert said. The fire in a vacant house in the 60 block of East Farm Street was reported to the Waterbury Fire Department about 9:45 p.m., Stoeckert […]

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) — A firefighter was injured while battling a fire on W. Oklahoma Ave. on Saturday, March 18, according to the Milwaukee Fire Department. Officials told CBS 58 that the extent of the injuries is unknown at this time, and the firefighter was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment. Authorities are still […]

On 3/19/1896 insurance groups formed a committee that met in New York, New York with the stated purpose of standardizing the new and burgeoning market of fire sprinkler systems, which will later become the National Fire Protection Association. “The NFPA was formed in 1896 by a group of insurance firm representatives with the stated purpose […]