Firefighter Close Calls

NEW CITY, Rockland County (WABC) — There was outrage in court in Rockland County where a father and son avoided prison time for starting a fire that killed a firefighter and a man at a nursing home. Dozens of firefighters protested outside the Rockland County Court House in New City and emotional victim impact statements were […]

A traffic accident brought a power line down onto a fire department ladder truck Wednesday in Jefferson City. A news release from the Jefferson City Fire Department said the truck was parked on St. Mary’s Boulevard while its crew underwent fire prevention inspections at nearby businesses. Around 3 p.m., a tractor-trailer struck a nearby high-voltage […]

WILLARD, Mo. (KY3) – A Willard Fire Protection District firefighter was shocked while responding to a trailer fire in rural Greene County. According to the Ebenezer Fire Protection District, several departments responded to the North Farm Road 115 fire at around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. When firefighters arrived, they found no one was home, and the […]

On 9/21/1904 four Denver, Colorado firefighters “were killed from inhaling nitric acid fumes at the Denver Post after nitric acid spilled and fire on ensued on September 20, 1904. A 16-gallon container of nitric acid burst open in the etching room of the Denver Post. A fire ensued which was easily extinguished by the firefighters, […]

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – An out-of-control driver slammed into a Cleveland fire truck parked at an accident scene early Tuesday on the city’s East side. First responders told 19 News the truck prevented the car from hitting officers and civilians. According to police, Cleveland fire and police responded to a two vehicle crash at E. […]

DOVER — As a steady rain fell Monday on the charred remains of two businesses and residential dwellings on West Blackwell Street, authorities continued to investigate a fire that drew a five-alarm response on Saturday and displaced dozens of occupants. The smoky blaze was quickly extinguished, without serious injury to victims or responders. But the heroic efforts […]

On 9/20/1929 in Detroit, Michigan the Study Club fire, a prohibition speakeasy (nightclub), killed twenty-two and injured over fifty in a three-story retrofit mansion. The cause of the fire remains undetermined but may have started in the stairwell by a cigarette. Most windows and the fire escape were inaccessible. The exterior appeared undamaged while the […]

The FDNY Safety Command has released the following document with links to the Investigative Report and accompanying training documents from the Line of Duty Death of Firefighter Timothy Klein on April 24, 2022. From the FDNY document: The greatest way we can honor Firefighter Klein is to learn about this fire – this may help […]

On 9/19/1902 in Birmingham, Alabama the yell of “fire” in a church caused over 100 people to be trampled to death at the Shiloh Baptist Church around 9 o’clock after Booker T. Washington concluded his speech to the National Convention. The Shiloh Church was a large place of worship, with more than 2,000 people in […]

On 9/18/1926 two Philadelphia, Pennsylvania firefighters died “while operating at a five-alarm fire at Freihofer Baking Co. at 19th & Indiana Avenue, they were killed when they were caught under a collapsing wall.” “Firefighters had responded to a box alarm in the sprawling commercial bakery complex that occupied almost two city blocks. First arriving Engine […]

On 9/17/1872 the first sprinkler system patent was issued to P.W. Pratt of Abington, Massachusetts. The world’s first sprinkler system was installed in the Theatre Royal on Drury Lane in the United Kingdom in 1812 by its architect Benjamen Wyatt, FSA. The system designed by William Congreve consisted of a cylindrical airtight reservoir fed by […]

On 9/16/1920 the first documented vehicle bombing occurred in New York City on Wall Street. The explosion killed forty in front of the headquarters of the J. P. Morgan Company caused by a bomb in a one-horse wagon. Around noon, a horse-drawn wagon passed lunchtime crowds and stopped across the street from the bank at […]

On 9/15/1963 a bomb exploded during Sunday morning services in the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama killing four young girls. “The church bombing and the fire was the third in Birmingham in 11 days after a federal order came down to integrate Alabama’s school system. Fifteen sticks of dynamite were planted in the […]

On 9/14/1815 the first use of gooseneck piping for fire engines was reported in Boston, Massachusetts. The early American hand pump fire engines with a solid medal playpipe were called a gooseneck. On 9/14/1875 three Manhattan, New York (FDNY) firefighters died during a “public demonstration that was held to demonstrate the first aerial ladders in […]

SAYLOR TOWNSHIP, Iowa — A firefighter suffered a traumatic injury while battling a large building fire Monday evening. Saylor Township firefighters were dispatched at around 5:06 p.m. for a residential fire. While the firefighters were enroute to the scene they spotted a large smoke column from several miles away and requested several other fire crews […]

On 9/13/1970 the Ponet Square Hotel fire killed nineteen residents in Los Angeles, California. The four-story 12,000 square feet per floor South Grand Avenue hotel was built in 1907 with an unsprinklered basement that was once a ballroom. An open stair extended flames to the upper floors. Safety doors to enclosed stairwells called “Ponet Doors” […]

On 9/12/2019 eleven people, “many of them elderly patients, died in a fire that tore through Badim Hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The fire was likely started by an electrical short-circuit in one of the facility’s emergency power generators. In the wake of the fire, Rio’s mayor told reporters that the hospital had been […]

On 9/11/2001 Al-Qaeda initiated a series of coordinated suicide sneak attacks upon the United States that killed over 2,996 including 343 members of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY). Two hijacked aircraft flew into the World Trade Center in New York City, while a third attacked the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and a fourth […]

By Fox 61: A firefighter was injured and a family of four were displaced after a house fire in Norfolk, according to emergency services. Jon Barbagallo, public information officer for the Norfolk Fire Department, said crews were on scene this morning for a fire at a house on Litchfield Road. Additional fire departments from towns […]

On 9/10/2010 a fire occurred in a newly constructed lightweight wood frame (Type V) multiple-family dwelling in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. The fire “almost took the lives of several firefighters and seriously injured at least seven, some of which required hospitalization… The building was part of a multi-building apartment complex constructed in 2004. The three-story Type V […]