Firefighter Close Calls

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 […]

On 1/26/1969 the Victoria Hotel fire killed thirteen in Dunnville, Ontario. The 63-year-old hotel was destroyed and 3 other buildings in the Niagara Peninsula town were heavily damaged before dawn. “It was reported that forty-three people were in the hotel at the time the fire broke out. Many escaped the building, but it was estimated […]

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WZTV) — A Franklin firefighter escaped serious injuries after falling through the floor while fighting a house fire. The Franklin Fire Department was dispatched to a two-story home in the Royal Oaks subdivision just before 11 p.m. Wednesday. FFD reports Sgt. James Phillips was first on the scene. Video from his patrol unit dash […]

Much of the US relies heavily on non-career firefighters, but their ranks are dwindling. If the problem doesn’t abate, there’s a lot at stake. During Covid-19, I – like many others – found myself wondering what I could do to help. After passing by a local fire station many times, I checked out the department’s […]

Late Monday night, the initial call came in for a fire at a home undergoing renovations on Camperdown Elm. “Between 11:24 p.m. and 11:43 p.m., the fire grew rapidly,” said Rachael Lewis, operations public information officer for the Austin Fire Department. “They were shooting water into the attic and the roof collapsed on the firefighters from there.” Four […]

CAHOKIA HEIGHTS, Ill — For the second time in less than a month, a Metro East fire station was left with costly damages after being struck by gunfire. The Camp Jackson Fire Department shared on Facebook Wednesday that it had been struck again. Fire Chief Chris Davis told 5 On Your Side the firehouse was hit at […]

On 1/25/1865 three Buffalo, New York died on a bitterly cold morning, at a major fire that destroyed a block of buildings, including stores and a rambling five-story hotel. “As gale force winds threatened to spread the fire into other blocks, a decision was made to blow up several buildings to create a firebreak. The […]

PAGELAND, S.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Five volunteer firefighters were injured while on scene of a fire Saturday night in Chesterfield County, according to local fire officials. The incident happened at the Circle S Shavings Mill, a business that specializes in wood shavings. Chief Bill Busse with High Point Volunteer Fire Department in Pageland said […]

The Austin Fire Department says an accidental fire at a home in south Austin left two firefighters momentarily trapped late Monday night. AFD tweeted they were working the fire around 11:50 p.m. at a home located on Camperdown Elm Drive near South 1st Street. Crews said there were heavy fire conditions when they arrived on […]

A captain with the Los Angeles Fire Department was injured in a blast while responding to an encampment fire in the Manchester Square neighborhood of Los Angeles Tuesday. The incident occurred around 3 a.m. in the 7500 block of South Normandie Avenue. The captain was battling a debris fire at the encampment in an abandoned […]

By Matt Austin January 22, 2024 NBC Universal, Inc. Southington firefighters and their supporters pushed for changes they say will improve safety. They’re concerned that at times, the number of people going out on a truck for a call can be too low and potentially dangerous. On Monday, firefighters turned up the heat as contract […]

On 1/23/2005 in the city of New York, the FDNY lost three firefighters at two separate fires in what has become known as “BLACK SUNDAY” … The 1st fire in the Bronx was a three-alarm fire in an apartment building at 236 East 178th Street in the Tremont section. It took the lives of two […]

Two firefighters were injured in a north suburban house fire on Monday morning. There was a large response after a fire broke out in the basement of a home in the 1100 block of Florence Avenue in Evanston at about 9:45 a.m. The fire quickly spread to other floors. The first floor partially collapsed, trapping […]

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) – The South Bend Fire department says five children died in a violent house fire on Sunday evening on South Bend’s west side. Crews were called around 6:30 p.m. to the 200 block of N. LaPorte Avenue, which is about a block from the Oliver Mansion, for a structure fire. When […]

On 1/22/1892 a fire at National Surgical Institute killed nineteen patients and injured thirty others at Illinois and Georgia Streets in Indianapolis, Indiana. “The fires occurred downtown shortly before midnight on a cold, snowy night. A newspaper headline told the heartbreaking story, “Helpless cripples perish in the flames or jump to their death on the […]

SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — One person is injured after their car lost control, hitting to a Spokane Valley firetruck that was responding to a different crash. According to SVFD, a firetruck was responding to a two-car crash on eastbound I-90 near Sullivan Road Interchange. One person is in critical condition, and another is injured. While the […]

LAWRENCEBURG, Tenn. (WSMV) – Three firefighters were injured after they became trapped while fighting a house fire in Lawrenceburg. On Friday, around 6:22 p.m., firefighters with Lawrence County Fire and Rescue were called to a residential fire near 121 Redhill Center Road. The firefighters became trapped after a collapse of the structure and got separated. […]

Five firefighters were injured, two by falling through a floor into the basement, while battling a blaze at three buildings in a Pittsburgh neighborhood over the weekend, authorities said. Fire crews were called just before 9:30 a.m. Saturday to the Homewood neighborhood where the fire started in one home and spread to two adjacent buildings […]

On 1/21/1924 while operating at a major fire in a refinery storage yard, seven Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania firefighters died, they all suffocated when an explosion blew them into a large vat of paraffin. “Around 5:24 a.m. at the Atlantic Refinery Company, located at 57th and Butler Street along the bank of the Allegheny River in the […]

On 1/20/2004 a nursing (retirement) home fire in Maryville, Blount County, Tennessee killed three and injured twelve residents hours after passing a surprise inspection. Built before 1997 in a converted one-floor house, the nursing home was not required to have sprinklers. “Firefighters struggled in the bitter cold to put out a fire that spread through […]