Firefighter Close Calls

On 2/23/1991 the One Meridian Plaza fire claimed the lives of three firefighters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the most significant high-rise fires in U.S. history. “Construction on the 492’ tower began in 1968, was completed in 1972, and approved for occupancy in 1973. Built at the corner of 15th Street and South Penn Square […]

All, We regret to pass on that a Michigan Firefighter was killed in the Line of Duty this evening due to a fallen power line, caused by an ice storm. The Firefighter from the Paw Paw VFD (located between Benton Harbor & Kalamazoo) was operating with crews under extreme weather conditions when the Firefighter came […]

Members of the FDNY battled a four-alarm fire in Williamsburg that burned for over six hours on Tuesday. Five firefighters have suffered injuries while fighting the flames that broke out at 304 Hewes St. around 11 a.m. The fire broke out inside of a lumber facility. The FDNY says that the lumber facility is connected to a three-story building […]

CHICAGO (CBS) — Paramedics rushed a firefighter to the hospital early Tuesday after a house fire in the West Elsdon neighborhood near Midway International Airport. The firefighter was injured while working to put out the flames near 53rd and Avers, where the fire started around 5 a.m. Crews quickly had the kitchen fire out. It’s not […]

BURLINGTON COUNTY, N.J. – Several emergency crews are on the scene after a fire erupted in Mount Holly Tuesday afternoon, leaving at least on firefighter injured. Police say the structure fire is taking place on Madison Avenue. The road has since been closed as firefighters continue to battle the blaze. One firefighter suffered a minor injury due […]

On 2/22/1902 a New York, New York hotel fire killed sixteen and injured about fifty at Park Avenue, between Thirty-Second and Thirty-Third Streets in Manhattan. “Most of the dead were guests with rooms on the upper stories of the hotel or on the fifth floor, which had the greatest damage. It is explained that five […]

On 2/21/1897 a Hartford, Connecticut firefighter “died of the injuries he sustained while operating at Box 26.” On 2/21/1899 a Milwaukee, Wisconsin firefighter was killed at the Wisconsin Chair Company fire, in Port Washington. “The entire Wisconsin Chair Company’s Plant and six business and residence blocks were totally destroyed; thirty families were made homeless and […]

By Bring me the News: Two late-night fires in the Twin Cities left one firefighter injured and seven dogs unaccounted for. The first blaze happened Saturday night in Minneapolis, at a “2 1/2 story residential building” on the 2900 block of Aldrich Ave N. A tweet from the fire department says one firefighter was taken to the […]

On 2/20/2003 The Station Nightclub fire at 211 Cowesett Avenue, Warwick, Rhode Island left over one hundred dead and more than two hundred injured. The fire started at 11:08 p.m. while the band Great White opened with the song “Desert Moon” using pyrotechnics devices as part of their act that ignited flammable soundproofing foam. A […]

DYKER HEIGHTS, Brooklyn — A fire broke that broke out at an e-bike shop in Brooklyn appears to have been sparked by a lithium-ion battery. The store is on 11th Ave near 64th Street in Dyker Heights. The fire started around 2 a.m. with flames spreading to all three floors of the building. Two firefighters had […]

On 2/19/1919 A small fire started in the acid storage room of the huge Cove Mills, Stamford Manufacturing Company, a dye extracting facility, a complex of about 25 “fireproof” buildings sprawled over western Cove Island and well up Cove Road in Stamford, Connecticut. “It rapidly became the most spectacular, most destructive fire in Stamford history. […]

By Julia Bingel, WOIO: Two Canton firefighters were injured fighting a house fire early Thursday morning. Neighbors called 911 after seeing flames coming from a home in the 1600 block of Harrisburg Ave. N.E. around 1:45 a.m. When firefighters arrived, heavy fire was coming from the first floor windows and extending up the exterior of […]

On 2/18/1889 the Park Central Hotel, 54 High Street Hartford, Connecticut was heavily damaged by a steam boiler explosion. Twenty-two people lost their lives, and many more were severely injured. “The hotel was at full occupancy. The 15-year-old hotel, 5 stories high, initially measured 125 feet long and 40 feet wide and contained 40 rooms. […]

BROCKTON, Mass. — One firefighter was taken to the hospital after responding to a Friday morning blaze in Brockton. The fire in a triple-decker at 107 Tribou St. was reported to 911 around 7:04 a.m. Photos from the scene showed heavy flames bursting from the windows of the second floor and climbing up to the […]

From the FDNY Facebook Page: “Tonight, three of our members are here in the hospital in very serious but stable condition. At 1:30 today, a call came in at a private residence for 88 Shotwell Avenue in Staten Island. Units were on scene in under four minutes and found heavy smoke and fire on arrival. […]

ARDEN HEIGHTS, Staten Island (WABC) — Firefighters are battling a fourth alarm on Staten Island that has left two firefighters critically injured. The fire broke out around 1:30 p.m. Friday in a home on Shotwell Avenue in the Arden Heights section. Firefighters arrived and were battling the blaze when there was an internal collapse. All firefighters […]

On 2/17/1957 the Katie Jane Nursing Home for the Aged fire killed seventy-two of the 155 residences in Warrenton, Missouri. The fire started in the first-floor annex, attached to the back of the home’s main building, in a linen closet in the two-and-a-half-story facility at approximately 2:40 p.m. “During the five minutes, it took for […]

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) – A firefighter was injured after crews responded to an early morning fire at the Dale Printing Company warehouse. Multiple crews responded to the scene around 4:30 a.m. near I-44 and Big Bend Boulevard. Four alarms have gone off as of 6 a.m., and according to the fire chief, a firefighter […]

On 2/16/1968 Representative Rankin Fite, the Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives completed the first 9-1-1 call in the United States in Haleyville, Alabama. The Alabama Telephone Company was the service provider, and this Haleyville 9-1-1 system is still in service today. On February 22, 1968, Nome, Alaska implemented the second 9-1-1 service. “As […]

By 4029TV: Fort Smith Fire Chief Phil Christensen died Saturday after a 9-month struggle with cancer, according to a release from the city of Fort Smith. Christensen’s death will be considered a Line of Duty death. He joined the Fort Smith Fire Department in 1992 and was named the fire chief in 2016. “Phil Christensen […]