Firefighter Close Calls

 

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FIREFIGHTER HISTORY 7/23

1 month 4 weeks ago
On 7/23/1984 Union Oil refinery fire killed seventeen, including ten members of the fire brigade, in Romeoville, Illinois. “Around 6:00 p.m. a refinery worker noticed vapors escaping from a hairline crack in a high-pressure, 55-foot tower filled with gas and tried to shut down the tank, but before the pressure could be redirected a spark […]
Karl Thompson

FIREFIGHTER HISTORY 7/22

1 month 4 weeks ago
On 7/22/1913 the Binghamton Clothing Company factory fire killed thirty-one, many trapped on the fourth floor, in Binghamton, New York when workers, mostly women, initially refused to take the fire alarm seriously. About an hour after lunch, 111 people worked in the brick, four-story factory that faced the Chenango River. “Time was money” paid by […]
Karl Thompson

SEATTLE FIRE DEALING WITH EQUIPMENT THEFT WHILE OPERATING AT SCENES – WASHINGTON

1 month 4 weeks ago
SEATTLE — The Seattle Fire Department (SFD) continues to deal with being the target of theft while on the job. The latest incident happened Thursday morning while Seattle firefighters were battling a large warehouse fire in the Chinatown-International District (CID) near the corner of 10th and King. Representatives with the Seattle Firefighters’ Union, IAFF Local 27, […]
Joe Knitter

FIREFIGHTER HISTORY 7/21

2 months ago
On 7/21/1913 a fire at a convict farm near Jackson, Mississippi killed thirty-five prisoners on the second floor of an antiquated convict cage after flames rapidly ate away the only stairway leading to the second floor. “Thirty-five black men at Oakley Farm, a segregated prison camp in Mississippi, burned to death when the neglected dormitory […]
Karl Thompson

DRIVER WHO STRUCK, KILLED CLEVELAND FIREFIGHTER AT SCENE CONVICTED OF MURDER – OHIO

2 months ago
CLEVELAND, Ohio — A man who sped through an accident scene on Interstate 90 and struck and killed Cleveland firefighter Johnny Tetrick last fall is now a convicted murderer. Leander Bissell, 41, faces a mandatory life sentence after Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Timothy McCormick delivered his verdict Thursday. Leander Bissell. (Cory Shaffer) McCormick said that he initially believed that it was “a stretch” for […]
Joe Knitter

FIREFIGHTER HISTORY 7/20

2 months ago
On 7/20/1899 a Denver, Colorado firefighter “succumbed to injuries sustained while operating at the Western Chemical Company fire on June 18, 1899, at South Seventh and Bayaud. The fire started just before 6:00 p.m., billowing thick brown smoke from a storeroom. The storeroom contained about 50 carboys of muriatic acid, two of which had already […]
Karl Thompson

FIREFIGHTER HISTORY 7/19

2 months ago
On 7/19/1921 the Los Angeles (California) Fire Department’s “very last fire horse was retired when Water Tower 1, a 65-foot Gorter assigned to Engine Company 24, was removed from service, and taken to the shops to be motorized, ending the horse era of the LAFD. All of the horses were retired to Griffith Park. The […]
Karl Thompson

FIREFIGHTER RECOVERING AFTER MEDICAL EMERGENCY – IDAHO

2 months ago
On July 18th, 2023 at 12:30 pm Boise Fire crews responded to a structure fire on S. Cole Rd. Upon arrival, crews encountered heavy smoke and a large pile of recycled materials smoldering inside of a recycling center. As crews worked to extinguish the fire, a Boise Firefighter suffered a medical emergency, and was transported […]
Joe Knitter

JUNIOR FIREFIGHTER BURNED DURING TRAINING EXERCISE, DISCIPLINARY ACTION PENDING AGAINST FIRE OFFICIALS – PENNSYLVANIA

2 months ago
SHAMOKIN — Shamokin Councilman William Milbrand, who serves as public safety director, reported Tuesday that disciplinary action is pending against city fire officials who attended a training earlier this month in which a junior firefighter suffered second-degree burns on both wrists. Milbrand, who didn’t identify the fire officials under investigation, said James Wood, 17, of […]
Joe Knitter

FIREFIGHTER HISTORY 7/18

2 months ago
On 7/18/1947 an ionization-type smoke detector was patented by E. Meili & W. Jaeger in Berne, Switzerland. “In the late 1930s, Swiss physicist Walter Jaeger accidentally invented the first smoke detector. He was attempting to design a sensor that could identify poison gas. However, when Jaeger lit a cigarette he discovered that his invention could […]
Karl Thompson

FIREFIGHTER HISTORY 7/17

2 months ago
On 7/17/1981 the Kansas City Hyatt Regency skywalk collapsed killing 114 and injuring over 200 after 2,000 people had gathered in the multistory atrium to watch a dance contest. The suspended concrete walkways on the 2nd, 3rd, & 4th floors were packed. A flawed design change doubled the load on the tie rod connections on […]
Karl Thompson

NY FIRE CHIEF SUV IN ROLLOVER CRASH

2 months ago
By Times Union: An SUV belonging to the Fuller Road Volunteer Fire Department was involved in a crash Sunday afternoon in Colonie. The bright red truck could clearly be seen on its roof at the intersection of Wolf Road and Sand Creek Road around 2 p.m. The Colonie Police Department said that the truck was […]
Rick Markley

FIREFIGHTER HISTORY 7/16

2 months ago
On 7/16/1990 the Empire State Building fire in New York City injured 38 people, including 31 firefighters, and snarled traffic in that part of midtown for hours. A smoky four-alarm fire billowed smoke from the midsection of the 102-story building. The fire started around 6:30 p.m. and was confined to the 51st floor, though the […]
Karl Thompson

FIREFIGHTER HISTORY 7/15

2 months ago
On 7/15/1970 the Wedworth-Townsend Paramedic Act of 1970, was signed into law. “During the 1960s a Los Angeles cardiologist named Walter S. Graf became concerned about the lack of actual medical care being given to coronary patients during emergency transportation to a hospital. In 1969, while serving as president of the Los Angeles Chapter of […]
Karl Thompson

FIREFIGHTER INJURED IN SENIOR LIVING CENTER FIRE – ILLINOIS

2 months ago
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. (WLS) — A firefighter and a police officer are among six people hospitalized after a large blaze broke out at a north suburban senior housing complex, officials said. All of the hospitalizations were for smoke inhalation and were precautionary, officials said. Chopper 7HD was over the scene in the 100 block of West Wise […]
Joe Knitter

NEWARK FIREFIGHTER KILLED WHILE BATTLING CARGO SHIP FIRE PROMOTED POSTHUMOUSLY DURING FUNERAL

2 months 1 week ago
NEWARK, N.J., (AP) — A firefighter who was fatally injured along with a colleague while battling a massive fire aboard a cargo ship docked in New Jersey last week was posthumously promoted to captain during his funeral service on Thursday. Hundreds of mourners, including dozens of uniformed firefighters and law enforcement officers, came to the […]
Joe Knitter
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