Firefighter Close Calls

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Twenty-five people and three pets are displaced, and one firefighter is injured after a two-alarm fire broke out early Sunday morning in San Francisco’s Hayes neighborhood, according to San Francisco Fire Department. Shortly before 2 a.m., a first-alarm fire was reported at a residence on Hayes Street. After it was later upgraded […]

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 […]

By NBC Connecticut: Four firefighters and one occupant were injured during a house fire in Meriden on Saturday afternoon. Firefighters were called to a three-story home on the corner of Broad Street and Bunker Avenue just before 4 p.m. Heavy fire could be seen coming from the side porch. It rapidly spread through the first […]

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 […]

Officials said that one man was killed, and 10 others were injured in a house fire that tore through a Queens home late Friday night. The unidentified man in his 60s died from smoke inhalation and the deadly blaze was sparked by a lithium-ion battery, FDNY Fire Marshals said Saturday. Heavy flames raced through the […]

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 […]

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A Syracuse firefighter is being treated for minor injuries on his leg after while putting out a house fire on Mildred Avenue in Syracuse Friday evening. The fire started shortly after 5 p.m., and fire crews worked to contain the flames as they extended into the attic and onto the porch of 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 […]

On 1/19/2000 the Boland Hall fire at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey killed three and injured more than fifty when two students set the fire as a prank in the freshman dorm around 4:30 a.m. while most students were asleep. Although no accelerants were used the fire rapidly spread across the third-floor […]

On 1/18/1938 a fire at the Sacred Heart College in Saint Hyacinthe, Quebec, a small manufacturing city about 30 miles from Montreal, killed Forty-one boys and five priests around 2:00 a.m. The blaze spread rapidly trapping up to 100 occupants, several were injured. Fire operations lasted over 3 hours in near-zero temperatures. “The fire followed […]

PETALING JAYA: Two firemen suffered injuries when trying to put out a fire at a factory processing recycled goods in Ria Jaya Industrial Park, Sungai Petani, Kedah. Both firemen were rushed to Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital for treatment. They were among 56 firefighters who were dispatched to the scene. One of the firemen was injured […]

Today is Benjamin Franklin’s birthday, he was born on January 17, 1706, in Boston, Massachusetts, happy birthday Mr. Franklin and thank you! The Father of the American Fire Service was born in Boston. “The man who established the first community volunteer fire department also invented bifocals, wrote and printed Poor Richard’s Almanac, studied electricity, and […]

RALEIGH, N.C. — Emergency crews worked Monday night to put out a house fire. Crews responded to the fire at 1520 Pagan Road. Smoke was visible from at least a mile away from the home. A firefighter with the Garner Fire Department was injured while battling the blaze. The Garner chief told WRAL News a partial […]

For the second time in four days a New Castle County firefighter was injured battling a blaze. The fire was reported around 4:15 Sunday afternoon, January 15, 2023, on Belmont Avenue in Richardson Park. Arriving units reported flames from the third floor. New Castle County EMS said they treated a 24-year old firefighter for minor […]

On 1/16/1967 the McCormick Place Hall in Chicago, Illinois was destroyed by a fire and a security guard was killed during the National Housewares Manufacturers Association Exhibit. “McCormick Place was the largest convention center in North America consisting of four interconnected buildings and one indoor arena sited on and near Lake Michigan, about 2 miles […]

On 1/15/1919 the Boston (Massachusetts) Molasses Disaster or Great Molasses Flood killed twenty-one and injured 150 when a large wave of molasses over 8’ tall rushed through the streets at 35 mph after a 2,300,000 gallons storage tank burst in the North End neighborhood at the Purity Distilling Company. A Boston firefighter was fatally injured […]

WOODHAVEN, Queens (WABC) — A firefighter was hurt while battling a raging fire in Queens Saturday morning. Officials say a 3-story home along 90th Street in Woodhaven went up in flames at around 1 a.m. It took crews a couple of hours to get the fire under control. The cause of the blaze is still under […]

Dozens of residents woke up to their Bronx apartment building in flames Friday morning, according to fire officials. The FDNY told News 12 the fire started on the second floor of an apartment at 1240 Walton Ave. The fire then spread to the third floor. Firefighters say they were able to put the flames out […]

SHALER TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A 2-year-old girl died after a house fire in Shaler Township on Friday night, police said. Four other residents ended up at the hospital for their injuries. The fire on Fall Run Road was reported at about 9:45 p.m. In a news release, police said firefighters found Danika DeRamo on the […]

Several firefighters suffered burns battling a two-alarm fire that destroyed a house in Pompon Plains Saturday morning. Firefighters from several Passaic County municipalities were dispatched to the 900 block of Ramapo Avenue after receiving reports of a house fire around 2:25 a.m. Upon arrival, crews found a single-family wood-framed house fully involved in flames.   […]