8/14/1909 a Paterson, New Jersey firefighter “died as a result of critical burns sustained while operating at a fire involving stables on August 11, 1909.”
8/14/1910 El Paso, TX a wall collapse killed the town mayor and a firefighter after a fire that burned for over seven hours that destroyed the structure. “A fire was discovered at 2:15 a.m. in the three-story building and burned until late in the afternoon. A falling wall at 9:45 a.m. killed a firefighter and El Paso’s Mayor and injured another firefighter.”
8/14/1940 an Oakland, CA firefighter died from chemical exposure while fighting a fire. “The firefighter, along with other members of the Oakland Fire Department had been operating at the 3-alarm Gross Brothers Furniture store fire. Shortly after arriving at the scene of fire an explosion had occurred. The firefighter made his way through the smoke and heat to drive the chemical truck to safety. He then entered the building following the first explosion to help fight the fire. Later, after returning to the firehouse he complained of feeling ill. He inhaled some oxygen to overcome the effects of the smoke, and then took a shower. His condition not having gotten any better, was ordered to go to the hospital. Eighteen minutes after arriving at the hospital he was dead.”
8/14/1965 a Los Angeles, CA firefighter “was killed instantly when a wall of a grocery store, weakened by fires, fell on him. The location of the fire was 120th and Central Avenue. It was one of the hundreds of fires set during the riots on the night of August 13, 1965.”
8/14/1969 an Indianapolis, Indiana firefighter died after “Engine 28 had responded to an explosion in a gas station. While firefighters were in the basement of the building, a second explosion occurred, instantly killing the firefighter.”
8/14/1999 a Flourtown, PA “firefighter and members of his department were fighting a room fire in a nursing home. The firefighter assisted with the rescue of an unconscious staff member and then collapsed. He was rushed to the hospital but subsequently died.”
8/14/2011 a Dallas, Texas firefighter “perished after falling through the roof of a garden apartment building that was on fire. The 3-alarm fire began around 4:15 p.m. in a first-floor unit and spread through the 2-story building. He was working on the roof ventilating when he fell through into the fire. He was very quickly pulled out by firefighters, injured and badly burned, and taken to the hospital where he died later that evening. The early determination of the fire cause was a malfunctioning electrical appliance.”
8/14/2015 a triple manhole explosions rock Manhattan (NY) sent metal manhole covers flying at corner of 45th and 9th Avenue around noon. “Con Ed officials think underground electrical problems sparked the manhole blasts, possibly from the heavy volume of electricity being used during an August heatwave. But manhole cover explosions are actually fairly common in the city.”
8/14/2013 Mumbai, India eighteen sailors were killed on an Indian Navy submarine, INS Sindhurakshak, after an explosion and fire at a naval dockyard.
8/14/1988 a late afternoon fire at the Atlas Fireworks facility in Jaffery, New Hampshire destroyed the building of fire origin and two exposed trailers.
8/14/1960 seventy miles off the coast Savannah, GA an explosion and fire that burned for over an hour, fed by fuel oil leaking from blast-ruptured lines, in the aft engine room on the U.S.S. Exultant, a minesweeper, killed five.
8/14/1952 Marianna, FL seven persons were injured, two buildings were destroyed, and several others were damaged by an explosion and fire which occurred in the business district around 7:30 a.m. The explosion is believed to have been caused by a tank of bottled gas located in the drug store.
8/14/1933 a logging accident sparks forest fire in Oregon Coast Range. “A devastating forest fire is sparked in the Coast Range Mountains, located in northern Oregon, 50 miles west of Portland. Raging for 11 days over some 267,000 acres, the blaze began a series of fires that struck the region at six-year intervals until 1951 that became known collectively as the Tillamook Burn.”
8/14/1923 Frontier #1 coal mine explosion killed ninety-nine in Kemmerer, WY.
8/14/1919 fifty guests were displaced when the Hotel Victory at Put In Bay, OH, near Toledo, burned to the ground after a fire started in a cupola and enveloped the entire third floor of the structure that contained 625 rooms, a large dining room, parlors, and ball room built in 1891.
8/14/1917 the business section of Sumpter, OR was destroyed by fire, two died and several hundred are homeless.
8/14/1908 Cumberland, MD an immense three-story building milling plant on the corner of Front and Glenn Streets was destroyed by fire.
8/14/1907 Marshalsea, PA an insane asylum fire kills 1, 589 violent patients rescued.
8/14/1882 Lancaster, PA the “insane asylum” was destroyed by fire all 114 residents were safely evacuated.
8/14/1871 an incendiary fire in Goldsboro, NC at the Exchange Hotel fire spreads to ten buildings.
8/14/1945 Victory over Japan Day (V-J Day) ended WW II.
8/14/2003 a power blackout hits Northeast United States when 21 power plants shut down affecting over 50 million people.