On 9/28/1800 the first fireboats arrive in the United States. “New York City (NY) volunteer firefighters first mounted a crude hand-operated pump on a small boat, the era of the American fireboat was born. The fireboat would not become a mainstay of the American fire service; … [Read more...]
FIREFIGHTER HISTORY 9/27
On 9/27/1915 a gasoline explosion in Ardmore, Oklahoma left forty-three people dead and at least 200 injured, and the town was destroyed. One source suggests that a workman repairing a gasoline tank car in the Santa Fe railyard hammer caused a spark resulting in an explosion, … [Read more...]
FIREFIGHTER HISTORY 9/26
On 9/26/1898 a San Jose, California firefighter died “while manning a hose line with other members of his company on the second floor of the old Vendome Hotel on North First Street, shortly before midnight. The firefighter was caught in a sudden collapse of the rear wall and … [Read more...]
FIREFIGHTER HISTORY 9/25
On 9/25/2003 a four-story nursing home fire killed fourteen, and injured twenty-five (twenty critically) in Nashville, Tennessee. Most of the 120 residents were bedridden and unable to escape; firefighters carry many elderly occupants downstairs and ladders. The concrete building … [Read more...]
FIREFIGHTER HISTORY 9/24
On 9/24/1928 the Teatro de Novedades theater fire in Madrid, Spain killed up to three hundred persons, one report placed the death toll at 68, a second suggests 100, and a third estimated 300 and 200 injured. Hundreds were trampled in the panic that followed an explosion and fire … [Read more...]
FIREFIGHTER HISTORY 9/23
On 9/23/2005 a fire on a bus near Dallas, Texas killed twenty-four of the thirty-eight elderly residents and six employees evacuating from Hurricane Rita on a gridlocked highway. The fire was accelerated by patients’ oxygen making it too hot to rescue the victims. The fire may … [Read more...]
FIREFIGHTER HISTORY 9/22
On 9/22/1899 a Strathroy, Ontario, Canada firefighter “was trapped for over twenty minutes with other members after the rear wall fell on them at a barn fire at the corner of Kittredge Avenue and Caradoc Street. The other firefighters received minor injuries, but this firefighter … [Read more...]