On 2/8/1933 seven Omaha, Nebraska firefighters were killed, and seventeen others were injured in a spectacular fire that destroyed the four-story Millard Hotel when the hotel walls collapsed. The loss was estimated at $250,000; all 45 guests made it to safety. The four-story … [Read more...]
FIREFIGHTER HISTORY 2/7
On 2/7/1904 over 1,231, firefighters worked to control the two-day conflagration; that destroyed over 1,500 buildings an area of some 140 acres covering most of the central city during the Great Baltimore, Maryland Fire. Firefighters were hampered by unstandardized fire hose … [Read more...]
FIREFIGHTER HISTORY 2/6
On 2/6/1923 the last fire horses “were retired from the Chicago Fire Department. Fire alarm box Number 848 was pulled at 12:40 p.m. at State and Chicago Avenues. The loud fire bell then rang in Engine 11’s firehouse at 10 East Grand Avenue, about a third mile south and just off … [Read more...]
FIREFIGHTER HISTORY 2/5
On 2/5/1893 eight Chicago, Illinois firefighters were injured in a natural gas explosion during the Donohue & Henneberry Building fire. “The immense building, a printing establishment, located at 407-425 Dearborn Street, was the scene of a structure fire about 3:00 p.m. which … [Read more...]
FIREFIGHTER HISTORY 2/4
On 2/4/1976 the “Cermak House Nursing Home in Cicero, Illinois fire caused by faulty wiring on a table lamp killed six and injured twenty-seven mostly elderly patients. The 600‐bed Cermak House was occupied by about 475 patients, but only those in the immediate area of the blaze … [Read more...]
FIREFIGHTER HISTORY 2/3
On 2/3/1939 nine Syracuse, New York firefighters were trapped and died in the collapse of a burning office building, buried under tons of wreckage. “The fire was discovered at 1:50 a.m. Scores of fire companies were called out by a general alarm and poured streams of water into … [Read more...]
FIREFIGHTER HISTORY 2/2
On 2/2/1978 the Wade Dump fire was “a spectacular general-alarm fire that involved the illegal three-acre ABM-Wade hazardous material dumpsite. Wade Dump was a rubber recycling facility and illegal industrial waste storage and disposal facility in Chester, Pennsylvania. It was … [Read more...]