11/30/1872 a Philadelphia, PA firefighter, an original member of the paid Philadelphia Fire Department formed on March 15, 1871, died while fighting a fire at Box 3, 2nd, and Dock Streets. “Upon arrival members found smoke showing from the second floor of a four-story tall … [Read more...]

11/29/1988 six firefighters, two entire pumper companies, lost their lives in a construction site explosion while they were extinguishing a fire in Kansas City, MO. The fire involved a trailer/magazine containing a blasting mixture of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil and probably … [Read more...]

11/28/1942 the Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire killed 492 occupants in Boston, MA, and 166 people were injured as fire swept through the nightclub, some patrons died at their tables as toxic smoke rapidly spread through the club. Panicked victims ran to the only exit they knew, a … [Read more...]

11/27/2019 five people died and three were hospitalized when a fire broke out on the 14th floor of the Cedar High Apartments, a public housing high-rise, in a heavily immigrant neighborhood of Minneapolis. “The fire began in the bedroom of Apartment 1407 around 4:00 a.m. One … [Read more...]

Today is “Black Friday,” the name “Black Friday” originated in Philadelphia when it was coined by the Philadelphia Police Department in 1966 to describe the chaos caused by massive traffic jams, car accidents, and congested sidewalks that resulted from the shopping day after … [Read more...]

Happy Thanksgiving, today kitchens become one of the busiest places in a home. Thanksgiving is the leading day for home fires involving cooking equipment. Three times as many fires occur on Thanksgiving than on an average day. Cooking remains the leading cause of home structure … [Read more...]