On 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, Missouri. The fire involved a trailer/magazine containing a blasting mixture of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil and … [Read more...]

On 11/28/1942 the Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire killed 492 occupants and 166 people were injured in Boston, Massachusetts, 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 … [Read more...]

On 11/27/1912 a Waukegan, Illinois corn production plant explosion killed twenty people, injured twenty-five, and wrecked the starch house of the Corn Products Refining Company. An employee reported “the first flash of flame set fire to the powdered starch in the air and the … [Read more...]

On 11/26/1978 an arson fire at the Holiday Inn-Northwest in the Town of Greece, 1525 West Ridge Road (near Rochester) New York “killed ten people and injured thirty-four. The building was constructed in 1963 and consisted of a wood-frame structure with interior hallways and 91 … [Read more...]

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 Thanksgiving. Contemporary … [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 any average day. Cooking remains the leading cause of home structure … [Read more...]

On 11/23/1963 Golden Age nursing home of Fitchville, Ohio fire killed sixty-three and injured twenty-five most were over 60 years old and many were invalids, in the 60-year-old former Norwood Chronic Hospital at a 4:45 a.m. flash fire spread rapidly through the building; … [Read more...]