On 9/18/1926 two Philadelphia, Pennsylvania firefighters died “while operating at a five-alarm fire at Freihofer Baking Co. at 19th & Indiana Avenue, they were killed when they were caught under a collapsing wall.” “Firefighters had responded to a box alarm in the sprawling … [Read more...]
FIREFIGHTER HISTORY 9/17
On 9/17/1872 the first sprinkler system patent was issued to P.W. Pratt of Abington, Massachusetts. The world’s first sprinkler system was installed in the Theatre Royal on Drury Lane in the United Kingdom in 1812 by its architect Benjamen Wyatt, FSA. The system designed by … [Read more...]
FIREFIGHTER HISTORY 9/16
On 9/16/1920 the first documented vehicle bombing occurred in New York City on Wall Street. The explosion killed forty in front of the headquarters of the J. P. Morgan Company caused by a bomb in a one-horse wagon. Around noon, a horse-drawn wagon passed lunchtime crowds and … [Read more...]
FIREFIGHTER HISTORY 9/15
On 9/15/1963 a bomb exploded during Sunday morning services in the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama killing four young girls. “The church bombing and the fire was the third in Birmingham in 11 days after a federal order came down to integrate Alabama's school … [Read more...]
FIREFIGHTER HISTORY 9/14
On 9/14/1815 the first use of gooseneck piping for fire engines was reported in Boston, Massachusetts. The early American hand pump fire engines with a solid medal playpipe were called a gooseneck. On 9/14/1875 three Manhattan, New York (FDNY) firefighters died during a “public … [Read more...]
FIREFIGHTER HISTORY 9/13
On 9/13/1970 the Ponet Square Hotel fire killed nineteen residents in Los Angeles, California. The four-story 12,000 square feet per floor South Grand Avenue hotel was built in 1907 with an unsprinklered basement that was once a ballroom. An open stair extended flames to the … [Read more...]
FIREFIGHTER HISTORY 9/12
On 9/12/2019 eleven people, “many of them elderly patients, died in a fire that tore through Badim Hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The fire was likely started by an electrical short-circuit in one of the facility’s emergency power generators. In the wake of the fire, Rio’s … [Read more...]