On 10/1/1964 Boston’s Trumbull Street fire killed five firefighters and injured twelve when part of a vacant four-story abandoned factory collapsed in the South End of Boston. At 12:32 a.m. a passerby pulled Box 1671 transmitting the alarm; upon arrival, Engine 3 and Ladder 3 reported heavy fire showing from the upper floors. Engine 3 stretched a line to the second floor, but they were forced back to the landing on the first floor. A second alarm was struck at 12:38 a.m. and a third at 12:42 a.m. and changed to a defensive operation. A fourth alarm was called at 12:45 a.m. “The first collapse occurred as Engine 24 and Engine 37 prepared to advance lines over the 35′ ladders thrown in front of the building. Firefighters were knocked from ladders and balcony fire escapes; other men on the ground were buried and burned.” As the rescue effort began another collapse occurred, and a fifth alarm was transmitted at 12:54 a.m. The fire was believed to have been started by two boys who had been spotted around the building that afternoon; both denied starting a fire and neither were charged. The report cites the cause of the collapse as “rapid deterioration of the roof rafters due to the heavy burn and being termite-ridden for years.”
On 10/1/1910 a massive explosion from a bomb destroyed the Los Angeles (California) Times building in the city’s downtown area, killing twenty-one and injuring many more. “At 1:07 a.m. an explosion rips through the offices of the Los Angeles Times. In the ensuing fire, many fell to their deaths by jumping out windows to escape the fire, while even more could not escape the flames. The investigation revealed the Dynamite Conspiracy, which was linked to more than 100 bombings across the country. Two other time bombs — intended to kill Gen. Harrison Gray Otis, the publisher of the newspaper, and Felix J. Zeehandelaar, the head of a Los Angeles business organization — were discovered later that morning hidden in the bushes next to their homes.”
On 10/1/1891 a Minneapolis, Minnesota firefighter “died as a result of injuries sustained on September 25, 1891, when he was forced to jump 35 feet from the roof of a burning grain elevator after an explosion spread fire throughout the structure.”
On 10/1/1908 two Youngstown, Ohio firefighters died in a mercantile occupancy fire. “At 6:05 p.m. smoke was seen coming from the basement out of the radiators at the Knox 5 and 10 cents store at 108 to 112 West Federal Street. The men from the central station were sent to investigate. Shortly after their arrival, a general alarm was struck sending all of the fire units in the city to the scene. By 9:30 p.m. the fire had spread through all four stories. The firefighter was on the roof along with eight other firefighters when the roof caved in sending them plummeting 4 stories into the basement of the building. Six of the eight firefighters recovered and did not sustain any fatal injuries.”
On 10/1/1945 a Stamford, Connecticut firefighter “died of the injuries he sustained while operating at a fire.”
On 10/1/2003 two New Bremen, German Township, Ohio firefighters died at a fire in an 80-foot tall concrete silo at Hoge Lumber in New Knoxville. “The silo was 20 feet in diameter and contained sawdust and wood scrap from a manufacturing business. The sawdust and wood scrap were accumulated in the silo and then conveyed by mechanical equipment for use as fuel for an on-site electrical generation and heating plant. The manufacturing occupancy had been the site of numerous previous fires in all areas of the operation. Firefighters observed smoke coming from a room at the base of the silo and the top of the silo. They observed burning wood materials falling out of the bottom of the silo. They also used a thermal imaging camera and observed hot spots close to the base of the silo and about 15 feet above the base of the silo. Roof access was limited to a small ladder that scaled the side of the silo. The decision was made to request mutual aid from the New Bremen/German Township Fire Department for a ladder truck. Before the arrival of the ladder truck, firefighters operated handlines into access doors at the base of the silo in an attempt to control the fire close to the bottom of the silo. Once on the roof, firefighters observed smoke coming from an open roof hatch. The firefighters returned to the ground. The decision was made to attempt to extinguish the fire. A piercing nozzle was inserted through an access door near the ground. A handline with a cellar (distributing) nozzle from the aerial tower was operated into the roof hatch. A decision was made to switch from the cellar nozzle to a fog nozzle. The hose was shut down and removed from the hatch. Three firefighters were either on the roof of the silo or the platform of the tower ladder. As the uncharged hose was removed from the hatch (approximately 80 minutes after the ladder truck arrived on the scene) an explosion occurred. The force of the explosion ripped the roof of the silo off and damaged the top of the silo. Pieces of the silo rained down in an area as wide as 100 yards from the base of the silo. Two firefighters on the roof of the silo were thrown to the ground and a firefighter was blown off of the tower ladder platform and fell to the ground. Firefighters on the scene began to provide medical assistance for the injured and EMS responders were called to the scene. Several of the victims were transported to the hospital by helicopter. Two firefighters were killed. Ten others, including civilians, on the scene, were injured. Fire investigators concluded that the fire was caused by heat generated by the failure of mechanical equipment in the base of the silo.”
On 10/1/2009 in Bangor, Michigan (near Grand Rapids, MI) three people, a husband, wife, and their 15-year-old daughter, were killed in a home fire that started around 2:30 a.m. in the 100 block of North Center Street.
On 10/1/1898 the business section of Colorado Springs, Coloraed fire on an outdoor country music concert from a Mandalay Bay hotel room, killing at least 58 people, and injuring more than 500. As officers entered the 32nd-floor room of the suspect, 64-year-old Mesquite resident Stephen Paddock, shot and killed himself.
On 10/1/1987 eight people were killed in Los Angeles, California when an earthquake measured 5.9 on the Richter scale.
On 10/1/1896 the Cedar Keys, Florida Hurricane, left over fifty dead. “The only report from Cedar Keys comes by way of Gainesville, 50 miles northeast of the gulf town, and is to the effect that Cedar Keys has been swept away and many persons killed and wounded. This report reached Gainesville by courier from Williston which is 20 miles north of Cedar Keys. The report is hardly exaggerated, as Cedar Keys was directly in the path of the hurricane and received its full force as it leaped raging from the gulf. After demolishing Cedar Keys, the storm, moving in a southeasterly direction, struck Williston a village of 400 inhabitants. At that place 11 houses were wrecked, one person killed and 15 wounded some it is feared fatally.”
On 10/1/1916 the NFPA’s Fire News began as NFPA News Lettersdo was destroyed by fire. “The fire started in a pile of rubbish underneath the platform of the Denver & Rio Grande freight depot. Within five minutes it had communicated to freight cars standing at the depot, and it spread so rapidly that it was impossible to move any of the cars.”
On 10/1/2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada, a gunman open