10/26/2006 five USDA Forest Service, San Bernardino, California firefighters died at “a fire that was intentionally set at the bottom of a slope near the town of Cabazon, California. The fire quickly spread uphill toward a highway and the rural community of Twin Pines. The fire spread into an area where fire fighting responsibilities are provided by the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USDAFS). At 0130hrs, the local incident commander requested 5 USDAFS engine companies. By 0307hrs, the fire had grown to over 500 acres. By 0402hrs, the 5 engine companies, including Engine 57, had arrived at the command post. The companies were assigned to structure protection and evacuation duties. Engine 57 was assigned to protect a residential structure and discussed their plans with a command officer at approximately 0620hrs. The crew deployed hoselines from their apparatus and from a portable pump drawing water from a pool. Shortly after 0700hrs, the fire progressed rapidly and overcame the position held by Engine 57. Winds during this period exceeded 50 mph and the flame front was reported to be 90 feet tall. Other fire crews responded to the scene and provided treatment to the crew of Engine 57. Three firefighters were pronounced dead at the scene; one firefighter was transported to the hospital but died. The fifth firefighter was transported to the hospital and died as a result of his injures on October 31, 2006. All 5 firefighters died as the result of burns.”
10/26/1981 two Pleasantview, IL firefighters “died while fighting a fire at the Key West Restaurant in Countryside, Illinois. The two firefighters entered the restaurant wearing SCBA masks shortly before 5:00 a.m. in an effort to locate and extinguish the fire, which was mainly burning behind the walls and above the ceilings. They became disoriented in the dense smoke and were unable to find their way out of the restaurant before running out of air. Even after they were reported missing, it took fellow firefighters nearly thirty minutes to locate their bodies in the thick smoke. The collapse of the restaurant’s roof further complicated rescue efforts and sent two other firefighters to the hospital with injuries. The two firefighters were rushed to Community Memorial General Hospital in LaGrange, where they were pronounced dead. In the end, it took firefighters from nearly ten different communities more than three hours to extinguish the 3-11 alarm fire.”
10/26/1970 a Fresno, CA firefighter died at a discount department store fire. “On arrival, firefighters found heavy black smoke pushing through the roof and fire rapidly spreading throughout a sprawling one-story brick discount department store. The building had only opened ten days earlier and was filled with stock. Even though the building was equipped with an automatic sprinkler system, only a third of the system was in operation that morning. Firefighters battled the blaze for hours before bringing it under control. While operating at the fire, one firefighter died.”
10/26/1962 after firefighters brought a raging blaze under control a brick wall collapsed that killed six and injured several members of FDNY in a fire in Queens, New York; the fire and subsequent wall collapsed was at the former site of the Sefu Soap and Fat Company 44-15 56th Road.
10/26/1949 an Atlanta, GA firefighter died “while raising the aerial ladder of Ladder 8, at a multiple-alarm fire at Hudson & Vittur Company on Walton Street at Marietta, the metal ladder came in contact with the overhead trolley wires. As the firefighter got off the truck, he grounded himself and received the full charge of the heavy voltage, he died almost instantly.”
10/26/1927 a Chicago, IL firefighter “of Water Tower 1 died while fighting a 4-11 alarm fire in a commercial building at 920 West Randolph Street. He was operating the controls of the water tower to reposition it when the metal frame of the apparatus came into contact with a charged electrical trolley line. Electricity surged through the apparatus, electrocuting and throwing him from the vehicle. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful, and he died at a local hospital. Electricity continued to surge through the water tower apparatus until a firefighter with heavy gloves was able to turn the apparatus away from the live wire.”
10/26/1913 eight firefighters were killed at the Goodyear Rubber Company Fire in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. “After fighting a three-alarm fire for a while in a four-story brick rubber factory, it appeared that firefighters had the fire under control. Without warning, an explosion occurred, pushing out the rear wall. Seconds later, the front wall was also blown out, burying the street under four feet of hot bricks. More than a score of firefighters became trapped under tons of smoldering rubble, most of who were in the back alleyway, where many of the men were getting ready to leave the scene… It was determined that explosive gases had accumulated from the prolonged burning of the rubber products in the building, thereby causing the explosions. However, factory officials almost comically stated that “it was impossible” for a fire or explosion to have originated in their building.”
10/26/2013 five people, including three children, were killed in an accidental house fire caused by a small cooking stove short circuit in the Krasnodar Region of Russia in the village Yuzhny.
10/26/1997 Mableton, Georgia at approximately 1:00 a.m. an explosion and fire occurred in an 86,400 square-foot (240 feet by 360 feet) one story high (20-22 feet) masonry block with lightweight steel trusses mercantile store occupied by four people who were cleaning and restocking. A stockroom located in the southwest portion of the store housed a propane-fueled fork truck and five spare 40-pound cylinders of propane.
It was determined that the cause of the explosion and ensuing fire was a propane leak from one of the tanks in the stockroom. The building and contents were destroyed by the initial and subsequent explosion and fire.
10/26/1986 downtown Montreal, Quebec at the Alexis Nihon Plaza fire started at approximately 5:15 p.m. on the tenth floor of a 15-story office tower. The fire burned for 13-hour and caused a portion of one floor (at least one girder and several beams) to collapse; resulting in heavy fire damage to the 10th, 11th, and 12th floors. Additionally, the fire spread and gutted the entire top floor of the building. “The fire-resistive office tower was a nonsprinklered structure with heat detectors in the electrical rooms and smoke detectors in the elevator lobbies. The fire originated in an unoccupied tenant area, and burned openly. The fire was discovered after smoke had reached the top floor. The fire involved a large area on the 10th floor before firefighters arrived.” Firefighting crews use one stairway to gain access to the fire floor; low water pressure in the standpipe system further hampered interior operations.
10/26/1966 U.S.S. Oriskany (CV/CVA-34) an Essex-class aircraft carrier flash fire killed forty-three in the Gulf of Tonkin, Viet Nam.
10/26/1890 Mobile, AL conflagration: “a shingle mill, three cotton compresses and five cotton warehouses, with 5,630 bales of cotton, the Gulf City oil mill; the Mobile ice factory, three steamboats, eleven loaded and five empty freight cars, two and wood yards, a freight depot with a small amount of freight and six wharves” were destroyed by the fire.
10/26/1890 Beech Tree (Pittsburg), PA Train Wreck; train No. 40, with an extra pusher, broke in two on the upgrade