10/29/1974 the Federal Fire Prevention & Control Act of 1974 created the U.S. Fire Administration. In 1971 the Nation had approximately 12,000 citizens and 250 firefighter’s fatalities, 300,000 serious injuries, and $11.4 billion in property damage annually. Congress passed P.L. 93-498, the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act, in 1974 establishing the United States Fire Administration (USFA) and the National Fire Academy (NFA). Congress found that: “(1) The National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control made an exhaustive and comprehensive examination of the Nation’s fire problem, with detailed findings as to the extent of this problem in terms of human suffering and loss of life and property. (2) The United States had the highest per capita rate of death and property loss from fires of all the major industrialized nations in the world. (3) Fire was an undue burden affecting all Americans, and fire also constitutes a public health and safety problem of great dimensions. Fires killed 12,000 and scarred and injured 300,000 Americans each year, including 50,000 individuals who require extended hospitalization. Almost $3 billion worth of property was destroyed annually by fire, and the total economic cost of destructive fires in the United States was estimated conservatively to be $11,000,000,000 per year. Firefighting was the Nation’s most hazardous profession. (4) Such losses of life and property from fires were unacceptable to Congress. (5) While fire prevention and control was and should remain a State and local responsibility, the Federal Government must help if a significant reduction in fire losses is to be achieved. (6) The fire service and the civil defense program in each locality would both benefit from closer cooperation. (7) The Nation’s fire problem is exacerbated by: (A) Indifference with which some Americans confront the subject (B) Nation’s failure to undertake enough research and development into fires and fire-related problems (C) Scarcity of reliable data and information (D) Fact that designers and purchasers of buildings and products generally give insufficient attention to fire safety (E) Fact that many communities lack adequate building and fire prevention codes (F) Fact that local fire departments spend about 95 cents of every dollar appropriated to the fire services on efforts to extinguish fires and only about 5 cents on fire prevention (8) There is a need for improved professional training and education oriented toward improving the effectiveness of the fire services, including an increased emphasis on preventing fires and on reducing injuries to firefighters. (9) A national system for the collection, analysis, and dissemination of fire data is needed to help local fire services establish research and action priorities. (10) The number of specialized medical centers which are properly equipped and staffed for the treatment of burns and the rehabilitation of victims of fires was inadequate. (11) The unacceptably high rates of death, injury, and property loss from fires can be reduced if the Federal Government establishes a coordinated program to support and reinforce the fire prevention and control activities of State and local governments.”
10/29/1866 a Baltimore, MD firefighter died “while operating at a fire in a commercial building, he was killed instantly when the cornice of the building fell to the street, crushing him to death.”
10/29/1910 a Milwaukee, WI firefighter “was suffocated by smoke at a fire at the Phoenix International Light Company, 317 Chestnut Street.”
10/29/1915 a Binghamton, NY firefighter “died one week after inhaling smoke and super-heated gases while fighting a fire at Ballard and Ballard Dry Cleaning, located at 24 Charlotte Street.”
10/29/1933 a Somerville, MA firefighter “died after suffering the effects of smoke inhalation.”
10/29/1940 a York, PA firefighter “collapsed beside the apparatus while operating at a fire at the York Paper Manufacturing Company plant, at 242 W. Princess Street. They had responded to an alarm for a fire in a boiler room. He was rushed by police to York Hospital, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival. The cause of death was listed as coronary occlusion.”
10/29/1954 four Philadelphia, PA firefighters “died as a result of injuries sustained the previous day, when they were caught in an explosion at a laboratory. This brought the total number of men killed up to nine at this point. Another firefighter died November 3rd, the final two died November 26th.”
10/29/1966 a Portland, Oregon firefighter “died from a forty-foot fall off a catwalk when flames suddenly shot up from the sawdust bin at the B.P. Johns Furniture Corporation fire.”
10/29/1974 two Bronx, New York (FDNY) firefighters died “while lowering a 35-foot aluminum ladder after a three-alarm fire in a railroad yard, they were killed instantly when the ladder came in contact with a 13,000-volt overhead power line. The men were taking up from the fire.”
10/29/1977 a Detroit, MI firefighter “lost his life in a backdraft while fighting a fire in a vacant dwelling.”
10/29/1981 a Winthrop Harbor, IL firefighter “died while fighting a residential fire, he was searching for the seat of the fire on the first floor of the house.”
10/29/1991 a Wheeling, West Virginia firefighter died after he radioed that he was entering the building through an overhead garage door. Personnel began searching for him. He was found inside the garage in front of a vehicle.
10/29/1994 a Newark, New Jersey firefighter “was climbing down Truck 7’s aerial ladder after roof operations at a two-alarm fire at 62 Chester Avenue, that was reported at about 1:00 a.m. As he passed a saw to a fellow firefighter, that came in contact with a power line, electrocuting both of them. He was killed, and the other firefighter was injured. One civilian died in the fire, which had been extinguished at the time of the accident.”
10/29/2007 a Washington D.C. structure fire at 641 4th Street NE. critically injured two firefighters and caused significant injuries to two others before being extinguished. The fire extended to two other exposed row homes.
10/29/2008 a Crossville, AL “firefighter died while he and another firefighter advanced a hoseline to the front door of the residence. He sent the other firefighter back to the fire truck for a tool. When the firefighter returned, the first firefighter was gone, and the nozzle remained by the doorway. At about the same time, the fire inside of the structure intensified. The first firefighter became disoriented and transmitted a distress message from the interior. Firefighters were not immediately able to enter the structure due to fire conditions. Firefighters discovered the missing firefighter about 4 feet from the back door, but by the time firefighters reached him, he was deceased. The cause of death was smoke inhalation and thermal burns.”
10/29/2013 four people were killed in an early morning house fire in Mount Vernon, NY in a two-story house that trapped residents inside a basement apartment. The fire began in a small sedan and extended into the building; two of the victims, a son, and daughter, initially escaped but were killed trying to save their parents, who were locked basement.
10/29/2012 the Breezy Point conflagration during hurricane Sandy burned over 80 buildings in the Jamaica Bay community of Queens, NY. Firefighters arrived at 11:00 p.m. finding chest-high water in the streets as flames engulfed home after home; water and high winds whipping the coast kept the 6-alarm blaze raging for several hours.
10/29/2013 in York (Great Britain) one hundred snakes were killed in an intense house fire.
10/29/2007 an Ocean Isle Beach, N.C. house fire killed seven college students, where more than a dozen students slept. “The fire struck sometime before 7:00 a.m. and burned completely through the first and second floors, leaving only part of the frame standing. The waterfront home — named “Changing Channels” — was built on stilts, forcing firefighters to climb a ladder onto the house’s deck to reach the first living floor.”
10/29/1998 sixty-three people died and around two-hundred were injured by a fire on Hisingen Island in Gothenburg, Sweden at the Gothenburg discothèque. About 375 youths, the ages 12–25, were crowded into the building with an occupant capacity of 150 persons. The fire started around 11:42 p.m. on the third floor in or near the stairway, where a discothèque for high school students had been arranged to celebrate Halloween. “The fire was started by four teenagers aged 17–19, who were denied entry to the discothèque because of an argument.” “The fire safety was generally poor on the site.”
