11/25/1886 a Boston, Massachusetts firefighter “was suffocated by smoke while ventilating during a fire at 232-234 Friend Street, Downtown, a two-alarm, Box 8, (Merrimac House, Merrimac Street). Two other firefighters were also overcome by smoke and had to be resuscitated.
11/25/1911 a Birmingham, AL firefighter was killed when he was caught under burning debris while operating at a factory fire.
11/25/1968 a Los Angeles, CA firefighter died after “Task Force 69, Engine 23 and Battalion 9 were dispatched at 7:05 p.m. to a fire in a structure at 1128 Donaire Way, Pacific Palisades. Upon arrival the companies quickly extinguished a fire in a large single-family dwelling. While overhauling the fire, he suffered a fatal heart attack.”
11/25/2000 a Pensacola, Florida firefighter died, and two others injured in a flashover during a residential fire that was approximately 50 percent involved upon arrival. “The fire was caused when a pan caught fire on top of the kitchen stove and extended. The occupants of the house had evacuated prior to the arrival of the fire department.”
11/25/2002 three Coos Bay, OR firefighters lost their lives in a building fire that contained a truck and auto supply store and a machine shop. “The fire was first discovered by building occupants who smelled smoke and discovered warm walls and fire behind the wall in an upstairs bathroom. The occupants attempted to fight the fire prior to calling the fire department. When firefighters arrived on the scene, they reported a light smoke condition. Firefighters advanced 2 attack lines into the building.” The three firefighters were “working on the second floor of the building. Finding no visible fire, the firefighters opened up the walls and ceiling to expose and extinguish the fire. When the fire hidden in these concealed spaces was exposed to fresh air, it progressed rapidly. Firefighters on the roof reported that the roof was feeling spongy, and the IC ordered an evacuation of the building. At approximately the same time, the roof and other structural supports over the second floor collapsed. Fire spread rapidly throughout the building” trapping two firefighters under the debris on the second floor and propelling the other “down the stairs by the force of the collapse and ended up behind a customer service counter. A personnel accountability report found that three firefighters were missing. Other firefighters advanced attack lines into the building to search for the trapped firefighters.” “All three firefighters died of asphyxiation and exposure to heat and smoke. The fire was caused when heat from the flue of a propane-fueled incinerator/parts cleaner ignited structural components in the wall and ceiling of the building’s second floor. The fire may have burned in these concealed spaces for as long as 4 hours prior to discovery. The cleaner had been installed without a permit, and it was improperly installed. The owner of the business and the installer were later charged with criminally negligent homicide.”
11/25/1990, an accidental fire in a flammable liquid tank farm that supports Denver’s Stapleton International Airport burned for 55 hours, destroyed seven tanks, and consumed over 1.6 million gallons of jet fuel, there were no injuries. At 9:22 a.m., the control tower reported the fire, firefighters found a large pool fire in a pit containing piping and valves and flaming fuel apparently under pressure “spewing high into the air.” The pool fire was contained with AFFF, but firefighters were unable to extinguish the fire involving the pressurized fuel. It is believed that a damaged pump in the valve pit near the storage tanks caused the initial leak and fire. After 12-hours a friction coupling parted, allowing fuel from one storage tank to increase the fire and spread to an impounding area and involved two more fuel tanks
11/25/1984 St. Francisville, LA a gas pipeline under repair exploded that killed five and injured seventeen.
11/25/1951 the Austin Drug Store was destroyed by a fire in Gainesville, TX that damaged the “telephone company building on the east of the store and the Home Furniture Company on the west.”
11/25/1924 Wellsville (NY) a fire destroyed the high school building. “Five recent fires of incendiary origin in the immediate vicinity of the high school have led authorities to believe that today’s fire was of suspicious character.”
11/24/1912 Bennington, OK four buildings were destroyed by a fire.
11/25/1910 Newark, NJ a paper box factory fire leaves twenty-four dead, most were girls.
11/24/1889 two-hundred-fifty buildings were destroyed by fire in Lynn, MA that started at 11:55 a.m. on Almont Street.
11/25/1864 The Confederate Army of Manhattan, a group of eight Southern operatives, led by Jacob Thompson, infiltrated Union territory from Canada and attempted to burn New York City, during the final stages of the American Civil War. The group intended to simultaneously start fires in 19 hotels, a theater, and P.T. Barnum’s museum, to overwhelm the city’s firefighting resources on Friday night around 8:45pm. Most of the fires either failed to start or were contained quickly.