On 3/14/1981 an early morning fire at the Royal Beach home hotel killed nineteen and fourteen others, including two police officers, were injured at 5523 North Kenmore Avenue in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The fire started in the first-floor laundry room and spread to a nearby stairway trapping many of the sixty-two occupants of this 4-story residential building. A major portion of the structure collapsed. Contributing factors include improper enclosed and combustible stairways, penetration of corridor walls, and lack of proper protection in hazardous areas. Battery-operated single-station smoke detectors were present in the individual tenant rooms; however, a post-fire examination revealed several of these detectors did not have batteries.
3/14/1878 a Manhattan, New York firefighter “died as a result of the injuries he sustained March 12th, when he fell through a skylight on the roof of a burning building to the top floor.”
On 3/14/1912 three Hamilton, Ohio firefighters “died from the injuries they sustained while operating at the Butler County Courthouse fire. A collapse had occurred and the first firefighter was killed instantly. A second firefighter sustained burns and was taken to Mercy Hospital, where he died a short time later. The third firefighter would also die from the injuries he sustained that day. He would pass away at Mercy hospital on March 19, 1912.”
On 3/14/1969 a Crisfield, Maryland firefighter died after exposure to toxic smoke. “Units were on the scene of a chimney fire in the Lawsonia section of Crisfield. The firefighter was bending over in front of the chimney’s open flue and, using a mirror, he was about to get a visual of the condition of the chimney’s interior. Suddenly, a large plume of dense smoke rolled out of the chimney, engulfed him, and caused him to develop shortness of breath and coughing. Initially, he was taken from the fireground to his home to recuperate but was soon transported to McCready Memorial Hospital due to his trouble breathing growing worse. At approximately 10:00 p.m. on the day of his exposure, he died in McCready’s Emergency Department; the cause of death was smoke inhalation.”
On 3/14/1984 a Yonkers, NY firefighter died while fighting a structure fire at 37 Van Cortlandt Park Avenue. Assigned to ventilation operations, he and his company climbed to the roof of the large storage building, when it suddenly collapsed where he stood. Attempts to rescue him were extremely difficult and delayed due to the thick smoke and a large amount of clutter in the building. His body was later found, just as the fire was declared under control.
On 3/14/1990 a Blenheim, New York firefighter died after he responded to a liquid propane pipeline leak. “After proceeding to the incident, he took charge of the incident area and began warning residents to evacuate. The ignition of a propane vapor cloud enveloped him, and he suffered extensive second and third-degree burns which resulted in his death. Fifteen buildings were destroyed, eleven civilians injured, and one civilian was killed.”
On 3/14/2001 at approximately 4:54 p.m. a debris fire adjacent to a compactor unit at the rear of a supermarket in a shopping plaza containing several retail occupancies spread into the attic and roof spaces of the supermarket, eventually spreading throughout the occupied store left one Phoenix, Arizona firefighter dead and several others injured. The smoke condition worsened while a crew was working inside and reported decreased visibility as low-air alarms on the self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) sounded. While retreating crew members lost contact with the hoseline; the captain and a firefighter were able to escape, but two firefighters were missing. A “mayday” was dispatched. One of the missing firefighters was led out with assistance. The remaining missing firefighter was located unconscious in the meat preparation portion of the store. “Removal of the firefighter was difficult due to his size and the obstructions located in the storage room and the path to the exit. His removal required several additional crews.”
On 3/14/2016 an overnight three-alarm townhouse fire in the 19300 block of Churubusco Lane Germantown (Montgomery County) Maryland sent eight firefighters to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries around 1:00 a.m. Firefighters encountered heavy fire on arrival and the fire quickly went to a 3rd alarm; the firefighters were injured during a structural collapse that displaced three families, around 20 people, plus pets.
On 3/14/1988 a four-alarm fire at the Drake Apartments at 7:08 p.m. spread to six other buildings, damaging 29 apartments in Davis, California. The apartment complex had wood-frame structures, 17 that were one-story or two-story with untreated wood shingle roof covering. The fire started in the office building which was heavily involved in the fire upon arrival of the Fire Department. Fire erupted on two exposed buildings and firebrands ignited the wood-shingle roofs of several other buildings. Contributing factors include untreated wood shingles, magnitude and spread rate of the fire, and “suppression operations were impeded by limited space between buildings, the presence of trees and shrubbery, and the distance to fire hydrants on the north side of the building.”
On 3/14/1920 the town of Grandview, Texas was destroyed by a conflagration, 1500 were homeless. The fire started in the south part of town in a residence when an oil stove incubator exploded at 1:20 p.m. “and swept a section three blocks wide and twelve blocks long” destroying both the business and residences, burning “a path completely to the northern limits of the town.”
On 3/14/1918 in Jefferson City, Missouri the Cole County Courthouse was destroyed by an afternoon fire. “The records which were in fireproof vaults were not damaged.”
On 3/14/1915 the north side of the public square a block of brick store buildings was destroyed by fire in Mount Vernon, Texas around 4:00 a.m.
On 3/14/1910 twenty businesses suffer losses from a fire in Jamestown, New York that started shortly after 1:00 a.m. in a factory building and spread rapidly, driven by 30 MPH winds.
On 3/14/1906 in Biddeford, Maine a fire at the Trull Hospital on May Street damaged the two upper floors and causes the evacuation of seventeen patients; “surgeons at the hospital completed an operation upon a female patient while the firefighters were at work and while umbrellas were held over the operating table to ward off the water which was leaking into the operating room from the upper part of the building.”
On 3/14/1903 a fire started in the Oquaga House (hotel) in Deposit, New York at 4:20 a.m. that communicated to the adjoining Stone Opera House and then extended to a cigar factory, the Central House (another big hotel) a residence, and a livery stable.
Today is π (Pi) day 3.14. “The number π is a mathematical constant, approximately equal to 3.14159. It is defined in Euclidean geometry as the ratio of a circle’s circumference to the diameter of the circle. It is also referred to as Archimède’s constant.”