4/20/2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill (also referred to as the BP oil spill or the Gulf of Mexico oil spill) and drilling rig explosion, killed eleven platform workers and injured seventeen others that was finally stopped 7/15/10 when the wellhead capped, after releasing about 4.9 million barrels of crude oil. “During March and early April, several platform workers and supervisors expressed concerns with well control. At approximately 9:45 p.m. methane gas from the well, under high pressure, shot all the way up and out of the drill column, expanded onto the platform, and then ignited and exploded. Fire then engulfed the platform.”
4/20/1999 the Columbine (CO) High School massacre left thirteen dead and twenty-three wounded after two students went on a shooting rampage about 11:20 a.m.
4/20/1942 a Litchfield, IL firefighter died while fighting a fire at the old Litchfield Foundry. “The alarm was received at 7:20 p.m. He and other members of his company were among the first firefighters on scene and they immediately attacked the fire. The firefighter had been operating a hoseline on the south side of the building for about 30 minutes when he collapsed. Two other firefighters carried him to an automobile and drove him to St. Francis Hospital, but efforts to revive him were unsuccessful. Investigations later showed that the heat was so intense where he was working at the south side of the building that windows one block south had cracked because of the heat.”
4/20/1946 a Boston, MA firefighter collapsed during a fire on April 19th, at the rear of Keystone Manufacturing Co. factory on Hallet Street, Dorcester. He died from those injuries.”
4/20/2000 a Center Point, Alabama firefighter died while fighting a fire in a single-family residential structure that included a full basement. “Upon arrival, firefighters found heavy smoke showing from the structure and found that the fire was in the basement. Firefighters attempted to reach the fire through the garage door (which opened into the basement) but were unsuccessful in locating the seat of the fire. A positive-pressure fan was placed at the garage door. Another team of three firefighters, including the one who died, advanced an attack line through the front door of the residence. On their initial entry into the residence, they were unable to locate any fire. The crew withdrew, found that a positive-pressure fan had been placed at the front door, and returned to explore another area of the house. The victim was at the nozzle as the hoseline was advanced into the second entry on the main floor of the residence. As the line was advanced, he fell through the floor into the area of the basement that was involved in fire. Other firefighters helped as he attempted to jump back to the first floor from the basement, but his efforts were unsuccessful. Firefighters attempted to lower a scuttle hole ladder into the hole but the location of the hole and the sagging of the first floor into the basement prevented its use. Firefighters instructed him to use the hoseline to protect himself as they attempted to rescue him through the basement. An attack team entered the basement and fought their way to the room that contained the trapped firefighter. He was removed from the basement and received ALS medical treatment immediately. He was transported by ground and air ambulances to a hospital in nearby Birmingham. He was treated in the emergency room but was pronounced dead.”
4/20/2017 a, New York (FDNY) firefighter died “while operating in a fire in a second-floor apartment in a five-story apartment building at 1615 Putnam Avenue in Queens. He was assigned as his unit’s outside ventilation firefighter, was accessing the roof of the structure when he fell five stories. The firefighter was transported to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center where he succumbed to the injuries sustained in the fall.”
4/20/2013 a mother and four children were killed in house fire outside Atlanta. GA, the only survivor was an 11-year-old girl who escaped after the mother woke her up and told her to run; the fire started just after 1:00 a.m. in the suburb of Newnan. The state fire marshal’s office ruled that it was an electrical fire and an accident; investigators believe a faulty breaker in the electrical panel started the fire.
4/20/1971 the Imperial Hotel fire killed twenty-four in Bangkok, Thailand, believed to have started after a cook fell asleep falling asleep while fixing food.
4/20/1914 The Colorado National Guard attacked a shantytown and burn it to the ground in Ludlow, CO occupied by 1200 striking coal trying to win the right to organize, nineteen people died.
4/20/1905 the main building of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN was destroyed by fire while 300 students were engaged in class work shortly before noon.