4/8/1766 the 1st fire escape was patented; it was a wicker basket on a pulley and chain.
4/8/1858 a Toronto, Ontario, Canada firefighter died “after a major fire was brought under control on Adelaide Street, he along with other members of Engine 6 were standing on the sidewalk directing streams, when without warning the chimney fell, striking him, causing him fatal injuries.”
4/8/1893 a Chicago, IL firefighter died “while operating at a fire at the corner of Ontario and Market Streets, which destroyed two, occupied two-story frame dwellings, he suffered a fatal heart attack while being treated for smoke inhalation.”
4/8/1902 a Chicago, IL firefighter “was fatally injured while fighting an industrial fire at 185 North Canal Street. Five firefighters became stranded on a third-story fire escape while fighting the fire, and water streams from hoses at the street level were unsuccessful in pushing back the flames and smoke that trapped the firefighters, the victim climbed up a thirty-foot ladder with a hose line. When he reached the top of the ladder, he was knocked off balance when he was struck by a stream of water from a hose down on the street. He fell thirty feet to the street below and was transported to Cook County Hospital.”
4/8/1907 a Manhattan, New York (FDNY) firefighter died after firefighters found heavy fire in a sprawling, four-story brick railway car barn. Less than ten minutes after the arrival of firefighters, the roof collapsed pushing a wall of the “fireproof” building out onto the members of Engine 80. He was killed, and seven members of the company were seriously injured. The only reason that more firefighters weren’t injured was that the second and third alarm companies hadn’t arrived yet.”
4/8/1914 a Harrisburg, PA firefighter died “while manning a hoseline at the rear of a general-alarm fire involving a printing firm after he suddenly collapsed.”
4/8/1942 an Ottumwa, Iowa firefighter “died of smoke inhalation following collapse at F.W. Woolworth’s fire.”
4/8/1966 a Newark, NJ firefighter died “while off duty in Bloomfield, he was electrocuted and killed while trying to rescue a boy stuck high in a train tower. A civilian was also killed trying to help. The boy was rescued by Bloomfield firefighters.”
4/8/2008 a Lawrence Park Township, PA firefighter died after he responded to a building fire at Port Erie Plastics. He was killed at the scene after he took command of the fire upon arrival and was on the ground directing firefighters when the aerial truck’s ladder malfunctioned, fatally injuring him.
4/8/2011 a fireworks storage bunker explosion killed five in Waikele, Hawaii. “The storage facility was authorized by the fire department to hold fireworks.”
4/8/1911 the Banner coal mine explosion killed 128 in Littleton, AL.
4/8/1911 a baggage car fire left two dead and six injured in Hartsville, SC
4/8/1919 the Home Torpedo Company explosion in Torrent, KY killed four when a fire spread to a large tank where nitroglycerine was stored.
4/8/1909 Manchester, NH a fire destroyed 70 buildings in the tenement house district in the south section of the city.
4/8/1894 Memphis, TN a four-story brick tenement block was destroyed by a fire that left five dead on Beal and Desoto Streets.
4/8/1891 Victor Mills in Shelbyville, TN was destroyed by fire.
4/8/1862 John D. Lynde patents aerosol dispenser that allows a liquid substance to be sprayed from a container.