On 5/14/1878 a New Haven, Connecticut firefighter died from the injuries he sustained after he had fallen from a roof.
On 5/14/1911 a Chicago, Illinois firefighter died “while fighting an industrial fire at 2121 W. Rice Street. The fire originated at the rear of the Swanson Theater and was discovered at 4:30 p.m. Firefighters arrived on the scene as several hundred people evacuated the theater, but the flames had spread next door to a factory that produced pianos and cabinets. The factory contained hundreds of wooden pianos and cabinets as well as numerous other combustibles, including oils, paints, varnish, and other wood finishing supplies. He and four other firefighters were operating on the third floor of the factory when large quantities of varnish and oil exploded. The other firefighters escaped the explosion, but he was killed. The firefighter was overcome by smoke and was burned in the explosion.”
On 5/14/1915 two Newark, New Jersey firefighters were killed “while working at a three-alarm fire at the Stengel Factory, they were caught under a collapsed wall and died from their injuries.”
On 5/14/1971 a Queens, New York (FDNY) firefighter “was killed at a four-alarm fire when a violent gas explosion tore through the basement of an occupied six-story brick apartment house. Several other firefighters were injured in the blast, as well as 75 civilian occupants.”
On 5/14/2006 a Denver, Colorado firefighter was fatally injured at a residential two-story structure fire with possible trapped victims. He was assigned to the engine first on the scene followed shortly by a ladder truck, where they encountered heavy smoke pouring out of the back of the residence. The firefighter and two firefighters entered the structure in a fast attack mode while firefighters from the other apparatus rescued a civilian. He and the two firefighters advanced the attack hoseline through the first floor of the house and up the stairs where they encountered high heat and zero visibility. After further advancing into what they thought was a hallway (it was a small bedroom), they concluded that they were not in the fire room. They felt the heat and believed they had a fire in the attic above them, so they backed out to regroup at the top of the stairs. The two firefighters assumed the firefighter was nearby. Both firefighters ended up exiting the structure, within minutes of each other, when their low air alarms went off. Other firefighters heard a personnel alert safety system (PASS) alarm when they were on a landing just below the top of the stairs. The Rapid Intervention Team (RIT) was activated but the firefighters who had reported the PASS alarm also took the initiative to find the missing firefighter. They located him underneath a mattress and pulled him to the doorway near the top of the stairs. The RIT progressed to the top of the stairs and extricated him to the yard where cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was performed. The firefighter was transported to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries seven days later. He was 15 shifts away from his planned retirement.
On 5/14/1976 the oil tanker Urqui Ola exploded near the Spanish harbor at La Coruña. “An estimated 101,000 tons of crude oil (513,000 barrels) burned for 16 hours. Nearly 200 km of coasts were affected, and black smoke spread over 100 km inland. A thick black cloud moved towards the Spanish town of La Coruña and was a threat to people with ill health. Monitoring of the air quality detected high levels of volatile gases.”
On 5/14/1947 the Minerva Film Company fire killed twenty-three in Rome, Italy.
On 5/14/1912 a Waukesha, Wisconsin Hotel was destroyed by fire.
On 5/14/1907 the Haverhill, Massachusetts Bottling Works explosion killed two.
On 5/14/1907 a San Francisco, California Saloon & Cafe fire started in P. J. Sullivan’s saloon on Van Ness Avenue and extended to Tait’s Café causing considerable damage.
On 5/14/1907 a Haverhill, Massachusetts, the explosion of a soda water tank at a bottling works killed two men, a third was severely injured and the building was damaged while one of the employees was changing a tank.
On 5/14/1903 the Manchester, New Hampshire Massabesic Hotel was destroyed by incendiary fire.
On 5/14/1897 the Lexington, Kentucky Court House fire started around 9:45 a.m. in the attic.
On 5/14/1894 a bleachers fire in Boston, Massachusetts spreads to 170 adjoining buildings.
On 5/14/1870 the Steamer War Eagle burned and sank leaving five dead in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
On 5/14/1991 two trains crashed in Japan killing over forty people.
