On 5/25/1843 the three-story brick Hotel Dixie on the corner of Monroe Street and Saint Augustine Street in Tallahassee, Florida was built in 1825, originally called the Washington Hall Hotel, was the start of a fire that spread north consuming several wood-frame houses, stores, and a warehouse. The fire was stopped by a 200-foot-wide buffer street (Park Avenue). This fire led to a city ordinance requiring brick structures in the downtown; several people were arrested and charged with arson; however, no one was convicted.
On 5/25/1890 two Lincoln, Nebraska firefighters “died from the injuries they sustained after operating at a barn fire. They were inside when the upper floor loaded with burning hay collapsed and fell on them.”
On 5/25/1912 a Houston, Texas firefighter “met his demise when a heavy building timber fell on him as he and his crew were fighting a large inferno downtown. The fire started in the Stowers Building and destroyed it and three other buildings on May 19, 1912. He fought valiantly for his life in Saint Joseph Hospital for the six days following the accident. He never regained consciousness after surgery was performed in a final attempt to save his life.”
On 5/25/1958 two Highland Park, New Jersey firefighters died “while operating a handline on an arch truss roof (bowstring truss) at a fire involving a car dealership, they were killed when the roof collapsed, plunging them into the roaring fire.”
On 5/25/1978 two Bethpage, New York firefighters died “while making an aggressive interior attack on a two-alarm fire in a pool supply outlet. They were caught in a flashover on the first floor. Both became disoriented in the blaze and burned to death. Due to heavy chlorine fumes, dense smoke, heavy fire, and a roof collapse, their bodies weren’t recovered until 12 hours later.”
On 5/25/1979 “a seemingly routine fire at a woman’s boutique became a rumbling inferno when a wall collapsed in a fiery shower of brick and glass, killing five men and injuring at least 25 others in Shelby, North Carolina. The four Shelby firefighters and one gas company employee were killed. Firefighters were at JE’s, a women’s clothing store in downtown Shelby for about 10 minutes and thought they had the blaze under control. Then there was an explosion without warning whatsoever. The building just fell around them.”
On 5/25/1979 a Jacksonville, Florida firefighter “was killed while attempting to rescue workers trapped in the hull of a burning oil barge at the Jacksonville Shipyards. Overwhelmed by gas fumes, he fell off a 40-foot ladder as he was rushing to reach the workers and lead them to safety. Twenty-one firefighters and six barge crewmen were injured in the fire.
On 5/25/1979 a Detroit, Michigan firefighter died from injuries received during a HazMat incident.
On 5/25/2015 thirty-eight people were killed and six injured in a fire at a privately run rest home that housed fifty-one residents in Pingdingshan in Henan province, central China about 500 miles south of the capital Beijing.
On 5/25/2014 a school bus fire killed sixteen children and a teacher in central Pakistan 112 kilometers north of Lahore, apparently caused by a spark when the driver of the dual-fuel van switched from natural gas to petrol.
On 5/25/2011 a fire onboard the U.S.S. Miami, a Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered attack submarine, damaged the torpedo room, crew quarters, and command and control areas in the front of the submarine at the Portsmouth, New Hampshire Naval Shipyard.
On 5/25/1983 a fire in Nassermeer Egypt killed 357.
On 5/25/1947 a coal dust explosion rocked Centralia Coal Co’s Mine #5 killing 111. “The Mine Safety and Health Administration of the United States Department of Labor reported the explosion was caused when an under burdened shot or blown-out shot ignited coal dust.” “American folksinger Woody Guthrie wrote and recorded a song about the Centralia mine disaster entitled The Dying Miner.”
On 5/25/1935 a fire in Atlanta, Georgia destroyed the Georgia Paint Company at 88 Luckie Street.
5/25/1887 Comiqué Opera House fire in Paris, France leaves 200 dead that was started by a gas lamp.