6/26/1891 a Chicago, IL firefighter “died after he fell from a two-story roof while fighting a commercial fire at 263 W. 12th Street.”
6/26/1894 a Bridgeport, CT firefighter “died of the injuries he sustained after being involved in a ladder accident.”
6/26/1911 an explosion during a fire at an oil company in Portland, OR killed one firefighter and injured three other firefighters. The firefighter “died while fighting the $100,000 Union Oil fire at E. Salmon and Water Streets. He had gone into the burning building shortly before an explosion occurred which took his life.”
6/26/1918 a San Diego, CA firefighter “died in the performance of his duties while operating at a fire.”
6/26/1957 a Manhattan, New York (FDNY) firefighter “died from a heart attack caused by oxide fumes at a fire.”
6/26/1961 a Chicago, IL firefighter “died during an attic fire at 8153 So. Stewart Avenue. While battling the blaze, he collapsed due to smoke inhalation.”
6/26/1964 a Bedford – Stuyvesant, New York (FDNY) firefighter “lost his life while fighting a four-alarm fire in an abandoned school. The three-story brick building that was built in 1856 and was abandoned by the Board of Education in 1960. The members of Squad 3, on the third floor, were pulling ceilings down when a large section of it collapsed, trapping them. He was pinned under the ceiling. He was pulled out and a doctor performed an emergency tracheotomy on him before he was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.”
6/26/1971 a District of Columbia, Washington DC, firefighter died while “operating on the scene of a 4-alarm blaze at box 298, 472 L Street NW, when he was struck and killed by debris from a sudden wall collapse.”
6/26/1990 six Tonto National Forest, AZ firefighters died while cutting a firebreak at a lightning-sparked wildfire. “They were killed when a dry lightning storm occurred, and high winds suddenly pushed a wave of fire down onto them. The crew was killed due to smoke inhalation and burns when they were overrun by the wildfire which was at 50% containment at the time.”
6/26/1977 the Maury County Jail fire killed forty-two in Columbia, TN. Cyanide and carbon monoxide fumes filled the facility from a padded cell set on fire by an emotionally disturbed runaway youth from Wisconsin who would later be charged with arson and forty-two counts of manslaughter for the deaths of thirty-four prisoners and eight visitors. “Fifty-six inmates and about forty visitors were in the prisoner area shortly before 2:00 p.m. when Zimner apparently set fire to his cell with a cigarette given him by someone visiting another prisoner. He began screaming “I’m on fire!” Five deputies were in the administration area at the front of the jail.” “Ambulances took 75 persons to the Maury County Hospital, 42 dead and 33 injured.”
6/26/2011 a Kissimmee, FL six-alarm hotel fire left at least 150 residents without a home at the Vacation Lodge, 7514 West Irlo Bronson Highway, near Disney’s Animal Kingdom that started around 10:45 p.m. Six people were transported to Celebration Hospital suffering from smoke inhalation. The fire started in a room that extended to the attic of the wooden structure built in 1983 that was totally destroyed and damaged an adjoining restaurant.
6/26/1996 a fire in the United States Treasury Building damaged 8,300 square feet of the roof structure during re-roofing operations. “A number of dry chemical fire extinguishers were discharged on the fire, helping to limit the spread of the fire over the surface of the roof. The fire, however, continued to burn in the inaccessible combustible void space underneath the roof.”
6/26/1942 Long Island, NY Shelter Island, the New Prospect House Hotel a 100-room, six-story frame building was destroyed by fire.
6/26/1921 Hampton Beach, NH fire destroyed over twenty houses.
6/26/1921 Atlanta, GA the Georgia Hotel was destroyed by fire.
6/26/1910 Seneca Falls, NY the Seneca House Hotel fire killed three.
6/26/1909 Mount Hope, NY Mountain View Hotel was destroyed by fire that started about 8:30 p.m. from a defective chimney and extended to the building. “A number of summer visitors at the hotel saved most of their effects and sought shelter in near-by farmhouses.”
6/26/1908 Spooner, WI a saloon fire started around 2:00 a.m. and extended to two buildings.
6/26/1807 lightning hit a gunpowder factory in the small European country of Luxembourg, killing more than 300.
6/26/1848 the 1st pure food law was enacted in U.S.
6/26/1498 the toothbrush was invented.
6/26/1284 the Pied Piper lured away 130 children in Hamelin, Germany.