9/6/1896 the Yore’s Opera House in Benton Harbor, MI was destroyed by fire, twelve firefighters died. “Sometime around midnight the large four-story brick building of Yore’s Opera House started to burn. Before firefighters could arrive, the fire built in ferocity and the building was well engulfed in flame. St. Joseph fire departments also responded to assist the Benton Harbor fire department and when the hook and ladder companies arrived, went to the rear of the building hoping to direct a stream through a second story window. They were in the process of climbing the ladders when a wall came down and buried fifteen firefighters under debris and hot bricks. Yet another report states that they were not on the ladders, but in the alley of the building. Of the fifteen trapped firefighters, eleven were killed during blaze, and four were badly injured. And of the four badly injured one died 4 days later from his injuries. Rescue could not be attempted immediately due to the instability of the remaining walls. Finally, some brave souls in the crowd ran forward to rescue the men. The last firefighter pulled from the building was at 5 o’clock. The living were cared for and treated and the City Hall was set up as a temporary morgue. Many had to be identified by the papers in their pockets. Other buildings were also damaged and/or destroyed such as a two-story brick building owned by William Frick when one of the side walls fell on it, demolishing it and all contents within.
9/6/1894 a Milwaukee, WI firefighter “was killed when a chemical extinguisher exploded at a fire.”
9/6/1924 Eureka, CA Humboldt County Courthouse Tower and three businesses were destroyed by two separate fires and severely injured a firefighter.
9/6/1935 an Oregon National Guardsman, assigned firefighting duties died at the McKenzie Bridge fire in the Willamette National Forest. “The fire was rapidly growing and exceeded 2,500 acres. While working on the fire, he stepped from behind a tree and was struck by a falling snag that was on fire which broke his neck and killed him upon impact.”
9/6/1939 a Chicago, IL firefighter died “while fighting a fire in a junk yard at 844 North Halsted Street. He was electrocuted when he came into contact with an exposed power line. The insulation had burned off during the fire.”
9/6/1958 a San Francisco, CA firefighter “died from injuries he sustained while operating at a fire.”
9/6/1966 a forest fire killed twenty-five firefighting soldiers, near Lisbon, Portugal.
9/6/1970 a Calgary, Alberta, Canada firefighter was trapped and died in a major fire at the Alberta Stockyard.
9/6/1988 a Pontiac, Michigan firefighter “died from asphyxiation after being trapped in a downtown burning building, after it collapsed. Three other firefighters were injured with him.”
9/6/1990 a Sedgewick County, Wichita, Kansas firefighter died while operating on a wildland fire. “He and several other firefighters were fighting a brush fire. At approximately 4:03 p.m., he was found collapsed on a car wheel and tire near a barbed wire fence. The fire was on the other side of the fence. It was determined that the firefighter died of a heat stroke. The firefighters were wearing 40-50 lbs. of equipment and operating in 94-degree temperatures with high humidity.”
9/6/2010 a Tarrytown, NY firefighter died in a confined space rescue. “A resident of the Village of Tarrytown complained that the sewer service to their home was clogged. The Department of Public Works (DPW) attempted to clear the clog in the area of the home but was not successful. The Tarrytown Fire Station was in the area of the sewer problems. There are three sewer system openings in proximity to the fire station: one in front of the station, one in the station, and one behind the station. DPW called the fire chief and asked him to open the fire station so that DPW employees could have access to the sewer system inside of the station. Firefighters assisted DPW employees with access to the opening behind the fire station. A DPW employee entered the sewer opening. The DPW employee lost consciousness as he descended the interior ladder and fell to the bottom. The DPW foreperson requested assistance from firefighters. The fire chief asked dispatch for EMS assistance and also started a fire department incident. As an atmospheric meter from the fire department was prepared for use, a firefighter entered the opening. He was not wearing a SCBA or harness. When the firefighter was half way down the ladder, he lost consciousness and fell to the bottom. Additional resources were called to the scene and the firefighter and the DPW employee were removed. Both the firefighter and the DPW employee died of asphyxiation due to an oxygen deficient atmosphere.”
9/6/2010 a fire near the Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races (WV) track killed twenty-seven horses that was reported at 4:41 a.m. The damage to the barns was about $1.2 million.
9/6/1949 Saginaw, MI a house fire killed four children that was believed to have started on the stove.
9/6/1921 Wentworth, NH a fire destroyed two stores and seven houses in the center of the town that started in the general store.
9/6/1920 Klamath Falls, OR a fire killed nine and destroyed a block of the town burning a rooming house, hotel, and the opera house.
9/6/1885 Fort Wayne, IN a warehouse fire on Columbia Street, totally destroyed the building, losses placed at $20,000, stock of wool, seed, hides & pelts, damaged.
9/6/1869 Plymouth, PA the Avondale Mine fire killed about two hundred that started in the flue and bottom of the Steuben Shaft.
9/6/1856 Cape May, NJ the Mount Vernon hotel fire claimed five lives around 10:45 p.m. and destroyed the building capable of accommodating 2,100 visitors. Celebrated for its immense size, with comfortable larger apartments and superior accommodations it was first occupied in 1853 but still not finished at the time of the fire.
9/6/2014 Istanbul, Turkey ten people killed in elevator accident that fell 32 stories at a construction site.
9/6/1943 Philadelphia, PA the Congressional Limited Train wreck left one hundred fifty dead and more than ninety injured after six cars were derailed (two coaches, a twin diner unit and two Pullman); the Congressional Limited was the fastest train of the Pennsylvania Railroad.