Hey…
Amongst the many cool things we get to do, one is to spend time with FF’s throughout North America, visiting, listening and talking about firefighting. Every once in a while, a FD that we were at, has an event. Sometimes a tragic event and sometimes a CLOSE CALL. That’s what happened on Thanksgiving. We spent some time late last year with the "West Enders" in Brodheadsville, PA …and then the other day, we got a call they had a fire in a strip mall. And then later, the call was they had an explosion.
4 West End Firefighters and 2 Polk Township firefighters were inside while 2 other West End Firefighters and one from Sun Valley had entered….another Polk Township crew was getting ready to go into another area of the burning shopping area.
"When we entered Chocolateers, the bulk of the fire was to the rear in the kitchen area," West End Asst Chief Eric Hoffman said…."We started with a good knockdown of the flames in that area. We were on our knees, keeping low, with our hoses trained on the flames, which is standard procedure. Everything seemed to be going fine." That’s when the explosion happened. Fortunately, everyone was OK-that’s good news from our friends up in the Poconos…looks like a propane tank in one of the stores is amongst the areas being looked at…here are more details:
FIRE HISTORY & REMEMBERING THE OUR LADY OF ANGELS FIRE:
In alotta cases, we speak with young Firefighters and bring up some well known (or at least they were to me) fires….from MARSHALLS CREEK, PA (June 24 1964: Marshalls Creek FF’s responded to a tractor-trailer fire…the rear wheels of the tractor were on fire. The trailer was not placarded to warn them of the dynamite carried inside….shortly after their arrival, the trailer exploded killing three MC FF’s and seriously injuring two others)
Learn more here: http://www.marshallscreekfireco.org/Explosion/Explosion.html and also learn how that fire changed fire service history.
…and then there was the BEVERLY HILLS SUPPER CLUB FIRE in Northern Kentucky that killed 165 persons with over 200 injured. Take a look at what the SFPE and FIRE ENGINEERING Magazine has been doing about this fire: http://fefdic.ning.com/group/whatactuallycausedthebeverlyhillssupperclubfire
as well as general details here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_Hills_Supper_Club
….and looking back 66 years ago last night, November 28, 1942, was the COCOANUT GROVE FIRE where approx 492 people died and 166 were injured. Here is a video about that fire:
A recent example of how we have not always learned from our past, is the Rhode Island STATION NIGHT CLUB FIRE, February of 2003. Here is an interior and then exterior video as the fire started-and took off:
For the CG fire, the 1942 Boston FD transmitted 5 alarms from Box 1521 with the response of 25 Engine Companies, 5 Ladder Companies, Water Tower 2 and all three Rescue Companies. The men who worked that night never forgot what they saw…and our thanks to long time TSL member BFD FF Bill Noonan for the reminder.
Old(er) Firefighters need to do whatever we can to educate the young Firefighters and help them understand our history-from a tactical standpoint to just general fire history interest…….
…….and then of course, there was the OUR LADY OF ANGELS (School) FIRE…that happened 50 years ago this coming Monday, horrifically killing 92 little kids and 3 nuns in a fire that started in a stairwell during that last hour of classes at the Our Lady of the Angels school, in Chicago on December 1, 1958.
Our sincere thanks to Dave Statter911 for his excellent coverage and videos to help remind those who might remember-and educate those who weren’t even aware:
….here are some additional links about the Our Lady of Angels Fire:
http://www.olafire.com/ (Website actually dedicated to the fire).
Take Care-BE CAREFUL.
BillyG
The Secret List 11-29-08 / 0306 hours