Waldbaums Fire: 6 Firefighters Killed: A "Fire You Must Know" (The Secret List)

All,
On August 2, 1978: 6 FDNY Firefighters were killed in the Line of Duty, and more than 35 injured, some seriously. Lost in the Line of Duty was covering Lt. James Cutillo 39, 33rd Battalion, FF Charles Bouton 38, Ladder Co 156, FF William O’Conner 29, Ladder Co 156, FF James P McManus, 48, Ladder Co 153, FF George Rice, 38, Ladder Co 153, FF Harold F. Hastings, 40, Ladder Co 153.

In brief summary, while on the roof, with fire below, the roof collapsed, plunging 12 Firefighters into the fire. The fire began in a hallway near the compressor room as crews were renovating the store, and quickly escalated to a fourth-alarm. Less than an hour after the fire was first reported, nearly 20 Firefighters were on the roof when the central portion gave way.

Just prior to the collapse, Louise O’Conner, Wife of FF William O’Conner was at the scene of the fire with her 3 small children. While FF O’Conner was operating on the roof, he waved to his family, and then they waved back, then shortly thereafter the roof collapsed, taking her husbands, and the father of her children’s life. Louise is an active member of the Fire
Bell Club of FDNY.

MORE DETAILS

The fire started at 8:40 am in the “under renovation” Waldbaums supermarket on Ocean Avenue in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn. Dozens of electricians and plumbers were renovating the building when the fire started in the mezzanine area. The “all hands” signal was transmitted for the working fire at 8:49, the 2nd alarm at 9:02. Shortly after 9:20, with 20 firefighters operating on the roof, a crackling sound was heard and the center portion of the roof fell into the smoke and flames. Some of the firefighters were seen running toward the edge of the roof, some made it, others nearby fell into the hole….a nightmare. At 9:18 the 3rd alarm was transmitted and it went to a 5th alarm.

Laborers and Firefighters managed to pull out some Firefighters who were near walls, some crawled out. Several holes were made into the wall to pull out injured survivors and victims. Some wives were at the scene when their husbands fell. It was a horribly tragic and sad day-one we need to remember as those Firefighters gave their lives-but so many have lived since that fire as we have learned about.

PERSPECTIVE

At the time, I was a FF at the Manhasset-Lakeville VFD and that day, I was working in New York City at my I.S.O. job along with my partner, a retired FDNY truck Captain and great guy named Angelo Puleo. We listened in our office fire radio to that fire as it unfolded from the time the first alarm was transmitted. It was incredible radio traffic that day, to say the least. And as we were listening, Angelo started to tell me about that building that he knew from experience (he worked all of his career in Brooklyn/Coney Island) and proceeded to spend nearly the rest of the day teaching me all he knew about truss construction and the inherent dangers for Firefighters.

HERE ARE REPORTS FROM THE FIRE:

https://www.scribd.com/document/584408207/Waldbaum-s-38th-Anniversary-Report
https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/2017/05/09/RemarksSunderAug212008briefing.pdf
https://nfpa.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_5603f7f5-70d5-4f24-bdac-76d15684a69e/

HERE ARE RELATED RESOURCES:

WALDBAUMS: Get’n Salty: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dM2FNoVoGQ&t=213s

WALDBAUMS Video Montages:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTzBg1YIZmI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo5Zb2pmhac

WALDBAUMS NFFF Memorial Monday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra6w3OBKp64&t=419s

WALDBAUMS FireRescue1: https://www.firerescue1.com/firefighting-history/articles/waldbaums-supermarket-fire-the-historic-fire-that-killed-6-fdny-firefighters-wV8FV2rAUNbNzLs3/

WALDBAUMS Firefighter Nation: https://www.firefighternation.com/fire-leadership/waldbaum-s-supermarket-fire-35-years-later/

A Must Read from Chief Vinny Dunn:

THE “TRAGIC TIMBER TRUSS COLLAPSE TRILOGY”