Today in Fire History 3/12

On 3/12/1883 around 11:00 p.m., eleven lodgers died nine miles from the city of Deadwood, North Dakota at Brownsville Wood Camp on the Homestake Railway line when a fire destroyed the one-story-long, cheaply constructed shack of pitch pine, building with sleeping loft, accessible only by a ladder. Four others were seriously injured. “The fire undoubtedly started near the ladder cutting off all retreat and as there were no windows to the garret, escape became impossible.” The fire is believed to have started from kindling left near the stove within five feet of the door. Others generally believed the fire was started by the carelessness of some men who were accustomed to reading by candlelight while lying in bed. “The men who escaped during the burning of the Brownsville boarding house, give the following information: They were awakened by the blowing of a locomotive whistle about one o’clock Sunday morning. The room was filled with smoke from the back and the fire was around the kitchen stove. The men were dazed, but four of them went down the ladder and escaped. Three escaped unhurt through a small sliding window leading from the street to the roof of an adjoining building. Of the eighteen persons in the house eleven perished, and their bodies turned to ashes. It was usually occupied by thirty lodgers, but Saturday night only fifteen were in the house.”

On 3/12/1915 in Springfield, Massachusetts the Evening Union (newspaper) office fire killed six, the fire originated on the ground floor, and extended up the elevator shaft, cutting off all escape by the stairway. “Six employees met their death, five from jumping and one from the flames; three others were badly injured…The fire originated on the ground floor, and sped up the elevator shaft, cutting off all escape by the stairway. The building was a death trap. About forty editors and compositors were imprisoned in the fifth story, but many escaped by way of the roof and on a ladder raised by the fire department. "As some of the frenzied victims leaped wildly into the air, shrieks of horror arose from the great crowd below, followed by groans as the unfortunates struck the pavements. Attempts to check the fall of some of the jumpers with canvas and blankets were successful.”

On 3/12/1903 a Newark, New Jersey firefighter died “at Box 24 located at 74 Market Street, he was caught in a backdraft at a saloon and mattress manufacturer fire and was severely burned. The next day he died from his injuries.”

On 3/12/1910 a Boston, Massachusetts firefighter died from injuries received when he was hit by falling walls on Boston Elevated Railway property at 439 Albany Street, in the South End during a 4-alarm fire for Boston Elevated Railway property on Harrison Avenue. He was leaving the roof area after making sure that all his men had cleared the roof. Several other members were injured, one severely.

On 3/12/1926 a Chicago, Illinois firefighter “died after he was overcome by smoke while fighting a residential fire at 6611 Oshkosh Street.”

On 3/12/1938 five Paterson, New Jersey firefighters “died after a four-alarm fire involving three warehouses had been brought under control. They were killed when the Quackenbush Warehouse building collapsed at Box 474 - 51-55 Prospect Street.”

On 3/12/1942 a Jersey City, New Jersey firefighter died from injuries received at a still alarm of fire located on Morris Street near Warren Street.

On 3/12/1946 a Detroit, Michigan firefighter “died from smoke inhalation.”

On 3/12/1983 a Pensacola, Florida firefighter “collapsed at a fire at a paint store while pulling 2-½” hose. He was transported to the hospital where he died eight days later. The fire was ruled an arson. The fire started when a man identified as a disgruntled employee threw paint thinner on workers and furnishings and ignited the fluid with a cigarette lighter.”

On 3/12/1987 in Detroit, Michigan three firefighters died, and ten others were injured battling a deliberately set five-alarm fire that involved two separate warehouse buildings. The fire was started in an abandoned three-story building with a heavy fuel load that extended to an adjoining occupied paper and supply company. A firefighter was killed, and other members were injured in the building of fire origin after flashover conditions forced the initial crew to retreat from the third floor. Two firefighters died in the adjacent structure when a firewall collapsed while attempting to limit fire extension. “They were killed while operating at a fire in a vacant, four-story brick warehouse, filled with oil-soaked rags from a former occupant. On arrival, firefighters found three fires involving baled rags on the top floor of the structure. As none of the fires appeared to be serious, they began to advance lines via interior stairways. Suddenly, an explosive fireball erupted, sweeping across the ceiling and over firefighters as they ran for the exits. About three hours after the first firefighter’s death, two firefighters were working on the third floor of the paper firm, when a wall of the burning vacant warehouse next door suddenly collapsed through the roof, carrying them down to the first floor and burying them under tons of rubble. By the time their rescuers reached them, 90 minutes later, they ran out of air and died of smoke inhalation. A third firefighter, who was also trapped, was rescued and taken to the hospital.”

On 3/12/2014 a gas explosion in East Harlem, New York City leveled two apartment buildings killing eight and injuring sixty. The blast erupted just 15 minutes after a neighboring resident reported smelling gas.

On 3/12/2013 in East China, Jiangxi Province, six family members died when flammable materials were set on fire from burning incense for religious purposes.

On 3/12/1960 a chemical plant fire killed sixty-eight people in Pusan, Korea.

On 3/12/1891 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania two buildings on Wood Street were completely destroyed by fire; firefighters “were kept busy with a dozen miniature fires within a radius of a quarter of a mile.”

On 3/12/1870 the furniture store of Gillis & Gallagher in Calais, Maine was destroyed by a fire that extended and damaged two adjoining buildings.

On 3/12/1988 a sudden hailstorm causes a stampede during a soccer match in Nepal, killing at least seventy people and injuring hundreds more.

On 3/12/1993  bomb attacks in Bombay (Mumbai), the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra killed 317 people.

On 3/12/1980 a jury found John Wayne Gacy guilty of murdering thirty-three in Chicago.

On 3/12/1970 the U.S. lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.

On 3/12/1940 Finland surrendered to Russia during WW II, giving up the Karelische Isthmus.