Today in Fire History 4/24
On 4/24/1851 the first fire alarm signal system was installed in Boston, Massachusetts. The system had 40 manual crank street boxes on 3 box circuits with 19 alarm bells that were originally painted black. The concept was pioneered by Dr. William F. Channing and designed by Moses G. Farmer, a telegraphic engineer using closed electrically supervised circuits. The first actual alarm was sent a week later on April 29, 1852, at 8:25 p.m. … “Long before lockboxes held building access keys, the Boston Fire Department fabricated boxes to do the same. They are being installed and used to this day, which is why you’ll never see a Knox Box or similar brand in Boston. All apparatus carries the key to these key vaults because it was keyed the same as Boston’s Street fire alarm telegraph boxes – which all firefighters have access to rewind and reset if pulled. They’re spring-driven and use central office batteries, so they work during power failures or radio failures. Each fire alarm telegraph box also has a Morse telegraph key inside which can be used to telegraph a second alarm or a “fire out” signal – very useful before radio or if the radio system fails. Originally installed in the 1850s, these street fire alarm telegraph boxes are still in service – all 1500 of them.”
On 4/24/1850 a Manhattan, New York firefighter was killed when he fell through an open hatchway while operating at a fire.
On 4/24/1889 two Atlanta, Georgia firefighters died after returning to “the scene of a fire at the Wellhouse & Sons Paper Company that had gutted a paper plant on April 21st. The fire had proved to be very stubborn and resisted all final extinguishment efforts. As firefighters went to work once again, a serious windstorm developed, blowing down the teetering walls onto the men. The two were killed when they were caught beneath one of the collapsing walls.”
On 4/24/1904 a Newark, New Jersey firefighter died from injuries sustained in the three-alarm fire at the Weiner Company in the building collapse the day before.
On 4/24/1919 two Baltimore, Maryland firefighters died fighting an industrial school fire. “While workers were repairing the roof of an industrial school, they ignited a fire under the eaves. As a bucket brigade, made up of students, was formed to extinguish the blaze, a call was put to a nearby volunteer fire department instead of the city department. They responded but didn't have enough pressure in the hoseline to reach the fire. As the fire grew in intensity, several boys ran a half-mile and pulled a city alarm box. While en route to the fire, the captain of Truck 8 stopped at the box and banged in a second alarm. The chief engineer struck a third alarm, as the school became totally involved in the fire. After the main body of fire was knocked down, several firefighters entered the building to extinguish the remaining pockets of fire. Without warning, the balcony crashed down, trapping eight of the men under tons of rubble. A couple of the men suffered minor injuries and were able to get out, but the others were far more seriously injured and had to be dug out. It was discovered that two of the men had been killed instantly by a falling girder.”
On 4/24/1949 a Portland, Oregon firefighter “died of a heart attack while leading his crew at a house fire at 432 NE Russell Street. He was assisting in raising a ladder in the two-story structure when he collapsed and died at the scene.”
On 4/24/1959 an Albany, New York firefighter was killed while operating at a three-alarm fire in a furniture warehouse.
On 4/24/1972 a Los Angeles County, California firefighter died while fighting a fire at the National Lumber and Supply building. Five firefighters “wearing air masks, had chopped a hole in the wall of the building plant at 17326 Woodruff Avenue and took a hose to try and prevent the flames from spreading. Flames and thick smoke burst through an inner door and set the area ablaze just after the firefighters entered. Four of the firefighters, unable to see through the smoke, believed he was with them as they grabbed the hoseline and followed it out of the building. Once outside the blazing structure, they realized that one firefighter had not come out. By the time they reached the outside of the structure, a portion of the roof had collapsed in the area, and the heat and flames prevented a rescue attempt. The fire was believed to have been arson.”
On 4/24/1977 a Peoria, Arizona firefighter “was electrocuted while trying to get a cat off a power pole.”
On 4/24/2013 a Reisterstown, Maryland firefighter “sustained injuries at a residential structure fire and died eight days later at a metropolitan trauma center. The firefighter and another firefighter responded to a report of a residential structure fire with residents trapped. Their unit was the first fire department unit to arrive on-scene and reported smoke showing. The firefighter and the other firefighter donned their personal protective equipment, reported someone trapped on the second floor to other firefighters, entered the structure ahead of an engine crew that was advancing a hoseline, and began a search of the second floor. Firefighters encountered heavy smoke conditions inside and, within minutes, heard a Personal Alert Safety System (PASS) device sounding. A Mayday was declared. The firefighter was found in a bedroom unconscious. Firefighters removed him to the exterior and found that he was not breathing. The firefighter was transported to the hospital by ambulance but died as a result of his injuries on May 2, 2013. The reported trapped civilian was rescued from the structure but later died from his injuries. The multi-family residential structure involved in the incident was a three-story brick and wood exterior Victorian-style home built in the late 1800s with a pitched roof consisting of wooden rafters and metal sheeting over wooden lath boards. The structure was approximately 3100 square feet and comprised three floors plus a partial basement. The structure had a staircase just inside the main entry door to the second floor. The house was built with a second staircase, referred to as a servant’s staircase, off the first-floor studio (original dining room) which went to the second floor just adjacent to the main staircase. The structure had been renovated with the first and second floors set up to be individual apartments. The third floor consisted of a large bedroom and storage area. The structure had a basement with access on the first floor underneath the main stairway. The basement was used primarily for storage. The utilities were both natural gas and electric. There was a significant amount of contents in the structure with hoarding conditions encountered including clothing, furniture, and piled-up materials in the rooms and hallways. The front and rear yards were also cluttered with vehicles and other large items that limited access. The residence was surrounded by overgrown trees and shrubs that obscured the structure from the street. There were no immediate exterior exposures.”
On 4/24/2022 a Brooklyn, New York (FDNY) firefighter “of Ladder Company 170 was killed after a second-floor ceiling collapsed while crews were fighting an early afternoon fire in a two-story private dwelling in the Canarsie neighborhood. There was a report that a 21-year-old autistic man was missing in the building. The firefighter was detailed to Engine 257 for the day and was advancing a hoseline into the structure as the backup man to the nozzleman. The fire suddenly intensified, and as interior conditions deteriorated an evacuation order was given. Before the firefighters could all escape, he and three other FDNY members were trapped when part of the second-floor ceiling collapsed. Three firefighters made their way out, jumping out windows or climbing down ladders. One firefighter suffered two broken arms in his escape. A total of nine firefighters were injured. The firefighter was found unconscious and brought out of the building. He was rushed to Brookdale University Medical Center where he later succumbed to his injuries. The missing occupant was later found dead in the dwelling. The structure involved in the incident was a two-story Type V Wood Frame construction side-by-side two-family dwelling located at 108-26 Avenue N off of East 108th Street near the end of a residential cul-de-sac in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn. The duplex structure measured approximately 36 feet wide by 40 feet deep on a narrow lot with wood decks on Side Charlie. The building, which appears to have been built in the 1960s, had a low-pitched hip roof covered with asphalt shingles. Each living unit had a front-loading one-car garage on Side Alpha with a small front yard. Both units had brick veneer covering the first-floor elevation on Side Alpha while the rest of the exterior of the duplex was covered with wood shakes, hardboard, and vinyl siding. A fire hydrant was located about 50 feet away from the structure at the end of the cul-de-sac. Similar modest two-family homes lined the street and neighborhood. The cul-de-sac sits at the edge of a body of water called the Fresh Creek Basin, an inlet of Jamaica Bay that separates Canarsie from the massive Starrett City housing development to the east.”
On 4/24/2013 a Bangladesh commercial building that housed five garment factories, several shops, and a bank collapsed and caught fire. The eight-story building collapsed in Savar, a sub-district in the Greater Dhaka Area, the capital of Bangladesh. The death toll was reported at 1,127 with approximately 2,500 injured. Warnings to avoid using the building after cracks appeared the day before had been ignored. Garment workers were ordered to return the following day. The building collapsed during the morning rush hour; several fires broke out after the collapse. Dhaka, the home of more than 4,000 garment factories, where the minimum wage was $38 a month.
On 4/24/2013 two natural gas barges exploded in Mobile, Alabama, and burned during cleaning injuring three. Firefighters and the Coast Guard responded to four explosions on the two fuel barges in the Mobile River. The explosion came two months after the 900-foot-long Triumph was towed to Mobile after becoming disabled during a cruise by an engine room fire, leaving thousands of passengers to endure cold food, unsanitary conditions, and power outages.
On 4/24/2013 four children were killed in a mobile home fire near the South Carolina city of Hartsville. Firefighters took about 10 minutes to extinguish the fire and then found the victims in the charred interior of the home. The fire broke out on a street lined with mobile homes near the city of about 8,000 people about 60 miles east of the state capital of Columbia.
On 2/24/2012 five people were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning in Oxon Hill, Maryland.
On 2/24/2011 six people died after a fast-burning fire tore through a Vancouver, Washington home.
On 4/24/1913 a terrific mine explosion near Courtney, Pennsylvania occurred at the Cincinnati mine of the Monongahela River Coal company that entombed 250 men.
On 4/24/1907 a Parkville, Missouri Park College fire destroyed Sherwood Hall, a large three-story frame dormitory connected to a large one-story frame building used as a dining room for the dormitory.