Today in Fire Hisory 3//3

On 3/13/1898 in New York City, New York, in the Bowery Mission, a three-alarm fire killed eleven at 105 Bowery, a lodging house that had “a cheap restaurant” in the basement, a “mission” on the ground floor, and the “four upper floors were fitted up as a cheap lodging house, with accommodations for 150 males who paid 15, 20 or 25 cents each according to the location of the rooms.” “At 1:30 a.m. this morning, one of the lodgers discovered flames coming from a washroom on the third floor, but before he had time to alarm the house the fire was noticed by passers-by on the street. By this time the flames had eaten their way to the top of the building and were bursting through the roof. When the alarm was given and the inmates aroused, wild scenes of excitement ensued. Many of the lodgers became panic-stricken. They rushed into the hallways and fell over each other in their efforts to reach the streets. Those on the lower floors got to the street safely by the stairways, while those on the upper floors groped their way through the building, some to the fire escape in front of the building. The majority of them only saved portions of their clothing, while several of them were naked. Those who made their way to the street by the fire escapes were superficially burned by the excessive heat of the iron ladders, which in many places had become red hot from the flames within. In the meantime, three alarms of fire had been sent in, and in a few minutes, the firefighters were busily deluging the building with torrents of water. They finally succeeded in keeping the fire within the limits of the three upper stories.”

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On 3/13/1900 a tenement fire in Newark, New Jersey claimed the lives of sixteen. “Fourteen persons lost their lives, two persons were seriously injured and many others slightly burned in a fire in Newark, N.J., Monday morning. The firefighters after the flames had been subdued, took 13 bodies from the ruins, and while they were thus engaged another victim of the fire died in the city hospital. One family was wiped out completely, and of another, only the father lives and he is in the city hospital, where, it is believed, he will die.”

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On 3/13/1990 a fire at the Dardanelle Nursing Home (Dardanelle, Arkansas) a 90-bed skilled, licensed, nursing facility with 85 patients in the building killed four and sent ten to the hospital. The nonsprinklered one-story, noncombustible concrete block (exterior and interior walls) structure had a poured concrete floor slab. The building was divided into three areas (west, center, and east) by two slab-to-slab-concrete-block firewalls. The corridor walls extended from the slab to a few inches of the underside of the roof decking, and room walls extended a few inches above a non-fire-rated, noncombustible suspended ceiling. Corridor openings were protected with 1-? hour fire-rated doors with magnetic hold-open devices. The built-up roof over corrugated metal pans was supported by unprotected steel bar joists set on the corridor and exterior walls. The building was designed and constructed in 1969, as a nursing home with a fire alarm system. The materials first ignited were the contents of a clean-linen cart in a storage room that spread to the space above the suspended ceiling. The fire and heavy smoke conditions were intensified by hot gases and flames caused by asphalt in the built-up roof assembly melting. The absence of a complete automatic sprinkler system, the compartment of origin failing to contain the fire, and fire and smoke traveling through concealed space contributed to the loss of life.

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On 3/13/1899 a Syracuse, New York firefighter died fighting the fire at the Mowry Hotel. Assistant Chief Hamilton S. White “an 1877 graduate of Cornell University, was so interested in firefighting that he bought a chemical fire engine for the city and hired twelve men to act as his firefighting company in his father's stable, paying them himself. He installed the first fire alarm boxes in the city and had 12 miles of wire strung in Syracuse. Finding that the engine house was too expensive, he gave it to the city and asked that they give him a position as a firefighter without salary. Instead, they made him the third assistant chief, but he would not accept a salary. He died fighting the fire at the Mowry Hotel on March 13, 1898. The citizens of Syracuse erected a monument to his memory at Fayette Park at a cost of over $12,000, being the first-ever erected by the public in honor of an individual in Syracuse. He had extensive property in the city, was president of the Syracuse Gas Company, and director of the Commercial Bank, and the Onondaga County Savings Bank.”

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On 3/13/1911 a Buffalo, New York firefighter “died from the injuries he sustained, after being caught in an explosion at a 3-alarm fire at the Wood Products Company at Jersey and Fourth Streets. A collapse had occurred which sent firefighters running for cover when an alcohol tank exploded sending large sheets of steel into the air. The firefighter was about 50 feet away when he was struck by debris and pinned. Members of the department quickly worked to remove him, and he was then transported to the hospital where he died while undergoing surgery for his injuries.”

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On 3/13/1921 in Richmond, Virginia two furniture stores were destroyed by a fire at 25 and 27 West Broad Street that killed four firefighters, and an unidentified citizen, and injured eleven. The fire started on the top floor and spread to the floor beneath. Firefighters “were standing on the roof of the Hopkins store manning a hose which was playing on the roof of the Jurgens Store, which was higher, when the dividing wall fell in, causing a “back draught” which caused the collapse of the Hopkins store, and all of the firefighters on the roof plunged four floors to the ground.”

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On 3/13/1984 a Yonkers, New York died while fighting a fire in “an occupied, one-story brick furniture storage warehouse. He and two firefighters from a ladder company began to open the roof, when a portion of it collapsed, pitching him into the burning building. The two firefighters were able to grab hold of structural members and hold on until rescued. A search was immediately started by firefighters for the missing firefighter, but heavy smoke and heat, coupled with very dense stock conditions, severely hampered their efforts. His body was found about two hours later, wedged between a wall and a cabinet. He was pronounced dead of smoke inhalation.”

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On 3/13/2004 two firefighters died, and twenty-nine firefighters were injured during a five-alarm church fire in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. The National Historic Landmark church was built in 1875 and is still used as a house of worship and school. The four-level masonry church (several courses of red brick covered with stone) was 120’ x 70’ with an approximately 50’ pitched roofline covered with asphalt shingles and supported by heavy timber trusses. During the 1930s a renovation added an exterior stone fa?ade and a 115’ bell tower capped with four spires; this was a non-stand-alone structure supported by steel I-beams with a brick and stone fa?ade that was connected into the southwest corner. A 60’ x 45’ three-story annex was added in 1994. The fire started in the front southwest corner basement ceiling in an electrical/computer room and spread horizontally through the concealed space between the basement ceiling and first floor and vertically through concealed wall spaces of the structural members, framing, and interior furnishings. At 12:13 p.m. the bell tower collapsed during overhaul operations while crews were working inside the church vestibule.

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On 3/13/2004 a Soledad, California firefighter died when a passenger car drove through the smoke from the fires and attempted to pass through the scene. “He and the members of his engine company were preparing to fight a vehicle and brush fire on Highway 101. He was stretching an attack line. The car struck him and threw him onto the top of the engine. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the car, a 28-year old female, was arrested and charged with several counts, including leaving the scene of the crash, and was an unlicensed driver.”

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On 3/13/2018 a condominium building caught fire in the early morning in Pompano Beach, Florida, leaving one person dead and about 100 residents displaced. The fire happened at 1505 N Riverside Drive and residents say the fire began around 1:15 a.m. "There was a speaker. There was a prerecorded voice saying, 'There's a fire in the building, evacuate the building. Do not use the elevator. Take the stairs," a resident said. A woman walked out of her bathroom to find her seventh-floor apartment on fire. She was able to escape unharmed. The fire was contained in one apartment, but the smoke spread quickly down the hallway and to nearby apartments. The 15-story high-rise building did not have an automatic fire sprinkler system.

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On 3/13/2009 in Etowah County, Alabama two adults and three children were killed in a home fire.

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On 3/13/1975 the House of Angels orphanage fire killed fourteen in Seoul, Korea.

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On 3/13/1933 an oilfield and pipeline fire near Henderson, Texas was caused by the explosion of dynamite that broke the East Texas pipeline. The ruptured pipeline allowed 15,000 barrels of crude oil to escape and burn which damaged several derricks, a pumping station, and a highway bridge.

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On 3/13/1895 a fire destroyed several Kansas City, Missouri businesses and property at Fourth and Broadway at about 5:30 p.m. that started in the big 4-story building at 410 West Fifth Street and spread to the north by gale-force winds to the top of the 5-story brick building.

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On 3/13/1895 a hotel fire in Mackeyville, West Virginia killed three. It started in the lobby, “fifteen persons escaped by jumping from windows,” The hotels and a store were destroyed.

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On 3/13/1895 in Sharon, Pennsylvania the Sharon Works, a foundry, fire injures five.

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On 3/13/1889 the King Block fire on Lawrence Street between Fifteenth and Sixteenth in Denver, Colorado destroyed several businesses.

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On 3/13/1993 a Coram, New York firefighter “was refilling self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) cylinders when he was injured by an SCBA air cylinder that exploded (ruptured) and struck him in the chest. The cylinder that exploded should have been removed from service in 1985 and a neck reinforcing ring installed. Additionally, it was beyond its service life and did not have a current hydrostatic test.” He died from his injuries.

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On 3/13/1993 the Blizzard of '93 hit the north-east United States. “The 1993 Storm of the Century (also known as the 93 Superstorm, The No Name Storm, or the Great Blizzard of '93/1993) was a large cyclonic storm that formed over the Gulf of Mexico on March 12, 1993. The storm was unique and notable for its intensity, massive size, and wide-reaching effects; at its height, the storm stretched from Canada to Honduras. The cyclone moved through the Gulf of Mexico and then through the eastern United States before moving on to eastern Canada. The storm eventually dissipated in the North Atlantic Ocean.

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On 3/13/1929 in Daytona Beach, Florida racer Lee Bible died during speed tests; he was traveling 231.36 MPH?

On 3/13/1928 St. Francisquito Valley Dam burst in California killing 450

On 3/13/1901 President Benjamin Harrison died?

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On 3/13/1884 the U.S. adopted Standard Time, Daylight saving time (DST) or summer time, and advanced clocks during the lighter months so that evenings have more apparent daylight and mornings have less. Typically, clocks are adjusted forward one hour near the start of spring and are adjusted backward in the autumn. Proposed in 1895 by George Vernon Hudson and was first implemented by Germany and Austria-Hungary starting on April 30, 1916. Germany became the first country to introduce DST when clocks were turned ahead 1 hour on April 30, 1916. The rationale was to minimize the use of artificial lighting to save fuel for the war effort during World War I. The idea was quickly followed by the United Kingdom three weeks later. In the US, it was first introduced in 1918 when President Woodrow Wilson signed it into law to support the war effort during World War I. Daylight Saving Time is now in use in over 70 countries worldwide and affects over a billion people every year.