Today in Fire History 10/24

On 10/24/1976 a fire in the Bronx, New York Puerto Rican Social Club killed twenty-five and injured twenty-four others. The sole means of escape was set on fire blocking the building's only staircase. The death toll reached sixteen women and nine men, shortly after 2:30 a.m. at 1003 Morris Avenue at East 165th Street… “So swiftly did the blaze spread through the 25‐foot by 50‐foot dance hall, according to survivors, that there was no time for all to escape. Most of the bodies were found stacked up near the broad front windows, where the victims died of asphyxiation before they could reach the opening. The survivors had been forced to jump, fire officials said, because a fire escape extending a short distance along one end of the window ledge was blocked by a rolling steel door, apparently installed to prevent burglaries. Later the courts would reject an arson liability claim, a service-station chain cannot be held liable for damages occurring when arsonists used gasoline bought at one of its stations.” “Witnesses indicate that the blaze was set by a patron who had been expelled from the club. Jose Antonio Cordero, reportedly either a jealous lover or enraged family member of a woman attending the club offered two teenagers, Francisco Mendez and Hector Lopez, rum and marijuana in exchange for setting fire to the club. Mendez poured gasoline around the property, while Lopez set it alight. The fire spread quickly, and club patrons found the fire escape blocked by a metal door that had been installed to prevent burglaries. Cordero pleaded guilty to arson, Mendez pleaded guilty to 25 counts of murder, and Lopez received a life sentence for striking the match.”

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10/24/1977 a fire at the Cinema Follies Club in SE Washington, D.C. left nine dead, a 24-hour club that showed X-rated gay movies continuously and had "a full range” of sexual activities." “The Cinema Follies opened in 1975 in a former two-story auto repair building. The blaze apparently was caused by the explosive ignition of either cleaning equipment or a gas heater, around 5:00 p.m. at 37 L Street SE. The flames blocked the front door and firefighters had to smash through a rear door locked from the outside on the second floor to reach the unconscious victims inside. Most of the victims appeared to have choked on billowing black smoke that filled the interior of the two-story brick building where about a dozen persons were watching "all male, X-rated" films on the second floor. In explaining the difficulty of identifying victims, a man familiar with the situation said that many homosexuals do not carry identification when they visit homosexual gathering places. A conservative Mississippi Congressman, John C. Hinson, “a regular customer,” was found under a pile of bodies he was one of only four men who survived.”

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On 10/24/1852 a New Haven, Connecticut firefighter “died from the injuries he sustained after being crushed when a chimney collapsed while fighting a fire at a grocery store, on State Street.”

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On 10/24/1887 a Chicago, Illinois firefighter “died from the injuries he sustained after falling from a ladder while in the performance of his duties at a fire on October 22, 1887.”

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On 10/24/1913 a Chicago, Illinois firefighter “died while fighting a fire at 22 North Des Plaines Avenue. He fell into an open elevator shaft as he and three other firefighters were operating on the smoke-filled fourth floor of the burning building. He was seriously injured by his fall, and also suffered severe burns; he succumbed to his injuries at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital.”

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On 10/24/1917 two Tulsa, Oklahoma died at a fire in the Mayo Building. “The fire came in about 10:00 p.m. on October 23rd, for the Ohio building and it quickly spread to the Mayo building. Both firefighters died on the morning of October 24th, when the stairway of the Mayo Building collapsed at 03:00, with the men on it, burying them under tons of steel and concrete as they fought a fire. The firefighters also rescued several women and children from the blaze.”

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On 10/24/1925 a New Haven, Connecticut firefighter “died after suffering the effects of smoke inhalation.”

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On 10/24/1941 a Queens, New York (FDNY) firefighter “died of smoke inhalation while operating at a single alarm fire.”

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On 10/24/1958 a Kingston, Ontario, Canada firefighter “died after inhaling gases from a smoke bomb during a simulated fire exercise conducted, ironically, during a Fire Prevention Week training accident at the Ontario Area Army Headquarters Area. He returned to the Brock Street station in a fire truck and was driven to the hospital by the Fire Chief.”

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On 10/24/1970 a Binghamton, New York firefighter “died after collapsing while fighting a 2-alarm fire that caused major damage to a restaurant supply company, Prescott Equipment Service, at 477 Court Street.”

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On 10/24/1992 two Alton, Illinois firefighters died “while combating an early morning fire in a vacant house. The two firefighters were killed when a wall collapsed on them during hose operations. The fire department received the alarm for the house fire shortly before 3:00 a.m. Much of the structure was already on fire when the firefighters arrived, so the two firefighters and others positioned themselves between the burning house and the home directly adjacent to it to prevent the spread of the flames. At around 3:20 the rear wall of the house collapsed, causing the second floor to fall, crushing both of them and a third firefighter. Additional alarms were immediately called and firefighters began search and rescue operations. The third firefighter was rescued and transported to the hospital with severe injuries to his legs. The two firefighters were also recovered and transported to the hospital, but they were pronounced dead on arrival. The circumstances surrounding the vacant house fire were deemed suspicious from the start, as the fire department had responded to several alarms at the house in recent months. Law enforcement officials and investigators from the Illinois Office of the State Fire Marshal quickly determined that the cause was arson and, within a week, the property owner and a tenant from one of his other apartments were arrested for the crime. Both individuals were sentenced to lengthy prison terms.”

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On 10/24/1997 a Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania firefighter “was killed when the rescue squad building where he was on duty experienced an explosion. A fellow rescue squad member rolled an open thirty-pound propane tank from a gas grill into the squad house as a practical joke. All but one evacuated the building. Eventually, the gas reached the pilot light in the furnace room and triggered the explosion.”

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On 10/24/1997 a District of Columbia Fire Department firefighter was killed while operating on Box 872 at 4th and Kennedy Street NW acting as the officer in charge of Engine Company 14. The fire was in the basement of a two-story “Taxpayer” and while withdrawing from interior operations on a hoseline the firefighter became separated from the hoseline and ended up in the basement where he perished. “On arrival, firefighters found a working fire involving the basement and first-floor grocery store of a two-story brick apartment building. They immediately went to work rescuing occupants from second-floor windows and trying to force entry through the steel doors of the store. After entry was finally made, firefighters began an aggressive interior attack but were ordered out as the fire began to spread throughout the building and conditions rapidly deteriorated. As the members of Engine 14 began to run from the building, a floor collapse occurred, pitching the firefighter into the blazing cellar. When a headcount was taken outside the building, it was discovered that one firefighter was missing. A search was initiated, and the firefighter’s body was found 90 minutes later tangled in debris in the basement. The cause of the three-alarm fire was labeled as suspicious.”

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On 10/24/2002 a Fall River, Massachusetts firefighter “while working as incident commander at a major structure fire under heavy smoke conditions on 09/19/2002, suffered inhalation of toxic and noxious gases and fumes. He complained of breathing difficulties and visited medical professionals for care. The condition worsened and he was admitted to the hospital where he died of acute respiratory distress syndrome.”

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On 10/24/2013 a fire broke out at the Citgo refinery in suburban Lemont, Illinois in a unit that processes crude oil. A leak of combustible fluid from hot machinery, which typically runs at about 650 degrees, was the likely cause. The plant has a capacity of 174,500 barrels per day.

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On 10/24/1908 the Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania Aronson Flats fire started.

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On 10/24/1945 the U.N. was formally established.

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On 10/24/1940 in the United States, the 40-hour workweek went into effect under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

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On 10/24/1775 Virginia's last royal governor, Lord John Murray Dunmore ordered a British naval fleet to sail up the James River and into Hampton Creek to attack Patriot troops and destroy the town of Norfolk, Virginia.