Today in Fire History 10/27

On 10/27/1913 a Milwaukee, Wisconsin firefighter “died as a result of the compound skull fracture he sustained the previous day from an explosion and collapse at the three-alarm Goodyear Rubber Company fire. He was trapped under tons of hot bricks for three hours and had to hold his nose to keep from drowning in the torrents of water from the fire streams.”

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On 10/27/1928 a Washington, District of Columbia, firefighter died “while on a theater detail at the Fox Theater, he was struck in the head by a falling beam in the rear of the alley and killed.”

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On 10/27/1944 a Gardner, Massachusetts firefighter died “while operating at a fire involving a gas plant.”

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On 10/27/1945 an Arlington, Massachusetts firefighter “died of the burns he sustained while operating at a fire after a flashover occurred.”

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On 10/27/1955 a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania firefighter died during “a two-alarm fire, fed by parchment paper and lacquers, that heavily damaged a three-story brick lamp product factory. Just as it appeared that firefighters had the fire under control, an explosion occurred in a storage area containing drums of lacquer on the third floor. The blast pushed out the front wall and cornice of the building onto firefighters who were working below. The third alarm was struck to assist in the rescue effort of the buried men. One of the firefighters was killed in the collapse and a dozen others were injured.”

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On 10/27/1997 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania while operating at an alarm where a fallen tree took down some power lines, firefighters observed smoke coming from the basement of a nearby three-story duplex dwelling. Two firefighters entered the basement with a hoseline; “they were both found lying unconscious several feet from each other, at the first-floor entrance to the basement stairs, near the back door. Neither man had his mask facepiece on, nor was there any air left in either of the cylinders. Their hoseline was lying nearby. They were removed from the building and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was started immediately. They were rushed to the hospital, where they were pronounced dead on arrival.”

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On 10/27/2013 a Whitley City, Kentucky firefighter witnessed a fire in a residence near his home “on August 30, 2013. He and a second firefighter with Whitley City Fire Department called the fire department and started fireground operations. After reporting the fire to which their fire department also responded, the two initiated a search of the home. While inside the structure, the firefighters were caught by rapid fire progress and injured. The second firefighter suffered fewer injuries and was able to rescue the first from the burning home. The firefighter succumbed to his injuries, severe burns, after nearly two months in the hospital.”

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On 10/27/2021 three firefighters were killed when the roof collapsed as they battled a commercial fire in the Dominican Republic city of La Vega. Several firefighters were also injured in the tragic blaze. Low water pressure hampered their efforts to contain the fire. The fire was reported at about 3:00 p.m. and firefighters from several provinces responded to the scene.

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On 10/26/2016 five people were killed, including two young children, in a fiery crash on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Hillsborough County Florida around 9:47 p.m. A Volkswagen Golf traveling westbound on SR 574, also known as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, near Coconut Palm Drive lost control and crossed over the median colliding head-on with a Toyota minivan, which caught fire.??

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On 10/27/1993 the Laguna forest fire (Orange County, California) consumed 16,000 acres and destroyed 366 homes, damaged 75 homes, and 12 persons would be injured. Arson caused the fire that was contained on October 31.

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On 10/27/1925 near Victoria, Mississippi a passenger train derailed leaving twenty-five dead and thirty injured. Three baggage cars, nine “day-coaches,” and Pullmans made up the train, "As I looked back, I saw my train telescope and crash down the embankment"; at the time the train, according to the engineer's statement, was traveling at between 45 and 50 miles an hour.

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On 10/27/1787 the Federalist Papers were published by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, under the pen name "Publius"

On 10/27/1858 President Theodore (TR) Roosevelt was born in New York City, New York.

On 10/27/1864 during the Civil War Battle of Hatcher's Run (Burgess Mill) Union troops were turned back when they tried to cut the last railroad supplying the Confederate force in Petersburg, Virginia.

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On 10/27/1904 the New York City subway opened. “While London boasts the world's oldest underground train network (opened in 1863) and Boston built the first subway in the United States in 1897, the New York City subway soon became the largest American system. The first line, operated by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), traveled 9.1 miles through 28 stations. Running from City Hall in lower Manhattan to Grand Central Terminal in midtown, and then heading west along 42nd Street to Times Square, the line finished by zipping north, all the way to 145th Street and Broadway in Harlem. On opening day, Mayor McClellan so enjoyed his stint as the engineer that he stayed at the controls from City Hall to 103rd Street.”