Today in Fire History 11/4
11/4/1879 a San Francisco, CA firefighter “died from the injuries he sustained after a chimney had collapsed on him, at a fire on Jackson Street in Chinatown.”
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11/4/1906 a Brooklyn, New York (FDNY) firefighter “was killed at the four-alarm Pilgrim Laundry Fire, on 3rd Street. The fire was well under way when the fire engines arrived, and it was not long after that the interior fully involved, and floors started to collapse carrying down machinery on every story with the rapid progression of flames. The men of Engine 103, under orders, had mounted a shed of a one-story brick extension to the laundry plant and had been working there less than an hour when the rear wall began to bulge from the intense heat. The wall started to topple outward and several tons of debris fell on the extension shed. The weight of the load sent the firemen through the roof and down into the cellar of the structure. The firefighter’s body was crushed into an almost unrecognizable mass. At least a ton of bricks and iron had to be removed before his body could be reached by rescuers.”
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11/4/1923 a Brockton, MA firefighter succumbed to injuries sustained “while operating at Box 18, Montello Street and Lawrence Street. For a fire in the grain sheds of E.A. & A.M. Fullerton Company, Commercial Yard, on Sunday, November 4, 1923. When the fire was nearly out, the firefighter was checking for fire extension when he came into contact with and was electrocuted by 220-volt wires that operated a grain elevator. The insulation on the wires had been burned off. A second firefighter of Squad A, while attempting to rescue him, also received an electric shock. The second firefighter, with the assistance of other members of Squad A, removed him to the outside. He was transported to the Brockton Hospital where he was pronounced dead.”
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11/4/1936 a Brooklyn, New York (FDNY) firefighter “was trapped on the top floor of a burning five-story tenement at 112 Sullivan Street near Conover Street. Brought to safety by fellow firefighters and emergency police, he was found to be suffering from illuminating gas poisoning. For four hours, a doctor and Fire Department surgeon, worked over him in the motorized hospital, using inhalators and oxygen tanks to revive him, but at 3:10 a.m., he died. The illuminating gas also overcame three other firefighters when the fire melted a gas pipe.”
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11/4/1950 a Saint Louis, Missouri firefighter died “while fighting a five-alarm fire in a lumber yard at 801 South Broadway, he collapsed and died a short time later.?He was found dead in an alley, a block and a half away from a 5 alarm fire that destroyed the C.J. Reinecke Lumber Company on South Broadway, and damaged a rooming house and truck terminal in the same block.?The firefighter was returning to the station house at Broadway and Valentine Street for mealtime relief from fighting the fire, which was still smoldering.?He was found by another firefighter and transported to the City Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The cause of death was determined to be a heart attack after suffering extreme exhaustion.
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11/4/1963 a Tremont City, OH firefighter “died from the injuries he sustained after apparently being electrocuted while fighting a grass fire.”
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11/4/1973 two Cliffside Park, New Jersey firefighters “lost their lives while operating at a fire at "Founders" Restaurant on Palisade Ave. The two men were trapped in the basement and found with depleted air tanks.”
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11/4/2002 a Lakewood, PA firefighter died when he and “other members of his department were involved with fighting a fire in a 2-story residence. The firefighter assisted with the deployment of attack lines into the structure. About 1-? hours into the incident, he was found near a stairwell on the second floor. Firefighters removed him from the building and began CPR. He was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead about an hour after being found unconscious. The cause of death was listed as carbon monoxide poisoning as the result of smoke inhalation. The firefighter was wearing full structural protective clothing, a PASS device, and an SCBA. The SCBA’s air supply was depleted and the PASS device was found in the “off” position. The fire was caused by a basement wood stove.”
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11/4/2014 a fire around 12:30 a.m. in North Cornwall Township Pennsylvania barn killed 20,000 five-week-old chickens.
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11/4/1948 a forest fire damages 37 homes in Topanga, CA
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11/4/1918 the Vallejo, CA Mare Island Navy Yard powder magazine explosion killed six and injured thirty.
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11/4/1903 the Hudson River Arsenal explosion killed six in Iona Island, NY.
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11/4/1902 a fireworks explosion at Madison Square in New York, NY, killed twelve and injured fifty, the ten men responsible for the fireworks were arrested and charged.
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11/4/1901 in Lisbon, NH a conflagration destroyed a large part of the business section of the town.
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11/4/1885 Alvarado, TX the Corn-Sheller and Gin House were destroyed by fire.
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11/4/1885 Iberville Parish, LA a boiler explosion killed one and injured one at a sugar plantation.
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11/4/1928 Arnold Rothstein, one of New York's most notorious gamblers was shot to death during a poker game at the Park Central Hotel in Manhattan, NY.
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11/4/1927 heavy rain led to extensive flooding in New England that reportedly killed two hundred as a tropical storm moved north and collided with a cold front from Canada that stalled over the Hudson River Valley of New York, bringing overwhelming rain to northern New York, Vermont, and western Massachusetts.
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11/4/1864 the Civil War Battle of Johnsonville, TN.