Today in Fire History 1/17

Today is Benjamin Franklin’s birthday, he was born on January 17, 1706; happy birthday Mr. Franklin, and thank you! The Father of the American Fire Service was born in Boston, Massachusetts. “The man who established the first community volunteer fire department also invented bifocals, wrote and printed Poor Richard’s Almanac, studied electricity, and helped draft the Declaration of Independence. The first volunteer fire department began in Philadelphia in 1736, after an extensive fire. Franklin established the first all-volunteer fire brigade which was known as The Union Fire Company and comprised 30 volunteers. As the idea of volunteer fire brigades gained popularity, additional companies were formed in Philadelphia. Each of the companies paid for their equipment and located it throughout the town at strategic places.”

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On 1/17/1981 the Inn on the Park fire at a luxury hotel overlooking Leslie Street and Eglinton Avenue in North York, Ontario killed six and injured about sixty around 2:20 a.m. The fire started in a second-floor meeting room in the 23-story tower. Flames were primarily confined to the room of origin; however, smoke traveled up the shafts into rooms where six people, including two children, were killed by carbon monoxide. It took about 30 minutes for proper instructions to reach guests. The 23-story, 269-guest-room facility, with a 330,000 square-foot convention area and two restaurants was built in 1963. “The fire prompted changes to fire regulations, including transferring responsibility for hotel inspections from the Liquor Licensing Board of Ontario to the Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal.” “The fire broke out in a suburban hotel, killing at least six people and sending at least 58 others to the hospital. Police said at least four died of smoke inhalation while trying to escape down a stairway and another person was killed by a heart attack. At least 58 hotel guests were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation, however, officials at two hospitals said none were seriously injured. Other guests spent the night at the nearby Parkview Racquet Club. At 7:30 a.m., guests began returning to rooms unaffected by the fire and smoke. Hotel officials said there were slightly more than 400 people in the hotel at the time of the fire, fewer than usual. In addition to the tower, the hotel includes a three-story complex with suites, restaurants, and other rooms. Fire officials said the fire began about 2:20 a.m. and was extinguished about 90 minutes later.

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On 1/17/1922 a Bloomington, Illinois firefighter “died from injuries he sustained after he had fallen from an icy roof during a fire call.”

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On 1/17/1962 a Chicago, Illinois firefighter died while trying to rescue three small children from a burning apartment building at 1418 South Trumball. “Three unattended children had set fire to their apartment with matches or a cigarette lighter and the fire quickly spread into other apartments in the three-story apartment building. The fire department response was delayed when one of the building’s residents tried to telephone the department, but others on the shared party line refused to hang up. Most of the tenants were able to escape the building, but the three brothers, all under the age of six, remained trapped. By the time the fire department arrived on the scene, flames were consuming the front door of the building and the screams of the trapped three children could be heard from their first-floor apartment. He led three firefighters and a hoseline through the front entrance, but the front stairway collapsed below them. The three firefighters were quickly pulled from the burning wreckage, having suffered minor burns, cuts, and bruises, but he suffered fatal burns. The three young brothers also perished in the fire.”

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On 1/17/1977 a Utopia, Queens, New York (FDNY) “firefighter died from injuries he sustained while working at a box alarm at the World’s Fair Grounds.”

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On 1/17/1979 an Oakland, California firefighter “died of smoke inhalation while operating at a fire which destroyed a seven-car train in the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Transbay Tube under San Francisco Bay. He and several other firefighters ran out of air while trying to exit the tunnel. He collapsed and was given cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). He was pronounced dead at the hospital. A total of forty civilians, who were trapped in the tunnel, and forty-four firefighters, suffered respiratory problems due to the intense smoke and heat generated by the burning train.”

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On 1/17/1984 a Robbinsdale, Minnesota firefighter died “while advancing a hoseline on a fire in the basement of a single-family dwelling, He became disoriented after "buddy breathing" with his lieutenant (company officer), who had run out of air. The lieutenant went back to the cellar stairs where he was pulled out by fellow firefighters, unconscious. After being revived with oxygen, the officer looked for the firefighter and discovered that he was missing. A search started, and he was seen at a small window in the basement asking for another self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). Suddenly, conditions rapidly deteriorated. Heavy fire and smoke in the building kept rescue crews from entering and it was a while before they found him unconscious in the cellar. All efforts to revive him proved futile and he was pronounced dead.”

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On 1/17/1991 a Paterson, New Jersey firefighter died in a building fire. “At approximately 5:54 a.m., the City of Paterson Fire Department responded to a structure fire on Main Street. The fire spread to a second building and there was a minor blow-out of windows and a large ball of fire. There was a roll call and headcount taken at this time and it was determined that a firefighter was missing. Search and rescue procedures began immediately. The search continued for two days until his body was found in the basement in the corner of a women's apparel shop called the Underground II, where the fire is believed to have started. The blaze raged out of control for more than 12 hours and was fought by more than 200 firefighters. In the end, an entire city block was destroyed, and caused about $15 million in damage.”

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On 1/17/2015 a truck fire on the French side of the Channel Tunnel (French: Le tunnel sous la Manche; also referred to as the Chunnel) caused an interruption of Eurostar train services and resulted in the evacuation of forty-two people from the train into the service tunnel.

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On 1/17/2018 a commercial dryer at an Antioch, California assisted living facility caught fire, displacing dozens of elderly residents and Alzheimer’s patients. Firefighters responded at 1:15 p.m. to the one-alarm fire at Country Place Assisted Living, 1715 Olive Lane. The flames activated a sprinkler directly above the dryer, containing the fire that crews extinguished by 1:41 p.m. after ensuring that flames had not traveled from the dryer’s vent to the ceiling.

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On 1/17/1983 a devastating gasoline vapor explosion in Newark, New Jersey claimed the life of one oil company employee and injured twenty-four, the destruction of four storage tanks, and the loss of 3 million gallons of gasoline at 12:16 a.m. Failing to monitor the tank-filling operation properly resulted in a spill that was ignited by a flashback from a nearby incinerator resulting in several minor initial explosions followed by a destructive explosion.

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On 1/17/1957 a Liberal, Kansas pipeline gas compressor explosion killed three workmen and threatened natural gas supplies as far east as Detroit. Caused by the failure of a piece of equipment on a compressor engine.

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On 1/17/1956 the SS Salem Maritime tanker explosion and fire killed twenty-one in Lake Charles,?Louisiana after gasoline leaked from a defective bulkhead and entered a tank being loaded with kerosene. A spark ignited the vapors onboard the 10,584-gross-ton tanker that was built in 1945.

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On 1/17/1942 in Seattle, Washington the White Center House fire killed three when one of the victims “poured kerosene into a stove in which she believed all embers had died.”

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On 1/17/1912 the motion picture film caught fire forcing 4,000 to evacuate the theatre in Livingston, Montana. The fire “started a wild rush for the exits, Mrs. E. Powers White, wife of the owner of the theater, rushed on to the stage and began to sing, "America," thus causing the panic.”

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On 1/17/1911 the Hotel Statler in Buffalo, New York was destroyed by fire.

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On 1/17/1908 a fire at the Knitting Mill in Scranton, Pennsylvania killed four and seriously injured ten of the eighty-five girls on the 3rd floor. A fire broke out on the ground floor where some men were varnishing furniture in a warehouse and quickly ascended the elevator shaft. “The fire escape is one of those in which the last reach of stairs is held in a horizontal position by a right and pulley device. The first girls to reach this were afraid to descend it when they saw its far end moving downward. This caused a jam.”

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On 1/17/1906 six large brick buildings were destroyed on Merchants' Row by fire in Rutland, Vermont which was occupied by nearly a score of firms that started shortly before 4:00 a.m. “Two heavy party walls finally arrested the flames, and the energetic work of the firemen won out.”

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On 1/17/1898 a fire in a railroad tunnel near Williams, Arizona killed one after sparks from an engine set the timbering on fire in the Fairview Tunnel on Santa Fe Road, while men were fighting the fire in the tunnel a mass of rocks and charred timbers caved-in.

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On 1/17/1884 the Montezuma Hotel in Las Vegas, New Mexico was destroyed by fire around noon.

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On 1/17/1821, nine people died in a fire at 98 Broad Street Boston Massachusetts several others were injured when they jumped

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On 1/17/1995, near Kobe Japan earthquake registering 7.2 on the Richter scale caused massive destruction that killed over 5,500 people

On 1/17/1994 an earthquake (Northridge quake) in Los Angeles, California killed fifty-four.

On 1/17/1966 an H-bomb was lost in Spain when a B-52 bomber collided with a KC-135 jet tanker over Spain's Mediterranean coast.

On 1/17/1893 President Rutherford B. Hayes died.

On 1/17/1893 a group of American sugar planters overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy.

On 1/17/1950 the Great Brinks Robbery occurred when eleven well-timed and choreographed thieves stole more than $2 million from the Brinks Armored Car depot in Boston, Massachusetts.

On 1/17/1781 the Battle of Cowpens was fought in South Carolina.