Today in Fire History 2/16
On 2/16/1968 Representative Rankin Fite, the Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives completed the first 9-1-1 call in the United States in Haleyville, Alabama. The Alabama Telephone Company was the service provider, and this Haleyville 9-1-1 system is still in service today. On February 22, 1968, Nome, Alaska implemented the second 9-1-1 service. “As telephones became common in U.S. households, fire departments around the country recommended establishing a single, simple number to be dialed in the event of a fire or other emergency. The Federal Communications Commission decided to act in 1967, but the number itself came not from the government but from AT&T, the corporation that controlled nearly all phone lines in the U.S. via its long-distance service and ownership of local Bell Telephone subsidiaries. It was only in 1973 that the White House issued an official statement in favor of 911, and even that a suggestion rather than a law or executive order. By 1987, 50 percent of the nation was using the system. Canada chose to adopt the same number for its emergency calls, and 98% of the US and Canada can now contact emergency services by dialing 911. 999 is in use in a number of former British colonies, and the number 112 is used in Russia, Brazil, and other nations, even sometimes routing to the same services as 911 in the U.S.”
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On 2/16/1955 six Baltimore, Maryland firefighters were killed while operating at a six-alarm fire at the Tru Fit Clothing Company. “Box 12, Baltimore and Frederick Street was sounded at 9:02 p.m. for a fire at 507-509 East Baltimore Street. Confronted with a very smoky fire in a three-story commercial building, additional alarms were quickly sounded, and the sixth alarm was struck at 10:17 p.m. Shortly before 10:55 p.m., a collapse of the rear one-story section of the building occurred which buried many firefighters who were involved in the overhaul operation. The Chief of the Fire Department, who was also injured ordered three additional alarms from “the adjacent box” which happened to be the “house box” of Truck Company 1 on Gay Street just south of Baltimore Street. This call summoned additional units to assist in the rescue and recovery of those who were buried and trapped in the debris. It was under control by 10:45 p.m. Disaster struck five minutes later.? It wasn't until the next afternoon that all six bodies were pulled from the rubble.” … During the years that Baltimore City used a fire alarm system based on bells, street boxes, and prescribed responses based on box assignment cards, only six alarms would be listed for each box. If additional alarms were needed the next closest street box would be used and was known as “the adjacent box”.
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On 2/16/1964 four Dallas, Texas firefighters died while fighting a working fire in a restaurant. “As the first alarm companies began to attack the fire on the first floor, the entire floor collapsed into the basement. Four men were killed in the collapse and six others narrowly escaped the same fate by running up the floor as it began to collapse. It took rescuers 11 hours to recover the bodies of the dead men. The five-alarm fire was determined to have been arson, but the case was never solved.”
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On 2/16/1882 a Manhattan, New York (FDNY) firefighter “died as a result of the severe skull fracture sustained while operating at an alarm on February 11th.”
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On 2/16/1939 a Leavenworth, Kansas firefighter “died from the injuries he sustained after a wall had collapsed, while operating a fire that destroyed a garage and damaged three residences on February 15, 1939. The fire was intentionally started by a 25-year-old man who stated he just wanted the satisfaction of starting a fire and had no intention of harming anyone or damaging any property. A firefighter also died the day of the fire from the injuries he sustained in the collapse.”
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On 2/16/1945 a Manhattan, New York (FDNY) firefighter died after being overcome by smoke at a fire at 365 W. 42nd Street.
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On 2/16/1948 a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania firefighter died while working a fire involving the cellar and two sub-cellars of a five-story brick/stone furniture store. “Firefighters were taking a pounding in their attack against the blaze and additional alarms were struck as the men began to fall due to the heavy smoke and illuminating gas fumes. He suffered severe smoke inhalation and died as a result of its effects after collapsing in the station. While operating at the five-alarm fire, a total of 108 firefighters were overcome by smoke and gas fumes.”
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On 2/16/1956 a Des Moines, Iowa firefighter “died from the injuries he sustained while operating at a two-alarm fire when a brick wall had collapsed on him.”
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On 2/16/1962 a Windsor, Ontario, Canada firefighter died after he collapsed and struck his head while advancing hose at a fire at the abandoned Walkerville Brewing Company.
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On 2/16/1985 a Brookline, Massachusetts firefighter died while stretching a 2-?-inch hoseline up the stairs at a fire in a 2-?-story frame dwelling.
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On 2/16/1987 an Everett, Washington firefighter died of asphyxiation while battling an arson fire at Everett Community College. “The college had a large atrium between the main buildings, near the library. During the call, a Captain led a party of six firefighters into the atrium to start knocking down flames, everything was clear. There was no smoke. Within 20 minutes, the fire and smoke curled through the ceiling surrounding the fire attack team. The firefighters had trouble communicating with the firefighters outside. The crew was running out of air and asked for fresh packs. The atrium was filled with thick, black smoke. They followed the fire hoses outside, as they were trained to do. By then, firefighters were “buddy breathing.” They could see the flames dancing around on the ceiling as they were crawling out on our lines. When they got outside, some of the men collapsed, gasping for air. They took a headcount (PAR) and knew right then that one firefighter was missing. The Captain wanted to go back, but someone grabbed his air pack away to stop him. Others tried to get back in, but they couldn’t get through the heat and flames.”
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On 2/16/2011 a Los Angeles City “Firefighter/Paramedic was killed, and twelve other firefighters were injured in a structure fire in a Hollywood Hills, California mansion. Fire units from the Los Angeles City and Los Angeles County Fire Departments were dispatched to a fire at a three-story single-family dwelling built on a hillside. The fire was observed on an exterior wall upon arrival. Additional fire was discovered within an interior wall that extended into a drop ceiling void space and into an attic. During fire control operations, a large section of the first-floor interior ceiling suddenly collapsed onto the firefighters while they were attempting to gain access to the ceiling void above. The ceiling came down as a single piece that included drywall, water-saturated insulation, lumber, and other structural material and measured approximately 20 feet x 30 feet. Emergency traffic over the radio was immediately transmitted and the firefighters were quickly rescued from under the debris and treated. Firefighter Allen later succumbed to his injuries on February 18, 2011. A total of 19 firefighters were trapped briefly in the debris and several injured firefighters were treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The fire occurred in a newly constructed and occupied (February 2011) three-story, single-family dwelling of mixed construction types located on a steep hillside that afforded a sweeping view of the city below. The home had approximately 12,500 square feet divided among the three floors. The first floor, located at street level (main entrance and where the collapse occurred), was constructed of steel and 2-inch by 6-inch wood stud framing with 6-inch flat wood siding. The remaining two floors, which were below grade, were constructed of concrete. The conventional double-layered, flat roof construction consisted of a fiberglass reinforced membrane affixed to an insulation board that was fastened to a ?-inch plywood roof deck with mechanical fasteners. Tapered 2-inch by 6-inch lumber was framed below the plywood roof deck to create a slope to assist with drainage off the roof. Below this, the second layer of the roof was also constructed with ?-inch plywood, which was fastened beneath the tapered 2-inch by 6-inch lumber and on top of 2-inch by 12-inch rafters. The home did contain a residential sprinkler system. According to information provided to NIOSH investigators and through interviews conducted, it appeared that none of the systems’ sprinkler heads were activated during the incident. However, the homeowner did wake to water flowing down the first-floor stairs from what is believed to have been from the sprinkler system. Interior firefighters noted water coming from ceiling canister lights and down the walls. It is believed that the plastic sprinkler pipes may have been exposed to fire damage once the fire spread into the attic area.”
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On 2/16/2022 a gasoline tanker “overturned, crashed into a vacant building, and burst into flames on New York’s Long Island, shutting down traffic for hours and spilling fuel into the sewer system around 1:00 a.m. The tanker crashed into a vacant La-Z-Boy showroom at North Center Avenue and Sunrise Highway, Rockville Centere, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of New York City. There were about 9,200 gallons (34,825 liters) on the gasoline tanker when it flipped and caught fire,”
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On 2/16/2015 a train hauling crude oil from North Dakota derailed near the town of Mount Carbon, West Virginia about 30 miles southeast of Charleston, around 1:20 p.m. resulting in ten of the CSX train's 109 cars exploding in a slow-moving chain reaction and spirals of flame and black smoke pouring from the burning wreckage.
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On 2/16/1983 forest fires killed seventy-six during “Ash Wednesday Fires” in south-eastern Victoria and South Australia. A series of bushfires driven by 68 mph winds a severe drought and extreme weather caused widespread destruction. Many of the deaths resulted from firestorm conditions.
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On 2/16/1907 a dynamite explosion in an Annville, Pennsylvania house killed the mother and fatally injured her two children in their home. The husband “placed three sticks of dynamite in the stove to thaw and went to work, neglecting to tell his wife that the dynamite was in the oven.”
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On 2/16/1902 an inmate died after setting a fire at the State Lunatic Asylum in Jackson, Mississippi around 5:00 a.m. in the 4-story brick main building, the other 600 inmates were able to escape.
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On 2/16/1890 a boiler room fire destroyed one wing of the Little Rock, Arkansas insane asylum; no injuries to the nearly five hundred patients were reported. “There was no insurance, the last Legislature having failed to appropriate money for the purpose.”
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On 2/16/1959 Fidel Castro was sworn in as prime minister of Cuba
On 2/16/1945 during World War II the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines was recaptured by American troops, almost three years after the infamous Bataan Death March
On 2/16/1862 during the Civil War in Stewart County, Tennessee, Fort Donelson was captured by the Union Army. The Union Army’s success also elevated Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant from an obscure and largely unproven leader to the rank of major general and earned him the nickname of "Unconditional Surrender" Grant.
On 2/16/1804 during the First Barbary War, (1801–1805), also known as the Tripolitanian War and the Barbary Coast War, a U.S. Lieutenant Stephen Decatur led a force of seventy-four men, including nine U.S. Marines, on a military mission that famed British Admiral Horatio Nelson calls the "most daring act of the age." The line "To the shores of Tripoli" refers to this war in the Marine Corps Hymn.