Today in Fire History 3/17

On 3/17/1631 the 1st fire prevention legislation in the United States was passed in Cambridge, Massachusetts; the ordinance banned thatched roofs and wooden chimneys.

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On 3/17/1899 the Windsor Hotel in New York, New York was destroyed by a fire that killed almost 90 people. “On St Patrick's Day 1899, while people were gathered below to watch the parade, a fire destroyed the hotel within 90 minutes. Supposedly the fire started when someone threw an unextinguished match out of a second-floor window and the wind blew it against the lace curtains. Firefighters, some of them still in their dress uniforms from the parade, made heroic rescues, but they were hampered by the crowds. The fire moved too fast for them to reach every window with ladders, and water pressure was inadequate. Almost 90 people died (estimates vary), with numerous bodies landing on the pavement; some people fell when escape ropes burned their hands, while some jumped in preference to being burned alive. The operator of the hotel, Warren F. Leland, was unable to identify his 20-year-old daughter, Helen, who had jumped from the 6th floor. The following day's New York Times featured the headlines "Windsor Hotel Lies in Ashes" and "The Hotel a Fire Trap." The fire commissioner, Hugh Bonner, blamed the construction of the hotel for the rapid spread of the fire: it did not have the cross walls that by 1899 were required by law. According to some reports, the fire escapes soon became too hot to use; other accounts state that there were none. The Windsor Hotel fire was the inspiration for John Kenlon, who later became fire chief but was a lieutenant in 1899, to become one of the most forceful advocates of a high-pressure hydrant system in New York, which was finally installed in 1907… The hotel’s interior mirrored the luxury that most of its guests had come to expect in a home. In the main hall, a curved marble grand staircase spiraled upward to a magnificent plaster-work ceiling capped by a soaring rotunda. Rosewood paneling inlaid with satinwood and black walnut festooned the main corridors and public rooms; the latter included a large drawing room and two adjoining parlors, all beautifully furnished and elegantly appointed. A grand octagonal salon was a popular spot for society weddings and other celebrations. The Windsor was a small city unto itself. All the practical amenities were provided on-premise barber shop, grocery, general storerooms, telegraph office, several restaurants serving three meals a day, and 139 public and private bathrooms outfitted with hot and cold taps. The five hundred guestrooms were kitted out in curtains, bed hangings, and carpets of crimson, blue, or purple velvet and equipped with private bathrooms, an almost unheard-of luxury at the time. A two-bedroom suite with a private parlor ran to $200 a week, the equivalent of more than $6,000 today. It wasn’t only luxury for which guests at the Windsor paid top dollar. It was the assurance of safety. In each guestroom, hidden behind the heavy velvet drapes and lace curtain liner, was a coil of rope hooked to the sill, the length of which reached ground level. Theoretically, a fire-trapped guest could unwind the rope and descend to safety. Before 1899, there had never been the need to put the theory to the test.”

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On 3/17/1890 Indianapolis, Indiana firefighters were called to the Bowen-Merrill Bookstore on West Washington Street to what appeared to be a routine fire. “The call came at approximately 3:00 p.m. from employees at the bookstore who saw smoke. Firefighters arrived at the scene and believed the situation to be relatively safe, with the fire contained in the basement of the building. Because of the flammable contents of the store, firefighters stayed on the scene to make sure the fire was extinguished. A few hours later, however, flames were seen coming from windows in the upper stories. Several firefighters stationed themselves on top of the building, while others entered the four-story building through upper windows. Without warning the walls collapsed, dropping many firefighters into the flames. Thirteen firefighters lost their lives, and more than a dozen were seriously injured.”

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On 3/17/1996 an accidental fire occurred at the Scotch Meadow Rest Home in Laurinburg, North Carolina leaving eight elderly male residents dead from smoke inhalation and two others with smoke-related injuries. The fire started from faulty electrical wiring in a patient room in a single-story, wood-frame structure in the state-licensed domiciliary care facility. The fire apparently was started by an uncovered electrical outlet in a room shared by two men. A bed had been pushed up to the outlet and the bedclothes caught fire. Fire doors separating the men’s and women’s sides closed automatically and helped keep the fire from spreading. Two of the 40 surviving residents were treated for smoke inhalation. Most were taken to a motel and six went to a nursing home.

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On 3/17/1912 a San Francisco, California firefighter died of asphyxiation while operating at the SS Manchuria fire.

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On 3/17/1935 a Boston, Massachusetts firefighter “collapsed after being overcome in the attic of a house at 15 Raymond Street, Allston, Box 5243 (Appian Way & Raymond St.) at 12:43 p.m. He was removed to Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital where he died.”

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On 3/17/1947 a Detroit, Michigan firefighter “died from smoke inhalation.”

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On 3/17/1974 a Detroit, Michigan firefighter “died of the injuries he sustained after falling off Ladder 26.”

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On 3/17/2005 a fire claimed the lives of two Yellowknife, Canada, firefighters and resulted in charges against the fire chief and a deputy fire chief, under the Northwest Territories Safety Act. “The two firefighters were part of a crew called to a fire at a hardware store at about 7:00 a.m. They were inside with an attack line battling a fire in a shed attached to the store, where lumber was cut. Another crew was up on the snow-covered roof working at ventilation when the roof caved in on top of them. The firefighters who were on the roof when it collapsed managed to get out safely, and without serious injuries. Both firefighters were rescued from the shed and sent to the hospital where they would die from their injuries. The blaze did not spread to the store.”

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On 3/17/2011 two North Perth, Ontario firefighters died while fighting a fire at the dollar store. “The first-arriving pumper had eight firefighters on board; there was “a little bit” of white smoke showing. Two firefighters entered the dollar store to conduct a primary search. There were two crews in the building – a crew of three on one side and a crew of five on the other side near the loading dock. They were moving ceiling tiles, hitting spot fires, and checking for extension – “all the normal things you would do in a structural fire”. The crews on the side of the loading dock saw changes in conditions and pull out. One firefighter on the other side of the building was leaving because his alarm had gone off and he was tapping the other two and saying I’m stepping out. As he gets to the doorway and the T-bar ceiling came down with an instantaneous change in heat and trapping the two firefighters. The firefighter whose alarm activated at the door was knocked down by the T-bar collapse.

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On 3/17/2017 a Watertown, Massachusetts firefighter “died after collapsing at the scene of a 2nd-alarm structure fire on Merrifield Avenue. Crews performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and he was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.”

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On 3/17/2012 in East Liverpool, Ohio a 37-year-old man and four children ages 11, 7, and 5 died in a house fire.

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On 3/17/2019 “a woman was able to escape but two men died when a house in Seminole County, Florida caught fire. Seminole County Fire Department officials said the flames were reported around 3:50 a.m. in the 100 block of Nicole Lane in unincorporated Longwood. Flames were coming from the roof of the home when crews arrived. "It had heavy flames showing through the house." By the time the fire was extinguished, much of the home's roof and its front entrance had been destroyed. The woman escaped from the home after she smelled smoke and called 911. When firefighters arrived, they went inside the home and found the two men. One man died in the home and the other died at a local hospital. The victims were a father in his 70s and his son, who is in his 50s.”??

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On 3/17/1993 six people died after a gasoline tanker trapped in traffic at a railroad crossing was struck by an Amtrak train and exploded in a giant fireball setting nine cars and trucks ablaze in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

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On 3/17/1992 a truck bombing by the Islamic Jihad of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires killed twenty-eight.

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On 3/17/1914 a girls’ dormitory fire in Wellesley, Massachusetts forced 410 students to evacuate in the early morning damaging “College Hall, the main dormitory and administration building of Wellesley College.”

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On 3/17/1902 the Atlanta, Georgia Gelder's Hotel was damaged by a fire that started in the basement of a drug store on the corner of Broad and Marietta Streets, and in five minutes the hotel was filled with blinding smoke. “Chemicals in the basement of the drug store and some whiskey stored next door in a saloon caught fire and added to the flames.”

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On 3/17/1900 a downtown Chicago, Illinois fire at North Avenue and Larrabee Street destroyed several businesses.

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On 3/17/1894 the historical Baranoff Castle was destroyed by fire in Sitka, Alaska.

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On 3/17/1893 a business section fire leaves three dead and several stores destroyed in Boston, Massachusetts.

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Happy Saint Patrick's Day: in 1762 the 1st St. Patrick's Day parade was held in New York City. In 1756; the 1st St. Patrick's Day celebration was held in New York City at Crown and Thistle Tavern in celebration of St. Patrick, a bishop, who was carried off to Ireland as a slave in 432 AD and who passed away on March 17, 461 AD. The three-leafed clover, a living symbol of the Holy Trinity - God (Father), Son, and Holy Spirit - was used to convert the pagans of Ireland to Christianity. Had the holiday remained true to St. Patrick's historic color preferences, the celebration would take on a shade of blue as its dominant hue. The Order of St. Patrick in both the United Kingdom and Ireland uses varying shades of blue in the badges identifying members of the order -- sky blue in Britain and deep blue in Ireland… "O Paddy dear, and did ye hear the news that's goin' round The shamrock is by law forbid to grow on Irish ground! No more St. Patrick's Day we'll keep, his colors can't be seen For there's a cruel law ag'in the Wearin' o' the Green ..." When the Irish and Scottish immigrated to this country following the great potato famine, they brought many of their traditions with them. Work for these immigrants was often very difficult to find. Factories and shops displayed signs reading "NINA" meaning No Irish Need Apply. The only jobs they could get were the civil service jobs that were dirty, dangerous, or both -- firefighters and police officers -- jobs that no one else wanted… Irish-American firefighters began affixing images of the shamrock to their apparatus and their person not only as a display of Irish-American pride but also as an inconspicuous message to their fellow Irishmen advertising that the fire service is a place that can't discriminate against them… Today, by tradition, many truck companies have a shamrock somewhere in their logo, on their apparatus, or on their helmet. Irish-American firefighters usually display a shamrock somewhere on their gear, as well, to channel the "luck of the Irish".

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On 3/17/1930 construction began on the Empire State Building, 350 5th Avenue, New York, NY despite the Great Depression and was completed in 1 year and 45 days from the excavation of the pit to the first renter moving into the 102 stories, 1,250' high (1,454' to tip CTBUH) building that has an area of 87,120 square feet. It took approximately 7,000,000 man-hours, involving 3,400 workers, to complete the construction project for $24,718,000.00. The framework of the building contains 57,000 tons of steel and has an overall weight of about 365,000 tons; and has 6,500 windows. The Empire State Building was the tallest building for almost 40 years.

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On 3/17/1776 the British were forced to evacuate Boston after General Washington fortified Dorchester Heights.

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On 3/17/1836 Texas abolishes slavery