Today in Fire History 4/2
On 4/2/1979 the Wayside Inn fire, a board and care home, killed twenty-six in Farmington, Saint Francois County, Missouri after a fire started in the rear of the building near the kitchen in a one-story granite building. Thirty-seven patients and one attendant occupied the building when the fire started. The fire started around 5:00 a.m. and is “believed to have originated in the attic, probably from an electrical fault, and burned for a considerable period in the attic before dropping into the first-story space. The fire department was notified from the owner’s house next door to the facility and responded initially with a single pumper. “Strong winds made the fire intense and fast, and the one-story granite building burned rapidly. The roof collapsed and soon only the outer walls were standing.” “The one-story unprotected wood-frame building was “U” shaped with an additional wing extending from the bottom of the “U.” It is believed to have originally been built in 1949 or 1950 as an “L” shaped building. Rooms 10 through 30, the kitchen, dining room, and office were located in this original “L” shaped portion…The people who lived in this facility ranged in age from 24 to 96 years old. They came to the facility from three backgrounds. About one-third had been residents at the state mental hospital and had been moved to the Wayside Inn as part of a program to de-institutionalize people with mental disorders. They all had been certified by medical authorities as capable of taking care of themselves. Seventeen of the residents were veterans who had been assisted in placement at the Wayside Inn through the Veterans Administration’s Community Home Program. The remainder of the residents were individuals who chose to live at the Wayside Inn rather than maintain a separate home for themselves. The facility was last inspected on December 5, 1978, by the Missouri Bureau of Boarding Home Licensure, at which time the inspector questioned the mental or physical condition of eight of the residents and requested physicians’ statements as to their ability to continue to reside in this facility. Such statements were received in all eight cases. Of these eight, six were residents of the dormitory facility at the time of the fire and only one survived the incident… This and several other fires raise a question as to whether people who have had mental disorders or are recovering from severe drug-related problems are truly capable of self-preservation at the time of an emergency?….” “The Governor responded quickly and strongly to the tragedy, ordering a survey of all nursing homes in the state, with the result indicating a total of 501 homes, 72 of which failed to pass basic fire safety regulations. Soon there was legislation establishing state-wide fire and safety standards for nursing homes. These went into effect on October 1, 1979.”
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On 4/2/1962 nine residents died in a Yeadon, Pennsylvania nursing home fire; heavy smoke forced the total evacuation of the building. “Heavy smoke from a stubborn cellar fire early in the morning at the Vart-Ham Nursing Home caused the death of nine patients. Spectacular rescue work was necessary to evacuate the three-story stucco structure containing 81 elderly occupants, all of whom were sleeping at the time of the fire. At 1:20 a.m. on the morning of the tragedy, the Yeadon Police Department received a call from the Madison Exchange telephone operator informing it of a fire in the nursing home at Lansdowne and Lincoln Avenues. The alert dispatcher, sensing the seriousness of the situation, immediately activated the control system of 50 individual alarm bells in the homes of the members of the Yeadon Volunteer Fire Department and sounded the public alarm siren… Simultaneously, a Yeadon Police Department patrol car was arriving on the scene and reported that conditions were serious, and additional aid would be needed. Immediately following the initial police report, a radio message was received from Engine 6 of the Yeadon Fire Department with the Chief in charge. He ordered the three additional companies comprising the area’s Seventh District and asked for all available ambulances to report to the scene to facilitate complete evacuation and rescue operations.
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On 4/2/1848 two Manhattan, New York firefighters “were both killed when the building collapsed while they were operating at a fire. Another firefighter was critically injured in the collapse and died April 4th as a result of the injuries he sustained.”
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On 4/2/1888 a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania firefighter died from smoke inhalation and fall while operating at a fire at 122 Walnut Street.
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On 4/2/1922 a Chicago, Illinois firefighter died from asphyxiation at a fire.
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On 4/2/1973 the "Blue Max," a nightclub, fire on the second floor at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare Hotel in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont extended to the 10-story atrium in the center of the building. The fire resulted in over $300,000 in damages. Only one of the 1,000 registered guests required medical attention.
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On 4/2/2010 two men, one woman, and three children were killed in an apartment fire in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that started on the second floor of the building, which housed six apartment units and an Irish Pub on the ground floor.
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On 4/2/1907 a fire in Durand’s restaurant at 11 East Alabama Street in Atlanta, Georgia gutted the upstairs portion of the restaurant and extended to the block.
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On 4/2/1904 two people died and 18 businesses were lost in the Albia, Iowa fire (conflagration).
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On 4/2/1513 Florida was discovered near present-day St. Augustine and claimed for Spain by Ponce de Leon.
On 4/2/1863 during the Civil War in response to acute food shortages “Bread Riots” erupt in Richmond, Virginia.
On 4/2/1866 President Johnson ended the Civil War in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
On 4/2/1884 London prison for debtors closed.
On 4/2/1917 President Wilson asked for a declaration of war (World War I)
On 4/2/1972 North Vietnamese troops capture part of Quang Tri.
On 4/2/1979 anthrax poisoning killed sixty-two in Ekaterinburg, (now Sverdlovsk) Russia after weapons plant workers failed to replace a crucial filter?