Today in Fire History 4/20

On 4/20/2010 the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (also referred to as the BP oil spill or the Gulf of Mexico oil spill) and drilling rig explosion, killed eleven platform workers and injured seventeen others. The spill was finally stopped on 7/15/10 when the wellhead was capped, after releasing about 4.9 million barrels of crude oil. “During March and early April, several platform workers and supervisors expressed safety concerns. At approximately 9:45 p.m. methane gas from the well, under high pressure, shot up and out of the drill column, expanded onto the platform, and then ignited and exploded. A fire then engulfed the platform… The rig owned and operated by offshore oil-drilling company Transocean and leased by oil company BP was situated in the Macondo oil prospect in the Mississippi Canyon, a valley on the continental shelf. The oil well over which it was positioned was located on the seabed 4,993 feet (1,522 meters) below the surface and extended approximately 18,000 feet (5,486 meters) into the rock. On the night of April 20, a surge of natural gas blasted through a concrete core recently installed by contractor Halliburton to seal the well for later use. It later emerged through documents released by Wikileaks that a similar incident had occurred on a BP-owned rig in the Caspian Sea in September 2008. Both cores were likely too weak to withstand the pressure because they were composed of a concrete mixture that used nitrogen gas to accelerate curing. The rig capsized and sank on the morning of April 22, rupturing the riser, through which drilling mud had been injected to counteract the upward pressure of oil and natural gas. Without any opposing force, the oil began to discharge into the gulf. The volume of oil escaping the damaged well, originally estimated by BP to be about 1,000 barrels per day—was thought by U.S. government officials to have peaked at more than 60,000 barrels per day.”

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On 4/20/1999 the Columbine (Colorado) High School massacre left thirteen dead and twenty-three wounded after two students went on a shooting rampage at about 11:20 a.m. “The perpetrators, twelfth grade (senior) students murdered 12 students and one teacher. Ten students were killed in the school library, where the pair subsequently committed suicide. Twenty-one additional people were injured by gunshots. In addition to the shootings, the attack involved several homemade bombs. Two of these were placed in the cafeteria, powerful enough to kill or seriously injure all people within the area, although they failed to detonate. Their cars in the parking lots were made into bombs that also failed to detonate, and at another location away from the school, two bombs were set up as diversions, only one of which partially detonated. The motive remains unclear.

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On 4/20/1942 a Litchfield, Illinois firefighter died while fighting a fire at the old Litchfield Foundry. “The alarm was received at 7:20 p.m. He and other members of his company were among the first firefighters on the scene and they immediately attacked the fire. The firefighter had been operating a hoseline on the south side of the building for about 30 minutes when he collapsed. Two other firefighters carried him to an automobile and drove him to Saint Francis Hospital, but efforts to revive him were unsuccessful. Investigations later showed that the heat was so intense where he was working at the south side of the building that windows one block south had cracked because of the heat.”

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On 4/20/1946 a Boston, Massachusetts firefighter collapsed during a fire on April 19th, at the rear of Keystone Manufacturing Company factory on Hallet Street at Dorchester. He died from those injuries.”

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On 4/20/2000 a Center Point, Alabama firefighter died while fighting a fire in a single-family residential structure that included a full basement. “Upon arrival, firefighters found heavy smoke showing from the structure and found that the fire was in the basement. Firefighters attempted to reach the fire through the garage door (which opened into the basement) but were unsuccessful in locating the seat of the fire. A positive pressure fan was placed at the garage door. Another team of three firefighters, including the one who died, advanced an attack line through the front door of the residence. On their initial entry into the residence, they were unable to locate any fire. The crew withdrew, found that a positive pressure fan had been placed at the front door, and returned to explore another area of the house. The firefighter was at the nozzle as the hoseline was advanced into the second entry on the main floor of the residence. As the line advanced, he fell through the floor into the area of the basement that was involved in the fire. Other firefighters helped as he attempted to jump back to the first floor from the basement, but his efforts were unsuccessful. Firefighters attempted to lower a scuttle hole ladder into the hole but the location of the hole and the sagging of the first floor into the basement prevented its use. Firefighters instructed him to use the hoseline to protect himself as they attempted to rescue him through the basement. An attack team entered the basement and fought their way to the room that contained the trapped firefighter. He was removed from the basement and received advanced life support (ALS) medical treatment immediately. He was transported by ground and air ambulances to a hospital in nearby Birmingham. He was treated in the emergency room but was pronounced dead.”

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On 4/20/2017 a Queens, New York (FDNY) firefighter died “while operating in a fire in a second-floor apartment in a five-story apartment building at 1615 Putnam Avenue in Queens. He was assigned as his unit's outside ventilation firefighter, accessing the roof of the structure when he fell five stories. The firefighter was transported to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center where he succumbed to the injuries sustained in the fall.”

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On 4/20/2013 a mother and four children were killed in a house fire outside Atlanta. Georgia, the only survivor was an 11-year-old girl who escaped after her mother woke her up and told her to run. The fire started just after 1:00 a.m. in the suburb of Newnan. The state fire marshal’s office ruled that it was an electrical fire and an accident; investigators believe a faulty breaker in the electrical panel started the fire.

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On 4/20/1971 the Imperial Hotel fire killed twenty-four in Bangkok, Thailand. The fire is believed to have started after a cook fell asleep falling asleep while fixing food.

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On 4/20/1914 The Colorado National Guard attacked a shantytown and burned it to the ground in Ludlow, Colorado occupied by 1200 striking coal trying to win the right to organize, nineteen people died.

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On 4/20/1905 the main building of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee was destroyed by fire while 300 students were engaged in classwork shortly before noon.

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On 4/20/1980 Castro announced the Mariel Boatlift; 125,000 Cuban refugees immigrated to the United States.

On 4/20/1902 scientist Marie Curie successfully isolated the element radium while researching pitchblende from her laboratory in Paris.

On 4/20/1898 President William McKinley asks Congress to declare war on Spain

4/20/1871 the Third Force Act, popularly known as the Ku Klux Act; Congress authorizes President Ulysses S. Grant to declare martial law, impose heavy penalties against terrorist organizations, and use military force to suppress the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).

On 4/20/1861 Colonel Robert E. Lee resigned from the United States Army two days after he was offered command of the Union Army and three days after his native state, Virginia, seceded from the Union.