Today in Fire History 5/3

On 5/3/1908 the Aveline Hotel fire in Fort Wayne, Indiana left eleven (sixteen) dead and twenty injured that started near the elevator shaft on the first floor from defective wiring around 3:10 a.m. “Within five minutes, however, the interior of the structure was a seething furnace, and many of the guests were caught in their rooms before they had time to get into the hallways and make their way to the fire escapes.” “An early morning fire caused the loss of at least sixteen lives at Fort Wayne. The blaze started, none knows how, in the New Aveline hotel, and as the hotel register was burned there is no means of arriving accurately at the number of the dead. It is known, however, that at least sixteen perished. The fire was discovered at 3:30 a. m. in the elevator shaft by the night clerk. He rushed to the upper floors alarming the guests until the flames, which had spread with great rapidity, drove him back. His efforts, however, saved many lives. The hotel was erected over fifty years ago, and the woodwork was dry as tinder. It burned like matchwood, and within a few minutes from the time the fire was discovered the whole interior of the hotel was a mass of flames, and the only means of escape left was by the windows. The fire department rescued many using ladders, but some, frenzied by the rush of the flames, leaped from windows to the street. One guest jumped from the fifth story. His body struck a balcony and bounded far into the street. He was badly crushed and died a short time later in Saint Joseph’s hospital. Another, with his wife ahead of him and his son in his arms, started down one of the three fire escapes, not enough for such a large and so high a building, from the fifth floor. On the third floor, the fire broke out below them at the turn in the iron stairs. He swung his wife over the railing of the third-floor platforms; she dropped to the platform below, thus avoiding the blazing portion of the fire escape. Then he dropped the little boy into the arms of the mother, and in that way followed them in safety to the ground. Another was driven from his room on the third floor to the window-ledge. The inmates were leaping out above him, and he swung down from window to window. Firefighters hoisted a ladder to aid him, but it became entangled in the overhead wires. The man became exhausted; his grasp loosened, and he dropped just as the ladder was raised under his feet. He seized a rung of the ladder and escaped unhurt. All this time the floors were falling, one after the other, into the basement, burying in the burning debris the bodies of those who had not been able to get out. The residents and storekeepers in the neighborhood threw their houses and places of business open to the sufferers and supplied them free with shelter and clothing. Those who were injured by burns or leaping from the windows are likely to recover. The total loss to the hotel and the storekeepers on the ground floor (that of the guests excluded) was $115,000. The building was erected in 1852. It was six-story and of brick. It stood in the business center of the city. In 1895 it was extensively remodeled, with all the original bad features repeated. The hotel and its furnishings were valued at $80,000. It had only three old-style fires-escapes, and though it had not been condemned by the official inspector as unsafe, he had ordered that the halls should be better lighted and that it should be made safer in case of fire. He describes it as being "cut up by a great number of narrow stairways, which naturally made it difficult to find exits in case of a fire.” The three fire escapes had not enough means of reaching them. No attention had been paid to his report, which was several weeks old. The fire department of Fort Wayne, under the command of Chief Hilhrecht, is fully paid. It consists of about sixty men. Its equipment is as follows: Steamers, seven; chemical engine: hook and ladder truck; aerial truck; hose wagons, eight; hose cotton, rubber-lined, ample; fire-alarm, Ganiewell; hydrants, nearly 800; fire-pressure, 40 to 45 lbs. The population at the last census was 45,115.”

On 5/3/1869 a Baltimore, Maryland firefighter died from injuries he received on “April 17, 1869, at a 3-story brick building fire that was through the roof. He noticed the high brick chimney shaking and ordered the firefighters to get out. Within minutes the chimney fell pulling the front wall with it, crashing down on the men of Engine 1 and Engine.4, burying them in the cellar. One firefighter was killed instantly having suffered a broken neck from the falling brick. Two firefighters were critically injured. The second to pass told his rescuers was okay and to move on to others that needed their help more. He told them this as he lay alongside a burning timber. On April 22nd he died from his injuries. The third seriously injured firefighter died from his injuries on May 3rd”

On 5/3/1885 two Chicago, Illinois firefighters, both of Truck 1, died “while fighting a commercial fire at 163 South Water Street. The fire was discovered shortly after 11:00 p.m. Flames were already breaking through the roof and fourth-floor windows of the four-story building when firefighters arrived. They were among the firefighters positioned inside the building on the third floor with hose lines aimed at the flames above them on the fourth floor. The structure, however, was weakened by the flames and the weight of the water, and the fourth floor collapsed onto the firefighters working on the third floor. Nine firefighters were injured in the collapse, and two firefighters were crushed by burning crates and barrels. Fifty firefighters quickly climbed to the third floor in an attempt to rescue them, but both firefighters were dead when their bodies were recovered.”

On 5/3/1905 a Memphis, Tennessee firefighter “died as a result of critical head injuries and burns sustained April 20th, when he and two other firefighters were caught in the collapse of a temporary floor at a warehouse fire.”

On 5/3/1906 a Meriden, Connecticut firefighter died from the effects of smoke inhalation.

On 5/3/1911 a Fort Scott, Kansas firefighter “was crushed under a falling brick wall at a two-story brick powerhouse, he died at the Mercy Hospital. Two other firefighters, who were with him, were injured.”

On 5/3/1943 a Minneapolis, Minnesota firefighter “collapsed and died at the scene of a dwelling fire at 3412 31st Avenue South. He had been working in the smoke-filled building; his death probably resulted from heart failure aggravated by smoke inhalation.”

On 5/3/1963 a California Forestry firefighter “died after coming in contact with a live powerline during wildfire suppression in the Mt. Bullion-Madera Mariposa Ranger unit.”

On 5/3/1986 a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania firefighter “died in an explosion at Engine 34 quarters, at 28th and Thompson Streets, apparently caused by a malfunctioning gas boiler that was in use during the prior week's cold snap. He was one of four Engine 27 members temporarily deployed to the Thompson Street station to replace firefighters there who were battling a four-alarm blaze at a Southwest Philadelphia warehouse. The other Engine 27 men were injured, one critically.”

On 5/3/1999 a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania firefighter died from injuries he received at a fire. He and his company were fighting a structural fire in a residential occupancy. “During the firefight, he fell through a floor but appeared to be uninjured. After his company had been released and was back at quarters, everyone returned to bed. A short time later, his company was dispatched to another call. Other firefighters found him down and without vital signs. Despite immediate cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and advance life support (ALS) arrival within four minutes, he died. His autopsy revealed that he had a massive hemorrhage within his back muscles which damaged his spinal cord. The hemorrhage was caused by the fall.”

On 5/3/2002 two Saint Louis, Missouri firefighters died while fighting a fire in a 2-story commercial building. “First-arriving firefighters found light smoke showing and a fire on the first floor. While other firefighters opened up the building, engine company firefighters advanced a hoseline into the first-floor area and knocked down the fire. As the ceiling on the first floor was pulled, the fire was noted in the space between the first and second floors. Fire extension into the second floor was suspected. The handline was removed from the first floor and advanced to the second floor. An engine company captain became separated from his crew at the rear of the first floor of the building. He opened a roll-up door for egress. The fresh air supplied by the open door allowed the remaining fire on the first floor to progress rapidly. A metal security gate at the base of the roll-up door prevented his escape. However, the captain was able to escape when firefighters and civilians at the rear of the structure moved the gate to permit his exit. While he was trapped, the captain made several requests for assistance on the radio. At the same time, firefighters from the rescue company were opening up the second floor. An engine company firefighter came upon a firefighter as they worked on the second floor; he appeared to be lost and conditions in the area were worsening. The firefighter attempted to lead him to the exit but almost became disoriented. As he worked his way to the exit, he came upon the disoriented firefighter lying face down and unresponsive. The firefighter was unable to move him and, running out of air himself, he was forced to leave the structure. As soon as he exited the building, the firefighter notified a chief officer that a firefighter was down. A search party was organized, including the other firefighter who would die. The search party entered the building and located the missing firefighter. He was removed from the building and provided with emergency medical aid. The captain of the rescue company did another head count and realized that a second firefighter was now missing. A second search party entered the building and was aided in the discovery of the missing firefighter by the sound of his personal alert safety system (PASS) device. He was removed from the structure and emergency medical care was provided. The first firefighter was missing for approximately 20 minutes and the second firefighter was missing for approximately 29 minutes. The second firefighter was pronounced dead upon his arrival at the hospital. The first firefighter died the next day. Both firefighters were promoted to Captain posthumously.”

On 5/3/1961 a fireworks factory fire killed thirty-eight, in Caracas, Venezuela.

On 5/3/1907 the Arlington Hotel at Marietta and Cone Streets in Atlanta, Georgia was damaged by a mysterious fire that injured one around 1:00 a.m. “After the flames had been extinguished and the fire department had been gone for an hour and a half, the fire broke out in a new place in the hotel and the department was called again. Two weeks ago there were two similar fires in the same hotel, and these facts have aroused considerable suspicion.”

On 5/3/1907 a Chehalis, Washington fire that started in the upper portion of the Idaho Restaurant claimed two children's lives, the victims were found hiding under a bed. The fire extended to other buildings. Two other children, also hiding under a bed, were rescued from a front sleeping room.

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On 5/3/1904 several buildings at Drew College, one of the pioneer educational institutions for women in the country, in Carmel, New York burn to the ground.

On 5/3/1901 one-hundred-forty-eight city blocks were laid waste in Jacksonville, Florida by fire. “Thousands of persons are on the streets tonight homeless with practically all of their worldly possessions upon their backs. The depot of the railroads, situated in the southeastern section, has been turned into temporary lodging houses and hospitals. Luckily the weather is fine so there will be no suffering on that score.”

On 5/3/1898 the Portsmouth, New Hampshire Pickering Block was destroyed by fire shortly after 1:00 a.m. “The hook and ladder truck was the first to arrive on the scene followed soon after by the rest of the apparatus. The chemical (engine) took up a position at the Market Street entrance and two lines of hose were dragged up the stairway. By this time the smoke had become very dense and drove the firefighters from the upper landing.”

On 5/3/1884 forest fires in Arnot, Pennsylvania destroyed 17 homes.

On 5/3/1851 most of San Francisco California was destroyed by a fire; thirty died.

On 5/3/1845 a fire killed 1,600 in a popular theater in Canton, China.

On 5/3/1962 two commuter trains and a freight train collided near Tokyo, Japan, killing more than 160.

On 5/3/1802 Washington D.C. incorporates as a city.

On 5/3/1942 during WW II Battle of the Coral Sea began.

On 5/3/1946 Japanese war crimes trial began.

On 5/3/1988 4,200 kg of Colombian cocaine was seized at Tarpon Springs Florida.