Today in Fire History 7/11
On 7/11/1926 an ammunition depot explosion killed three, twenty were missing, and one hundred were injured near Dover, New Jersey. “Towns and hamlets within a radius of 15 miles of what was until yesterday the navy's principal depot, bore the marks of the continued hail of debris and the shock of the detonating stores of powder, TNT, and even more powerful propellants. With the less severely injured under treatment in several private hospitals and private homes in the hilly region in and about Lake Denmark, it was difficult to obtain an accurate check-up of those hurt in the successive blasts set off by a bolt of lightning. Twenty-four hours and more after the initial explosion, desultory discharges of ammunition supplies shattered the smoldering debris of 20 demolished buildings within the reservation limits. A change of wind had removed, temporarily, the danger which throughout the night threatened the adjacent army arsenal at Picatinny. Army officers said there had been no fire at the arsenal but there an army laboratory had been burned, and there has been considerable other damage. Secretary of War Davis came from New York to visit the scene of the disaster. He was advised of the danger of inspecting the shell-torn area which still flamed and smoldered. Naval men reported that 18 naval magazines were still intact and it was hoped that with the dying down of the fires they would be saved. Secretary Davis viewed the scene from just outside the reservation gates. Two hundred marines were en route from Quantico, Virginia, to aid in guarding the devastated area which has been surrounded by army and navy pickets to keep away the throngs of the curious who might be injured in some bleated explosion.”
On 7/11/1862 a Boston, Massachusetts firefighter “died after being struck in the head by heavy timber after the building started to collapse at a second-alarm fire.”
On 7/11/1914 a Chicago, Illinois firefighter “died while fighting a barn fire on South Racine Avenue. He suffered electrical burns when he was struck by a live wire that had broken from the heat of the barn fire. Three other firefighters were burned by the wire.”
On 7/11/2021 two Silvertown (UK) firefighters “lost their lives tackling a blaze at a warehouse in Bromley-by-Bow. The fire broke out on the second floor of the five-story building of Hays Business Services’ warehouse on Gillender Street, which stored records, files, and paperwork. Fourteen people escaped with their lives after the fire broke out. One hundred firefighters and 20 fire engines from stations including Stratford, Plaistow, East Ham, Millwall, Whitechapel, Poplar, and Bow fought the flames. A London Fire Brigade (LFB) spokesperson said at the time: “Conditions were very difficult. It was a very deep-seated fire and there were a lot of combustible materials. Visibility was very poor and there was a great deal of smoke.”
On 7/11/2008 a fire caused by a malfunctioning vent fan in a bathroom around 12:52 p.m. at Stepping Stones Day Care in Tallahassee, Florida claimed the life of a four year-old-girl.
On 7/11/1978 a truck carrying liquid gas crashed into a campsite in San Carlos de la Rapita, Spain killing more than two hundred (243). Shortly after 3:00 p.m. A 38-ton truck carrying propylene gas crashed into a cement wall 120 miles south of Barcelona.
On 7/11/1973 Varig Airlines B-707 in-flight fire killed 123, near Paris, France.
On 7/11/1911 a wildfire burned down the town of Oscoda, Michigan.
On 7/11/1905 the Easton, Pennsylvania Paxinosa Inn, a resort hotel, was destroyed by a fire that started from an overheated flue in the laundry on the east side of the inn and extended into the 40’ by 340’ four-story-high wood structure.
On 7/11/1890 the steamer Tioga owned by the Erie Transportation Company exploded at 7:45 p.m. at her dock at Randolph Street Chicago, Illinois, and the river killed thirteen.
On 7/11/1879 a magazine that contained about five tons of giant gunpowder exploded at the Bodie Mine (Bodie, CA) causing a fire that extended to the shaft killing five and injuring eleven.
On 7/11/1979 the Skylab crashed on Earth.
On 7/11/1914, 19-year-old George Herman “Babe” Ruth Jr. played his first game for the Boston Red Sox, pitching seven innings and allowing two earned runs in a win over Cleveland.
On 7/11/1864 Confederate forces led by General J Early during the Civil War invaded Washington D.C. Fort Stevens.
On 7/11/1804, in a duel held in Weehawken, New Jersey, Vice President Aaron Burr fatally shoots his long-time political antagonist Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton, a leading Federalist and the chief architect of America's political economy died the following day, and one of America's greatest statesmen passed into history.
On 7/11/1789 the U.S. Marine Corps was created by an act of Congress.
7/11/1767 President John Quincy Adams was born in Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts, son of the 2nd U.S. president, John Adams, the younger Adams would inherit a passion for politics and follow in his father's footsteps, and won the presidency in 1824, succeeding James Monroe; later in his career, he would argue the controversial Amistad slave ship case before the Supreme Court.?
On 7/11/1274 Robert the Bruce a Guardian & King of Scotland was born.