Today in Fire History 7/15

On 7/15/1970 the Wedworth-Townsend Paramedic Act of 1970, was signed into law. “During the 1960s a Los Angeles cardiologist named Walter S. Graf became concerned about the lack of actual medical care being given to coronary patients during emergency transportation to a hospital. In 1969, while serving as president of the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Heart Association, he created a “mobile critical care unit”, consisting of a Chevy van, a registered nurse, and a portable defibrillator. The same year Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn persuaded the Board of Supervisors to approve a pilot program to train county Firefighters as “Mobile Intensive Care Paramedics”. A change in state law was necessary to allow personnel other than doctors and nurses to render emergency medical care. Hahn recruited two state legislators who wrote the Wedworth-Townsend Paramedic Act of 1970, signed into law by Governor Ronald Reagan on July 15, 1970, despite opposition from doctors, nurses, and attorneys. Paramedic training began the next month at the Freeman Memorial Hospital under Graf’s direction. Reagan only signed off after gaining assurance that paramedics would be allowed to cross city lines freely within Los Angeles County. This could have been a showstopper, as Reagan's father had died in 1940 at the age of 57 of a heart attack after a Los Angeles-based ambulance was restricted from entering Beverly Hills to attend the call. Paramedic training began the next month under Dr. Graf’s direction. It was the first nationally accredited paramedic training program in the United States.” “The story of American paramedicine did not begin in California or even in the U.S. but in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The inspiration for this program came from World War II-era British Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) Medical Officer, Professor Frank Pantridge, MD. A cardiac consultant to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, Pantridge established a specialist cardiology unit in the 1950s, where he introduced the modern system of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for the early treatment of cardiac arrest. Further study by Pantridge identified that many deaths resulted from ventricular fibrillation which should have been treated before the patient was admitted to the hospital. This led Pantridge to introduce a mobile coronary care unit (MCCU) – an ambulance with specialist equipment and staff to provide pre-hospital care… Enter California Assemblymen James Q. Wedworth and Larry Townsend, who successfully sponsored the legislation, drafted by Dr. Graf and LA County Supervisor, Kenneth Hahn to formalize and legalize the practice of paramedicine. The act allowed trained paramedics to render rescue, first-aid, resuscitation services, administer parenteral medications under the direct supervision of a registered nurse, and perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillation in a pulseless, non-breathing patient.”

On 7/15/1904 a Chicago, Illinois firefighter “died in the line of duty while fighting a 4-11 alarm fire in a Baltimore and Ohio Railroad grain elevator located at 87th Street and Ontario Avenue. The fire started when dust exploded inside the grain elevator, and the flames spread to more than fifty nearby railroad cars. He was fatally burned when he was struck by a sudden burst of flames out of the elevator. He was transported to South Chicago Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.”

On 7/15/1915 a Boston, Massachusetts firefighter “died from injuries he suffered on July 7, 1915. He suffered smoke & gas poisoning at a fire at 880 Columbus Avenue, Box 217 (Tremont & Ruggles Streets, Roxbury), at 11:26 a.m.”

On 7/15/1917 a Chicago, Illinois firefighter of Engine 22 was fatally injured “while fighting a garage fire on Baton Street. He suffered gasoline burns and was treated at Alexian Brothers Hospital, but he died from his injuries on July 15.”

On 7/15/1939 a Spokane, Washington firefighter “collapsed and died while operating at a house fire.”

On 7/15/1951 a Coeur D Alene, Idaho firefighter “died after falling through the floor at an early morning fire at a bowling alley at 213 Sherman Ave, and was trapped in the basement.”

On 7/15/1961 a Baltimore, Maryland firefighter died at a fire that “heavily damaged a two-story frame dwelling, necessitating the use of many hose streams, which flooded the basement. A short time after the fire was darkened down, he was found lying in a pool of water in the cellar, dead. It was later determined that he died of carbon monoxide poisoning.”

On 7/15/1967 a Newark, New Jersey firefighter died “during the Newark Riots 7/15/1967, at Station 7113, he climbed Truck 11's aerial to check the roof of a building where a fire alarm sounded. An unknown sniper shot him while on the aerial. He was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.”

On 7/15/1992 a Fisher, Illinois firefighter “died while fighting a residential fire in Foosland, Illinois. He collapsed on the roof of the house while contributing to ventilation operations. He was transported to Gibson Community Hospital in Gibson City, but efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.”

On 7/15/1995 a Windsor Locks, Connecticut firefighter “was electrocuted when he came in contact with a downed power line during the cleanup of debris after a storm.”

On 7/15/1997 an Estero, Florida firefighter died “while operating at a brush fire that was sparked by a lightning strike. The firefighter somehow got separated from his partner and their brush truck and was killed after inhaling superheated fire gases. He was missing for an undisclosed period before he was found.”

On 7/15/2015 a Denver, Colorado firefighter was injured on June 28, “while he checked for extension from a dumpster fire. He was critically injured when a skylight collapsed and he fell through the roof of an abandoned building at 3860 Blake Street. The firefighter was treated at the scene and transported to the hospital for medical care including several surgeries. On July 15, several days after being released from the hospital to recover at home, he was taken to St. Anthony North Health Campus with shortness of breath where, less than an hour later, he passed away after going into cardiac arrest.”

On 7/15/1940 the Sonman coal mine explosion killed sixty-three in Portage, Pennsylvania.

On 7/15/1939 a coal mine dust explosion at about 7:30 p.m. killed nineteen near Providence, Kentucky.

On 7/15/1929 a Montgomery, Alabama mercantile building collapsed shortly after noon leaving several missing.

On 7/15/1915 at least fifty buildings were burned in Valdez, Arkansas. The conflagration started in the Frye Bruhn building at 4:00 a.m.

On 7/15/1907 in Boston, Massachusetts, (Massachusetts Bay) ?an explosion in the super-imposed turret on Battleship U.S.S. Georgia in a case of powder in the hands of a gunner killed eight men and injured fifteen.

On 7/15/1882 the Waukesha, Wisconsin, Haertl's Block fire started when a barrel of gasoline exploded in the cellar of Haertel's Store.

On 7/15/1855 the Manchester, New Hampshire Amoskeag Mills fire started when a watchman’s lamp fell from his lantern and rolled into a pile of roping.

On 7/15/1941 master spy Juan Pujol Garcia, nicknamed "Garbo," sends his first communique to Germany from Britain.

On 7/15/1918 near the Marne River in the Champagne region of France, the Germans began their final offensive push of World War I.