Today in Fire History 7/2
On 7/2/1918 the Semet-Solvay Co. TNT plant fire killed fifty, in Split Rock, New York. “In 1915, during World War I, Split Rock became the site of a munitions factory operated by the Semet-Solvay Company. The plant employed about 2500 people when it exploded on July 2, 1918, killing at least 50. The explosion allegedly occurred after a mixing motor in the main TNT building overheated. The fire rapidly spread through the wooden structure of the main factory. Firefighting efforts were hampered by a loss of water pressure, and the factory eventually exploded. The blast leveled the structure.”
On 7/2/1858 a Buffalo, New York firefighter “died as a result of severe heat exhaustion suffered a few days earlier, while operating at a major lumberyard fire.”
On 7/2/1881 a Detroit, Michigan firefighter “suffocated while fighting the Davis fire on Jefferson Avenue, when a wall collapsed on him.”
On 7/2/1940 a Los Angeles, California firefighter died after “Engine Company 46 was called to a small cafe fire at 4710 South Vermont Avenue. He was connecting a supply line to a nearby hydrant when he collapsed and died of a heart attack.”
On 7/2/1946 a Holbrook, Arizona firefighter died from injuries he sustained while operating at the Holbrook Cleaners fire.
On 7/2/1961 an Albany, New York firefighter “was killed while operating at a three-alarm fire in a jewelry store.”
On 7/2/1963 a Queens, New York (FDNY) firefighter “was killed while operating at a four-alarm fire in a vacant icehouse, when it suddenly collapsed.”
On 7/2/1964 a California Department of Forestry/CAL FIRE (assigned to Don Pedro Lake) firefighter “died in a San Francisco hospital from the second and third-degree burns he suffered while fighting a grass fire above the Don Pedro Reservoir ten days earlier.”
On 7/2/1977 a Fayetteville, Pennsylvania firefighter was killed by a sniper. “After hearing an explosion in the woods surrounding their homes, two men went to investigate and found a cabin on fire. While approaching the burning building, a man opened fire on them with a rifle, killing one instantly. Upon arriving at the scene, the firefighter was met by the survivor. As he began to investigate the situation, he was also shot several times by rifle fire from the front of the house. Firefighters arriving on the first-due engine were also fired upon and two were wounded as they carried their mortally wounded colleague out of the area. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. After an eight-hour search of the wooded area by state and local police, the sniper surrendered. He was charged with two counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder.”
On 7/2/1977 a Manhattan, New York (FDNY) firefighter “was killed during an arson fire in a vacant six-story brick and joist multiple dwelling. The firefighter and members of his engine company became trapped on the upper floors of a fire escape when an arsonist set a second fire in the building below where the company was already working to extinguish an earlier set fire. Members were forced to jump from the fire escape balcony to the bucket of a tower ladder positioned for their rescue. Under dense smoke and high heat conditions, the other members were able to reach the bucket, however, the firefighter slipped while reaching for the tower ladder when an iron step on the fire escape broke. He fell seventy feet to the sidewalk below and was gravely injured. He never regained consciousness and died in the hospital on July 10, 1977. The arsonist was charged and convicted but was given a mere three-year sentence for the crime. The structure involved in the incident was a vacant Type III Ordinary construction brick and wood joist six-story “new law tenement” multiple dwelling located at 358 East 8th Street in the Alphabet City neighborhood in the Lower East Side area of Manhattan. Note: New law tenements were required to have a number of improvements in New York. Most notably, new law tenements were required to have window access for most interior rooms. This was usually accomplished by providing an air shaft often in the center of the building that ran from the first floor to the roof and often could only be accessed from the windows at each level. They were also shared with adjoining buildings and could also be found in the public hallways. They usually had four apartments per floor and measured 50 wide by 85 deep with four to seven stories. They also featured open stairwells from the first floor to the roof with a separate entrance to the basement. The fire building was located on a narrow street with curbside automobile parking on both sides of the street on Side Alpha. Metal fire escapes were attached to Sides Alpha and Charlie and an air shaft adjoined a four-story tenement building on Side Delta. A six-story tenement building of mirrored construction was on Side Bravo and Side Charlie was a small enclosed rear yard. The building had an elevator but was not equipped with any fire protection devices.”
On 7/2/1994 lightning struck Storm King Mountain near Glenwood Springs, Colorado which ignited a fire that claimed the lives of fourteen firefighters on July 6th and burned for eight days; named the “South Canyon Fire.”
On 7/2/1993 Moslem fundamentalists in Sivas Turkey set a hotel on fire killing thirty-six.
On 7/2/1928 in New York City, New York a fireworks explosion injured six people when “a Fourth of July arsenal, manufactured by a 17-year-old boy, exploded and spread smoke and flame through the tenement in which he lived.”
On 7/2/1918 the Semet-Solvay Co. TNT plant fire killed fifty, in Split Rock, New York. “In 1915, during World War I, Split Rock became the site of a munitions factory operated by the Semet-Solvay Company. The plant employed about 2500 people when it exploded on July 2, 1918, killing at least 50. The explosion allegedly occurred after a mixing motor in the main TNT building overheated. The fire rapidly spread through the wooden structure of the main factory. Firefighting efforts were hampered by a loss of water pressure, and the factory eventually exploded. The blast leveled the structure.”
On 7/2/1912 the North Adams, Massachusetts business district was destroyed by fire; “the Empire Theatre, Wilson's Hotel, the Empire Apartment House, and Sullivan Brothers’ furniture building were destroyed.”
On 7/2/1901 lightning strikes an incomplete brick and stone apartment house on 95th Street near West End Avenue causing a fire that extended to the Riverside Drive Hotel. Also, St. Agnes Church Brooklyn was destroyed by a fire from lightning in New York, New York.
On 7/2/1901 “two entire blocks and a portion of another, comprising the entire business portion of Williams, Arizona was entirely wiped out by a fire.” “There was only a limited water supply and no fire department. No loss of life is reported.”
On 7/2/1889 a major portion of Hailey, Idaho was destroyed by a fire that started around 1:30 a.m. in the Nevada Hotel on Main Street.
On 7/2/1863, during the 2nd day of the Battle of Gettysburg, PA, CSA General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia attacked General Meade's Army of the Potomac at both Culp's Hill and Little Round Top, but both attacks failed to move the Union Army from their positions.
On 7/2/1776 Congress voted for independence.
On 7/2/1777 Vermont becomes 1st American colony to abolish slavery.
On 7/2/1809 Shawnee Chief Tecumseh urges Indians to unite against whites.
On 7/2/1839 Mutiny on the Amistad slave ship.
On 7/2/1862 Lincoln signed an act granting land for state agricultural colleges.
On 7/2/1881 President Garfield was shot as he walked through a railroad waiting room in Washington, D.C., and will die on September 19, 1881. He was shot by Charles J. Guiteau, a disgruntled and perhaps insane office seeker.?
On 7/2/1890 Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act.
On 7/2/1937 Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan disappear over the Pacific Ocean.
On 7/2/1941 Nazi mass murder in Lviv/Lemberg left over 7,000 dead.
On 7/2/1964 President Johnson signed Civil Rights Act.
On 7/2/1990 a stampede of religious pilgrims in a pedestrian tunnel in Mecca leaves more than 1,400 people dead.
On 7/2/1993 a boat sank at Bocaue Philippines, and 325 died.