Today in Fire History 7/29

On 7/29/1956 a refinery fire killed nineteen firefighters and injured thirty-three people at the Shamrock Oil & Gas Corp. in Sun Ray, Texas after the eruption of a 500,000-gallon spherical fuel tank that contained pentane and hexane. Vapors escaping from the tank ignited a ground fire that ultimately flashed back into the storage vessel and extended to additional fuel tanks. “A mushrooming fireball sent burning fuel raining down for more than a mile.” “The fire crews from nearby Sunray and Dumas were fighting the fire in a conventional manner while the decision was made to reduce the amount of liquid in the burning tank. This increased the volume of the tank filled with explosive fumes. A few minutes before seven in the morning, an hour after the blaze began, the tank ruptured as the remaining fluid in the tank boiled, increasing the gas pressure past the bursting point.” The fire continued to burn for several days. “Sixteen firefighters died at the scene, and three more perished later succumbing to burns. An additional thirty-two people, firefighters, and sight-seers were injured. The blast ignited three additional storage tanks. The fire overwhelmed the resources available and was allowed to burn itself out overnight.”

On 7/29/1947 in Harrisonburg, Virginia a gas leak exploded in a beauty parlor, ten women died and thirty were injured in a one-story structure. “Ten persons, all of them women were killed or fatally injured and more than a score hurt Tuesday afternoon at 2:10 when the Masters Building on South Main Street, was demolished by a terrific explosion that rocked the entire town and resulted in what was described as “the worst disaster in the history of the Shenandoah Valley.” The blast which wrecked three stores in the building and blew in the wall of a residence, hurled debris over a wide area, and was followed by small fires which hampered the work of firefighters and rescuers who swarmed through the ruins to release the many trapped persons. The Fire Chief said early Wednesday that the cause of the blast had not been determined, but several theories had been advanced. The most widely supported was that the explosion had been caused by an accumulation of gas in the basement at the rear of the structure. A boiler blast and coal dust explosion were also being considered. The damage was estimated at $60,000. Wrecked in the explosion were Pauline’s Beauty Parlor and Beauty School, the Rhodes Jewelry Company, and a vacant room formerly occupied by the Sears-Roebuck order office. Only the Advance Store, an auto parts place on the extreme southern end of the building was not badly damaged. Most of those killed and injured were in Pauline’s Beauty Shop and beauty school which is operated in the rear of the building. Students of the beauty school, which is attended by young women from all sections of the Valley, and patrons of the beauty parlor constituted most of the dead and injured.”

On 7/29/1907 a six-story tenement house fire claimed nineteen lives and injured thirty others at 222 Chrystie Street, Coney Island, NY. “The Black Hand was almost certainly responsible for a tenement house fire, in which nineteen persons lost their lives and about thirty were more or less seriously injured to the same organization the police attribute yesterday's fire at Coney Island, which swept a 35-acre tract in the heart of the resort, licking up Steeplechase Park and other property, with a total loss estimated at $1,500,000. The list of dead may exceed nineteen, the police fearing that more bodies may be found in the ruins, and of the thirty injured several will probably die. The blaze was characterized by a terrific panic, in which men, maddened with fear, trampled on women and children and pushed several from ladders and fire escapes in their efforts to reach safety. The fire, starting with an explosion in the basement, swept from top to bottom of the six-story structure so quickly the tenants had no opportunity to escape down the stairways but were driven to the fire escapes. The flames bursting through the windows swept even these places of refuge, forcing the occupants either to dash back into the burning building or drop to death on the pavement below. Fearing the vengeance of the Black Hand, few of the residents in the vicinity raised a hand to aid those in the burning tenement. There was a delay, too, in turning in an alarm and the panic made it almost impossible for the police and firemen to do effective work… The evidence connecting the Black Hand with the Coney Island fire is not so strong, resting on the fact that the principal owner of Steeplechase Park, has recently received many letters threatening him with of vengeance unless he paid tribute to Italian organizations. The fire started in a barrel of sweepings and swept the flimsy structures so quickly it was feared for a time all of Coney Island would be wiped out…Between sixty and eighty persons were asleep in buildings in the fire-swept district when the alarm was given and all had narrow escapes. Steeplechase Park was a maelstrom of fire within half an hour and swept a straight path toward the heart of the island, which seemed doomed. Then a sudden cross turn of air turned the flames as if by a human hand to one side.” … Also on 7/29/1907 the Long Beach Hotel, in Coney Island, NY, a popular resort, on the southern shore of Long Island, was practically destroyed by a fire that started on the top floor; all the 1,100 guests escaped, and no one was injured.

On 7/29/1903 in Tewksbury, Massachusetts a powder explosion in a magazine of the United States Cartridge Company killed twenty-five and injured more than fifty. “The explosion is thought to have been caused by the jarring of dynamite stored in the magazine by workmen who were laying a new floor.”

On 7/29/1856 a Boston, Massachusetts firefighter died “while operating at a two-alarm fire involving a large block of buildings. He was killed when he was caught under a collapsing chimney.”

On 7/29/1870 a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania firefighter “died from injuries he received while fighting a fire.”

On 7/29/1912 a Swampscott, Massachusetts firefighter “died of the injuries he sustained after fighting a fire in a coal shed on Columbia Street.”

On 7/29/1924 a forest fire extended to a paper mill on the Truckee River Canyon near Floriston, California; one firefighter was killed.

On 7/29/1960 a Queens, New York (FDNY) firefighter died while operating at a single alarm fire.

On 7/29/1960 a Denver, Colorado firefighter died “while fighting a fire inside of Alton Wright Welding Company, 2077 So. Cherokee St., when he collapsed and died.

On 7/29/1967 a Sioux Falls, South Dakota firefighter “died as a result of the injuries he sustained while operating at a major warehouse fire. It was later determined to be arson.”

On 7/29/1992 an Oak Park, Illinois firefighter died while he “and four other firefighters were fighting a residential basement fire. The firefighters were ordered to evacuate. When the firefighters realized that one had not followed them outside, they backtracked and found him unconscious at the foot of the basement stairs. He was transported to West Suburban Hospital Medical Center, but efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.”

On 7/29/1999 a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania firefighter died while working on the scene of a structure fire at 2000 E. Westmoreland. “The firefighter was operating the nozzle and extinguished a fire on the second floor of the structure. After taking a short break outside of the structure after the fire was controlled, the firefighter reentered the structure to assist with overhaul. Upon his arrival on the second floor, he collapsed from an apparent heart attack. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was begun immediately by other firefighters, advanced life support (ALS) was provided by Fire Department paramedics, and he was transported to the hospital. The firefighter was pronounced dead at the hospital when further medical efforts proved fruitless.”

On 7/29/1967 a fire on a U.S. Navy carrier USS Forrestal stationed off the coast of Vietnam killed 134 with the accidental launch of a rocket.

On 7/29/1957 nineteen San Rafael, California businesses were destroyed by a fire that burned down both sides of Fourth Street in the main business section, between D and E Streets. The fire started around 7:45 p.m.?

On 7/29/1926 a fire destroyed National Theater and Elks Building in Marysville, California. Scores of residents attribute their escape to the “cool conduct” of three members of the theater staff. The “stage manager, who, following the discovery of the fire, walked out on the stage with the calm announcement to the 800 patrons that the building was a fire and that they should leave quietly… film operator, who continued to project the picture…and the organist, who played until the last patron left the house.”

On 7/29/1905 a three-story structure, used for the mixing of dynamite in Washburn, Wisconsin at the Atlantic Manufacturing Company was destroyed by fire.

On 7/29/1891 in Canton, Maryland at Balto United Oil Company 58,000 barrels of oil were destroyed after a lightning strike.

On 7/29/1976 the “Son of Sam” David Berkowitz started to terrorize New York.

On 7/29/1965 101st Airborne Division arrived in Vietnam.

On 7/29/1958 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was created in response to the Soviet Union's October 4, 1957 launch of its first satellite, Sputnik I.?

On 7/29/1921 Adolf Hitler became leader of the National Socialist German Workers' (Nazi) Party.

On 7/29/1914 the First World War began one month to the day after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were killed by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

On 7/29/1909 GM buys Cadillac.

On 7/29/1862 during the Civil War CSA spy, Belle Boyd was captured.

On 7/29/1848 the Irish Tipperary Revolt failed. “At the height of the Potato Famine in Ireland, an abortive nationalist revolt against English rule was crushed by a government police detachment in Tipperary. In a brief skirmish in a cabbage patch, Irish nationalists were overcome and arrested.”?

On 7/29/1588 Spanish Armada was defeated.