Today in Fire History 8/25
On 8/25/1974 the Washington House Hotel fire killed twelve in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. The 70-year-old Victorian hotel turned downtown into an inferno as flames reached several hundred feet in the pre-dawn sky. An estimated $1 million was damaged to the hotel and four other buildings. The fire destroyed the 150‐year‐old brick-and-wood hotel and leveled a block of stores in this small town. The fire broke out in the four‐story Washington House Hotel and quickly spread to adjoining buildings. Damage was estimated at $750,000. Officials said that the blaze had apparently started in the hotel's basement and then had shot up an elevator shaft.
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On 8/25/1803 three Philadelphia, Pennsylvania firefighters died “after extinguishing a major fire in a lead factory, firefighters were taking up from the scene when the front wall suddenly collapsed, burying several of the men under tons of rubble. Three were killed instantly, while several others suffered serious injuries.”
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On 8/25 1932 a Scranton, Pennsylvania firefighter died after “he responded to a second alarm fire at the Schlesser Automobile Paint Shop on Scranton Street and Chestnut Avenue, he was working on the first -floor wetting down hot spots. Eight other firefighters were performing the same task on the second floor when without warning a wall gave way causing the roof and second floor to collapse onto the firefighters. Fellow firefighters, police officers, and on-lookers all worked to help free the trapped men, The firefighter was found at the bottom of the wreckage. He was the last to be found but was alive, quickly he was rushed to a west side hospital where he died minutes after arriving.
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On 8/25/1952 a California Department of Forestry firefighter “died of the burns he sustained while operating at the old camp-fire in the Orange Ranger Unit.”
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On 8/25/1972 in Glasgow, Scotland a “fire was discovered by an employee while searching for stock that appeared to have started on the attic floor in a warehouse on Kilbirnie Street. Three 999 calls were received by Glasgow Fire Service control by 11:21 a.m. and two water tenders and a turntable ladder were dispatched from South Station, with the Station Officer in charge, arriving at around 11:24. A serious fire was seen to be in progress, with smoke emitting from the building and roof. All staff had evacuated, and the fire brigade was faced with a serious but largely routine fire. The Divisional Officer arrived soon after and after early investigations called for reinforcements around 11.30.? Glasgow Salvage Corps dispatched a vehicle to the scene as part of the initial attendance, and their men began their normal fireground task of attempting to protect stock from fire and smoke damage by covering it with plastic sheeting. Crews using breathing apparatus ("BA"), searching the building for the seat of the fire, found conditions very difficult with thick smoke and the crowded layout of the premises hampering progress.? With the arrival of the additional pump (engine company) from West Marine Fire Station at 11:33, the Station Officer ordered the roof opened to assist in ventilating the building. This was effected under difficult circumstances, from ladders pitched against the building, and thick smoke began emitting through the hole created.? The complex layout of the stock and partitioning of the building created difficulty in finding the fire. With the intense heat and thick smoke, internal firefighting was affected on the first and second floors. Around this time, a small amount of fire was noted breaking through the first-floor ceiling. This indicated a serious fire in the attic. Around noon with the initial crews becoming exhausted, the Divisional Officer (incident commander) requested the attendance of an emergency tender, for the additional breathing apparatus and firefighters. This was dispatched from the South Fire Station.? Around 11:55, with conditions deteriorating, the Divisional Officer ordered all firefighters from the building. As they were leaving, one firefighter was asked by an officer (who possibly had not heard the order to evacuate) to assist in a flare-up of fire in the attic. They attempted to turn a hose on the fire but were engulfed by a stock collapse that stunned both men. The Officer managed to stumble out and raise the alarm. Soon after the "Man trapped" (mayday) message was sent, the Deputy Firemaster (Chief) turned out to Kilbirnie Street, hearing a "Make Pumps 8" message while en route, arriving around 12:18 to take command.? With the discovery that a firefighter was missing, a rescue party was sent to get him but had to be pulled out due to exhaustion. The Divisional Officer was not prepared to leave the firefighter to his fate, and a second rescue attempt was mounted. Between 12:05 and 12:20, five firefighters donned breathing apparatus and with the firefighter that had escaped, returned to the attic floor. Inside they found the firefighter. A firefighter dug him out of the collapsed stock, he was not in BA and suffered burns, had to leave the scene, and was assisted from the building by two firefighters who managed to drag him clear. The first firefighter was being dragged out of the collapsed stock when a rapid and fierce eruption of heat and flame across the first-floor ceiling engulfed the rescuers, leading to a structural collapse. It gradually became apparent to the firefighters outside that a serious situation had occurred.? A roll call in the street showed who was missing, and further rescue attempts were made from ladders through the first-floor windows. The first body was found at 1:48 p.m., and when it was clear that no survivors were to be found, rescuers were ordered to withdraw from the building until the fire was under control. It was no longer justifiable to risk further firefighters, as the building was in a hazardous condition. The fire was attacked externally from turntable ladders, a hydraulic platform, and a "Scoosher" aerial monitor. By mid-afternoon, with the fire under control, the bodies could be retrieved, with the last body, that of the initial firefighter found at around 6:11 p.m. Seven firefighters loss their lives.
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On 8/25/1979 a Plymouth, Massachusetts firefighter “died after suffering a fatal heart attack while operating at an arson fire at the Old Railway Express Depot.”
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On 8/25/2018 in Beijing, China “fire tore through a hot springs hotel in the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin before dawn killing nineteen people and causing twenty-three others to be taken to hospital. Authorities are investigating the cause of the blaze at the four-story Bailong Hot Springs Leisure Hotel, an inexpensive spa resort visited mainly by domestic tourists, which broke out just after 4:30 a.m. Fire officials were saying the blaze had started in a kitchen on the second floor. Flames swept through an area of about 400 square meters (4,300 square feet) before being extinguished after three hours as more than 30 fire engines and 100 firefighters rushed to the scene. Firefighters rescued twenty people who were trapped in the hotel and another eighty were evacuated from the building.”
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On 8/25/2011 an arson fire killed over fifty-three employees and customers at the Casino Royale in Monterrey, Mexico after “two dozen gunmen burst into the casino in northern Mexico on Thursday, doused it with a flammable liquid and started a fire that trapped gamblers inside just before 4:00 p.m.” The two-story casino was occupied by about 80 people playing the tables and slots.
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On 8/25/1973 in North Caldwell, New Jersey seven residents died in a two-story house fire.
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On 8/25/1957 the Kansas State College (Manhattan, KS) East Waters Hall was damaged by a fire that destroyed a complete flour mill, about 15 agricultural research laboratories, several classrooms, and offices. “East Waters and West Waters halls were built in 1914. In 1952 they were connected with a center wing and two years ago a feed technology building was added to East Waters. The center wing and technology sections were not damaged by the fire. The five-story East Waters Hall had limestone walls and wooden floors. It was nearly a block long and about 80 feet wide. The blaze, of unknown origin, started in the flour mill section and burned through the roof. An official said 50 years of agronomy experimental records on the improvement of wheat, oats, and other crops were lost.”
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On 8/25/1930 the Ishpeming, Michigan High School, a three-story brick building erected in 1907, was destroyed by a fire that was discovered around 11:45 a.m.?
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On 8/25/1914 during World War I the Germans burned the Belgian town of Louvain
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On 8/25/1908 a wall collapse killed eight and injured twenty in Chelsea, Massachusetts.
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On 8/25/1882 in Paris, ?Ontario the dry goods store was destroyed by fire
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On 8/25/1835 a factory fire that started around 11:00 p.m. in the cellar of the three-story brick building, occupied by a brush maker, at 156 Water Street New York, New York, and extended into residential units located on the upper floors killed three people.
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On 8/25/1950 anticipating a crippling strike by railroad workers, President Harry S. Truman issues an executive order putting America's railroads under the control of the U.S. Army.
On 8/25/1945 John Birch, an American missionary, was the 1st casualty of the Cold War. He was killed by Chinese communists.
On 8/25/1944 the city of Paris was liberated, after more than four years of Nazi occupation, by the French 2nd Armored Division and the United States 4th Infantry Division.
On 8/25/1835 the Great Moon Hoax the first in a series of six articles announcing the discovery of life on the moon appeared in the New York Sun newspaper.
On 8/25/0325 the Council of Nicaea concluded in present-day Turkey