Today in Fire History 8/28

On 8/28/1899 the Saint Agnes Convent and Orphanage fire killed five and injured many in Sparkill, New York. The group of buildings, except the hospital, burned when a fire was discovered about 1:00 a.m. in the lavatory at the NW corner of the group of buildings of the Dominican Sisters' Convent and Orphanage. “The fire spread with extraordinary swiftness through this arched hallway, which acted as a flue, and the flames were fanned by a northwest breeze which forced them onward in their destructive sweep.” “The fire started in the lavatory at the northwest corner of the group of buildings, nine in number, which faced the road to the south. It soon communicated to Building No. 1, which was occupied by the older boys. The lads were quickly awakened and soon rushed to Building No. 2 and in this manner, the word was quickly passed through the nine buildings and the sisters in charge of each soon had all the occupants of the dormitories out of bed. Along the back of the buildings, a covered archway extended the entire length of the structures and from this archway, the entrances to the several buildings opened. The fire spread with extraordinary swiftness through this arched hallway, which acted as a flue, and the flames were fanned by a northwest breeze that forced them onward in their destructive sweep. The work of getting the children out of the building was heroically performed by the sisters in charge. They were ably assisted by some nurses and monitors as well as by many of the older boys. In the meantime, the alarm had been spread and people from the surrounding neighborhood quickly gathered and helped in the work of rescue. The alarm of fire was sent by telephone to the nearest towns, but when the fire company from Piermont arrived all but the hospital building had been destroyed.?All of the children were taken out alive, but two little one's ages 6 and 7 years, died of convulsions after they had been rescued. One girl, aged 16, returned to the building to save a baby and perished. An aged woman nurse, 70 years of age, was supposed to have perished in the building, where she was found. All the other inmates have been accounted for. A servant, died about 11 o'clock from shock. Six of the sisters jumped from the second, third, and fourth floors of the buildings, but only one of them was dangerously injured. In all, there were 326 children, of whom sixty were girls, in the institution when the fire broke out. There were also forty sisters in charge under the direction of Reverend Mother. Most of the children were sent to the orphanage through the Gerry Society and police magistrates. About twenty-five of the children received injuries, none of which, the doctors think, will prove fatal. The damage is estimated at $100,000 and it is believed that the fire was of incendiary origin.”

On 8/28/1905 a Chicago, Illinois firefighter died “while fighting a barn fire at 5238 North Clark Street. Engine 79 was the first fire company on the scene, and the firefighter rushed into the burning barn after spectators mistakenly informed him that the barn foreman’s family was trapped in their residence on the third floor of the structure. He was overcome by smoke while searching for the family, and his body was recovered by fellow firefighters several minutes after he entered the building.”

On 8/28/1911 a Connersville, Indiana firefighter “died instantly when he came into contact with a loose electrical wire while battling a barn fire.”

On 8/28/1916 a Chicago, Illinois firefighter “on August 23, 1916, was fatally injured while fighting a fire at the Standard Oil Company plant on 16th Street. The building, located at the tracks of the Santa Fe Railway, housed steel tanks containing more than 30,000 gallons of gasoline and kerosene. Aware of the danger posed by the gasoline, firefighters from six truck companies were advancing hose lines into the plant when it exploded. The civilian plant foreman was killed in the explosion, and eight firefighters suffered burn injuries. One firefighter died from his injuries on August 28.”

On 8/28/1929 two Streator, Illinois firefighters died after “the owner of the Kennedy Body Manufacturing Company, discovered a fire in his plant on Monroe Street. The fire had started in a pile of wood shavings in the plant’s mill room and, by the time it was discovered, had already engulfed equipment and materials in the room. The owner briefly attempted to extinguish the blaze himself, before notifying the Streator Fire Department. Firefighters from the Streator Fire Department responded to the blaze, but the fire had already engulfed much of the plant, as the building’s wooden support girders and other interior materials facilitated the spread of the flames. Racing to contain the blaze, firefighters surrounded the building with hoselines to protect neighboring homes and businesses from the intense flames. The fire was so severe that many former volunteer firefighters (the Streator Fire Department switched from volunteer to career in 1910) arrived on-scene to assist with the firefighting efforts. Two firefighters were operating a hoseline at the northwest corner of the plant when the two-story northern wall of the plant collapsed outward. Trapped between the plant and the home of Anna Malloy, the two firefighters were crushed under several tons of bricks. Firefighters raced to dig out the two, but one firefighter later reported that the bricks were so hot that rescuers had to wait several minutes before they could start digging through the debris. Unfortunately, one firefighter had been killed instantly by the collapse and, while the other was still alive when he was pulled from the wreckage, he died within ten minutes of his rescue. The fire was eventually extinguished several hours later, having caused more than $50,000 in damage.”

On 8/28/1935 a Buffalo, New York firefighter died after “Rescue Squad 1 was dispatched to the Mann Brothers Linseed Oil Company at 352 Ohio St. around 11:00 a.m. Two workers had gone into a 12' deep tank and collapsed. He donned his filter-type mask and descended into the tank. The firefighter collapsed as he reached the bottom of the tank. A second firefighter of Rescue Squad 1 donned his filter-type mask as well but had a rope attached to his waist before descending. He too collapsed but was able to be pulled from the tank quickly and revived. He was taken to Emergency Hospital to recover. Additional units were dispatched to the scene. Crews used grappling hooks, pike poles, and ropes to attempt a rescue of the firefighter and the two workers. After nearly a half-hour, the three men were removed and pronounced deceased at the scene. The firefighter’s comrades disregarded the Doctors findings and continued resuscitation efforts using an inhalator to no avail. The men were given last rites by local parish priests.”

On 8/28/1967 a Hammond, Indiana firefighter “collapsed while operating in dense smoke at a residential basement fire. He was transported to St. Margaret Hospital where he died.”

On 8/28/2016 in Escambia County Florida, one person died after a nitrous oxide explosion at the Airgas Facility at the Ascend Performance Materials chemical plant in the 3000 block of Old Chemstrand Road shortly after noon and released a mustard-colored plume of smoke.

On 8/28/1988 an air-show accident burned sixty-nine spectators at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

On 8/28/1983 in Santee, Nebraska a propane gas explosion and fire injured ten, eight were children, at the public school. The children were playing in a cloud of leaking propane gas and engulfed in a fireball when the vapors ignited burned for eight hours and forced the evacuation of the community around 4:30 p.m. The propane leak occurred as a tanker truck driver was filling a 10,000-gallon underground storage tank for Santee's public school. A crowd of children had gathered while a cloud of vapor formed, about 20 feet high and 50 feet around.

On 8/28/1947 the Whiting, Indiana Standard Oil Company explosion killed one worker and caused the company to lose 24,000 barrels daily capacity in processing crude oil. The explosion and fire occurred in a pump house serving two pipe stills around 9:00 a.m.

On 8/28/1923 a conflagration destroyed 44 buildings and killed two in Hull, Massachusetts.

On 8/27/1915 at the Presidio in San Francisco, California a fire killed the wife and three daughters of General "Black-Jack" Pershing, the Commanding Officer of the 8th Infantry Brigade while he was transferred to Fort Bliss, Texas because of tension along the Mexican border. Mrs. Pershing and the four children remained at the Presidio in the family's two-story Victorian house. “Coals spilled from the hearth of the Pershing home and onto the highly waxed floor” starting a fire that quickly spread through the home. Only five-year-old Warren survived.?John Joseph "Black-Jack" Pershing (9/13/1860 to 7/15/1945) was the general in the United States Army who led the American Expeditionary Forces in Germany during World War I, 1917–18.

On 8/28/1909 a canning factory in Waverly, Iowa goes up in flames causing a severe economic impact on the community. “The fire started between the first and third filler and was caused by a large amount of gas which escaped from one of the cappers.”

On 8/28/1901 the Steamboat City of Trenton boiler explosion and fire killed eleven in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

On 8/28/1990 murdered students were discovered at the University of Florida at the Gatorwood Apartments, near the campus two days after the discovery that three young female students had been killed and mutilated in two separate locations. “Authorities determined that all five murders were connected, and the Gainesville student community panicked; eventually led police to Danny Rolling, who had been arrested in Ocala for armed robbery.”

On 8/28/1963 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke to about 250,000 attending the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and delivered the "I have a dream" speech.

On 8/28/1781 Continental and French troops, under the command of General George Washington, began the siege of the Battle of Yorktown (Virginia) against British General Lord Charles Cornwallis and British troops in the most important battle of the Revolutionary War. “The Patriot victory at Yorktown ended fighting in the American colonies. Peace negotiations began in 1782, and on September 3, 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed, formally recognizing the United States as a free and independent nation after eight years of war.”

On 8/28/1066 William the Conqueror invaded England.