Today in Fire History 9/10

On 9/10/2010 a fire occurred in a newly constructed lightweight wood frame (Type V) multiple-family dwelling in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. The fire “almost took the lives of several firefighters and seriously injured at least seven, some of which required hospitalization… The building was part of a multi-building apartment complex constructed in 2004. The three-story Type V (Lightweight Wood Frame) residential structure was 165 feet long and 62 feet wide. The steeply sloping terrain on Side C (rear) of the building created a full four-story elevation in the rear. The exterior of the structure was covered with vinyl siding and had an asphalt-shingled gabled roof. The roof assembly consisted of triangular lightweight wood trusses held together with metal gusset plates and the floors were supported by parallel chord lightweight wood trusses also fastened with gusset plates. The apartment building was partially sprinklered; interior living spaces were sprinklered, but the wood truss voids spaces in the floor and roof assemblies were not. Standpipes were also provided in the stairwells… The fire, which originated on a second-floor exterior rear balcony, spread up the side of the building and extended into the lightweight wood truss attic. Firefighters working on the top floor of the three-story building were unaware that the fire above them was rapidly devouring the attic. As firefighters were trying to open an attic hatchway on a third-floor stairway landing, the roof above them collapsed briefly trapping several firefighters on the upper floors. The trapped firefighters were able to escape, some were forced to jump to the first floor after the staircase had become enveloped in flaming debris. The collapse occurred approximately 39 minutes after dispatch. Multiple Chester County fire units were required to control the three-alarm fire and keep it from spreading to other similarly constructed apartment houses in the complex.”

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On 9/10/1989 a Greenwood Village, Colorado firefighter died “while operating at a three-alarm fire in an occupied two-story brick building, a block-long strip mall. He was killed when the roof collapsed on top of him.”

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On 9/10/1990 a Sacramento, California firefighter died “from injuries sustained 23 years earlier while fighting a residential fire. The firefighter with three years on the job was overcome by smoke while searching for survivors in an apartment fire. Sacramento firefighters donated their time and money to support the firefighter and his family during those 23 years.”

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On 9/10/1991 a Brooklyn, New York (FDNY) firefighter “was caught under the collapse of a plaster-and-lath ceiling while searching ahead of a hose line in a top-floor apartment during a fire in a vacant residential building. The building was known to be inhabited by squatters and firefighters were searching the top floor apartments while knocking down fire in two adjacent units. The firefighter was initially pinned by the weight of the ceiling but was able to escape the apartment via a window with the aid of firefighters in a tower ladder bucket. He was severely burned after exposure to flame and heat following the ceiling collapse and died from his injuries several days later…The building involved in the incident was a 4-story Type III Ordinary Construction brick and wood joist residential apartment building. It was a vacant building; however, it was a building that had squatters in it and was a known drug location. The building, located at 495 Atkins Avenue in the East New York section of Brooklyn, was 60 x 100 feet in area. Located on the corner of Atkins and Hegeman Avenues, the building’s windows had Housing and Urban Development (HUD) coverings which consisted of a sheet of plywood with wooden cross bracing securing the plywood on the occupancy side of the window, tied together by threaded rods. The top floor ceiling had 2 x 3-inch ceiling runners. These runners were butted and cleated with 1 x 2-inch furring strips. The wood gridwork was hung by 1 x 2-inch wood straps. There was no firm anchoring of the ceiling to walls or partitions. This created a ceiling void above the top-floor apartments.

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On 9/10/2002 a Martin, South Dakota firefighter died while at work at Mueller Feeds and engaged in the cleaning of a below-grade molasses tank used in the manufacturing of animal feed. “The tank had a few inches of molasses remaining at the bottom. A co-worker descended into the tank as the firefighter stood by at the tank entrance. In less than 1 minute, the co-worker became unconscious and fell face down into the molasses. The firefighter called for help indicating that he thought that his co-worker had suffered a heart attack. He instructed his supervisor to call 9-1-1 and said that he was going into the tank to assist. From the moment the fire department was called, the firefighter was considered to be on duty. He descended into the tank and was overcome almost immediately. Both men were removed from the tank by arriving responders and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was initiated. Both men were transported to the hospital where they were pronounced dead. The cause of the deaths was listed as asphyxiation due to exposure to hydrogen sulfide and a low oxygen atmosphere.”

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On 9/10/2004 a Warren, Rhode Island firefighter died while fighting a fire in an apartment building. Firefighters found a fire in the kitchen of a third-floor apartment. The firefighter provided ventilation in the fire occupancy by opening windows.”

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On 9/10/2010 a fire “occurred in a recently constructed lightweight Type V, wood frame and truss constructed, multiple dwelling in Coatesville, Pennsylvania that almost took the lives of several local firefighters and seriously injured at least seven, some of which required hospitalization. The fire, which originated on a second-floor rear balcony, spread up the side of the building and extended into the lightweight wood truss attic. Firefighters working on the top floor of the three-story building were unaware that the fire above them was rapidly devouring the attic. As firefighters were trying to open an attic hatchway on a third-floor stairway landing, the roof above them collapsed briefly trapping several firefighters on the upper floors. The trapped firefighters were able to escape, some of whom were forced to jump to the first floor after the stairway had become enveloped in flaming debris. The collapse occurred approximately 39 minutes after dispatch. Multiple Chester County fire units were required to control the three-alarm fire and keep it from spreading to other similarly constructed apartment houses in the complex… The building involved in the incident was part of a multi-building apartment complex called the Millview Apartment Homes built in 2004 that sits on the crest of a hill overlooking the city of Coatesville. The complex was the first major construction project to have been built in the city in many years. The dimensions of the three-story Type V Lightweight Wood Frame residential structure were 165 feet long and 62 feet wide. Due to the steeply sloping terrain on Side Charlie (rear), the building was a full four stories in height in the rear. The exterior of the structure was covered with vinyl siding with stone veneer detailing and had an asphalt shingled gabled roof. The roof assembly consisted of triangular lightweight wood trusses held together with metal gusset plates and the floors were supported by parallel chord lightweight wood trusses also fastened with gusset plates. The apartment building was partially sprinklered. The interior living spaces were sprinklered, but the wood truss voids spaces that existed in the floor and roof assemblies were not. Standpipes were also provided in the stairwells.”

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On 9/10/1953 a gas explosion under W 117th Street in Cleveland, Ohio killed a woman and injured sixty-seven people during rush hour.

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On 9/10/1904 a powder mill explosion killed nineteen near Fair Chance, Pennsylvania. “The Rand Powder Mills, six miles south of Uniontown, was entirely wiped out this morning by a series of explosions of powder, which by concussion also set off two carloads of dynamite standing on a nearby railroad siding.”

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On 9/10/1889 a Golden, Colorado coal mine disaster killed eleven.

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On 9/10/1816 the Steamboat Enterprise boiler explosion killed eight and injured six during a furious thunderstorm in Charleston, South Carolina.

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On 9/10/1897 a London, England taxi driver became the 1st person arrested for drunk driving after slamming his cab into a building.

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On 9/10/1833 President Andrew Jackson shut down the Second Bank of the United States, the country's national bank, using executive power to remove all federal funds, ending what is referred to as the "Bank War".

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On 9/10/1813 the Battle of Lake Erie was the first unqualified defeat of a British naval squadron in the history of the United States. Captain Oliver Hazard Perry led nine American ships to victory over a squadron of six British warships during the War of 1812.

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On 9/10/1931 Crime boss, Salvatore Maranazano was murdered in New York City by four men working for Charles "Lucky" Luciano.

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On 9/10/1776 Nathan Hale volunteered to spy behind British lines before the coming Battle of Harlem Heights. “Captain Nathan Hale of the 19th Regiment of the Continental Army stepped forward and subsequently became one of the first known American spies of the Revolutionary War.”

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On 9/10/1608 John Smith was elected council president of Jamestown, Virginia the first permanent English settlement in North America.