Today in Fire History 9/16
On 9/16/1920 the first documented vehicle bombing occurred in New York City on Wall Street. The explosion killed forty in front of the headquarters of the J. P. Morgan Company caused by a bomb in a one-horse wagon. Around noon, a horse-drawn wagon passed lunchtime crowds and stopped across the street from the bank at 23 Wall Street, in the Financial District. The wagon was loaded with 100 pounds (45 kg) of dynamite and 500 pounds (230 kg) of heavy cast-iron sash weights. “The forty fatalities were mostly young people who worked as messengers, stenographers, clerks, and brokers. Within one minute of the explosion, William H. Remick, president of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), suspended trading to prevent a panic.” The perpetrator was never discovered.
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On 9/16/1960 Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) gained widespread acceptance. “It was not until the middle of the 20th century that the wider medical community started to recognize and promote artificial ventilation in the form of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation combined with chest compressions as a key part of resuscitation following cardiac arrest. The combination was first seen in a 1962 training video called "The Pulse of Life" created by James Jude, Guy Knickerbocker, and Peter Safar. Jude and Knickerbocker, along with William Kouwenhoven and Joseph S. Redding had recently discovered the method of external chest compressions, whereas Safar had worked with Redding and James Elam to prove the effectiveness of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. The first effort at testing the technique was performed on a dog by Redding, Safar, and JW Pearson. Soon afterward, the technique was used to save the life of a child. Their combined findings were presented at the annual Maryland Medical Society meeting on September 16, 1960, in Ocean City, and gained widespread acceptance over the following decade, helped by the video and speaking tour they undertook. Peter Safar wrote the book ABC of Resuscitation in 1957. In the U.S., it was first promoted as a technique for the public to learn in the 1970s.”
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On 9/16/1894 Hugh A. Halligan was “born in the "Gas House District" of Manhattan, New York. He was appointed to the FDNY on June 16, 1916, assigned to Engine 88. He was promoted to Lieutenant on April 16, 1922, and Captain on February 1, 1924; he became a Battalion Chief on June 1, 1929, the youngest to do so at the time. On October 1, 1934, Halligan attained the rank of Deputy Chief and on August 20, 1941, Commissioner Patrick Walsh appointed him to the post of First Deputy Commissioner. Halligan was removed from that "civilian" position in March 1942 and resumed his role as Deputy Chief… In 1948, Chief Halligan introduced his improvements upon the "Kelly Tool," developed by Captain John F. Kelly of Ladder 163. The Halligan Tool was drop-forged rather than welded and weighed in at only 8.5 pounds. Ironically, because it was developed by a member, the FDNY did not purchase the first Halligan Tools commercially produced; that distinction went to the Boston Fire Department.
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On 9/16/1987 a protocol to limit world production of Halon was signed in Montreal,? Quebec, Canada. The “Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer” is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of several substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion. Since then, it has undergone nine revisions, in 1990 (London), 1991 (Nairobi), 1992 (Copenhagen), 1993 (Bangkok), 1995 (Vienna), 1997 (Montreal), 1998 (Australia), 1999 (Beijing) and 2016 (Kigali).
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On 9/16/1890 a Malden, Massachusetts firefighter “died of the injuries he sustained after he was struck by a fire hydrant cap.”
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On 9/16/1930 a Boston, Massachusetts firefighter “was electrocuted while standing in water when a high voltage power line fell to the street. The fire was at 100 Ruggles Street, Roxbury, a two-alarm fire, Box 2232, (Ruggles & Auburn Streets) at 2203 hours.”
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On 9/16/1950 a Sacramento, California firefighter “was called in on his day off to fight a fire at the Tuesday Clubhouse on L Street. He was on the roof with several other firefighters when it collapsed, and they were thrown into the fire. He and the other firefighters were rescued and carried across the street to Sutter General Hospital, where he died of his injuries.”
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On 9/16/1972 a Newark, New Jersey firefighter died after “he fell down a staircase after attempting to save occupants at a three-alarm fire. He was treated for injuries, went home, and later suffered a heart attack. He was rushed to the hospital where he died.”
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On 9/16/1977 a Franklin, Pennsylvania firefighter died while he “was working a structure fire on Otter Street. He was conducting overhaul operations in the basement of the structure when he collapsed. He was transported from the scene to the local Emergency Room where he passed away.”
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On 9/16/1989 a St. Paul, Minnesota fire investigator “died from fire-related causes after investigating the fire at 1607 Breda.”
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On 9/16/1995 a Baltimore, Maryland firefighter “was killed when a 1-? foot thick-granite wall collapsed on him while he was engaged in forcible entry at a nine-alarm fire at a 19th-century warehouse/ foundry that had been converted to numerous shops and businesses in the Clipper Industrial Park. Eighteen other firefighters were also injured at this blaze.”
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On 9/16/2019 a Farmington, Maine firefighter was killed, and three firefighters were critically injured in an explosion. “The explosion happened at 313 Farmington Falls Road, (Route 2). The building was the central office for LEAP Inc., which provides support for people with developmental, cognitive, and intellectual disabilities. Pictures from the scene showed a building in ruins. Witnesses reported seeing rubble everywhere and smoke in the sky.” “Firefighters were called to the scene on Route 2 around 8:07 a.m. for a propane smell in the building. The explosion took place minutes later. One firefighter was killed, and six other Farmington firefighters were injured.”
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On 9/16/1968 the Hendersonville, Tennessee home of singer Roy Orbison was destroyed by a fire that killed his two sons, ages 6 and 11. Orbison was touring England when the tragedy occurred. An aerosol can, probably containing lacquer, was most likely responsible for the fire; the two boys were playing with an aerosol can in the basement of the house.
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On 9/16/1935 the Macon, Missouri Casino Theater fire killed two when a film in the projection booth ignited. “The film a highly inflammable (flammable) substance became ignited about five minutes until 12 o'clock. Brooks was able to give a slight explanation, saying that the electric soldering iron with which they were working was dropped and that the small projection room was immediately filled with white-hot flames.” Eastman Kodak began using Nitrocellulose as the first flexible film base in August 1889. Nitrocellulose (also: cellulose nitrate, flash paper, flash cotton, guncotton, flash string) is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to nitric acid or another nitrating agent.
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On 9/16/1924 the Salisbury, Pennsylvania conflagration started about 3:00 in a store and destroyed the east side of Grant Street between Union and Fourth Streets in the center of the town.
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On 9/16/1923 near Cottondale, Florida a train wreck killed one and injured twenty-two.
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On 9/16/1879 two hotels, a bank, a printing office, and an elevator were among the thirty-three buildings destroyed by a fire that originated in the basement of a drug store, when an oil lamp exploded in Hastings, Nebraska.?
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On 9/16/1879 the Rindskopt's Distillery was destroyed by a fire in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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On 9/16/1879 the “Deaf and Dumb Institute” in Delavan, Wisconsin was destroyed by fire around 8:30 a.m. all of the 147 patients in attendance were rescued. The fire was discovered in the cupola of the main building.
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On 9/16/1865 the entire business portion of Augusta, Maine was destroyed by a fire that started in a new wooden building on Water Street.
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On 9/16/1859 a fire destroyed several buildings in the business section of Chicago, Illinois that started in a stable and communicated to the blacksmith shop at 45 Canal Street and traveled in different directions “consuming the entire block bounded by Clinton, North Canal, Westlake, and Fulton Streets.”
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On 9/16/1620 the Mayflower departed England
On 9/16/1776 during the American Revolution Battle of Harlem Heights was fought
On 9/16/1810 the Mexican War of Independence began
On 9/16/1893 the largest land run in history began, more than 100,000 raced into the Cherokee Strip of Oklahoma to claim a homestead