Today in Fire History

On 10/25/1960 the Metropolitan Store fire killed ten in Windsor, ?Ontario. “A broken gas line coming into the store on Ouellette Avenue caused a huge explosion on the main floor, taking out the building’s rear wall, which resulted in the upper two floors collapsing. Many of the store’s customers and employees several of whom were senior citizens who had been sitting earlier at the lunch counter were trapped in the rubble and the firefighters and volunteers who were tasked with extracting the trapped people recall the site as quite a gory mess. Ten people were killed in the accident, and more than 100 were injured. The plumbing contractor was found at fault for not using proper procedures. The building was eventually demolished. Metropolitan Stores of Canada Ltd. (often referred to as The Met or Metropolitan) was a Canadian variety department store chain based in Winnipeg, Manitoba.”

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On 10/25/1915 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania a fire at Union Paper Box Company, 207-209 Sandusky Street on the city's North Side left thirteen dead and twenty injured after the fire broke out in baled hay, straw, and feed on the first floor. “The building had been deemed a fire trap.” “The 30 girls employed by Union Paper Box had just returned from their lunch break when a match ignited some loose straw on the first floor. Fifty-five minutes later the fire was under control, but thirteen people were dead and nine girls and six men were sent to the hospital with burns. During that hour, the girls attempted to escape through a stairwell but were met with flames. They went back up the stairs and attempted to evacuate via the fire escapes, but flames leaped from the windows of the floors below, blocking their way. Some of the girls were able to safely jump from windows onto neighboring buildings or wagons and nets on the street below, but the rest were found together trapped on the fourth floor.”

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On 10/25/1901 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania “an eight-story building was destroyed by a fire that leaves eighteen dead and property loss amounting to upward of $500,000. Fully a score of injured were treated at various hospitals. The buildings at 1219 and 1221 Market Street were occupied by upholsterers and furniture dealers, and an adjacent three-story building was occupied by small merchantmen. The origin of the fire may have started from an explosion of naphtha or gasoline in the basement. Never in its history has Philadelphia experienced a fire that spread with such great rapidity. Men and women died a lingering agonizing death in the presence of thousands of spectators who were unable to lift a hand to their assistance. On the fire escapes at one end of the building two men and one woman were slowly roasted to death, while the horror-stricken throng on the street below turned sick at the sight. In front, of Market Street, a woman, driven to desperation, leaped from a window on the top floor and was dashed to death on the pavement. Firefighters claim to have seen men and women unable to reach the windows or fire escapes, burned to death in the interior of the building. When the fire started more than half of the firm's 100 employees were on the upper five floors, and it was among these that the greatest number were killed or injured. Most of those killed were at work on the sixth floor, where women were engaged in sewing. It was reported that goods were stored against the windows, which prevented the women from getting out on the fire escapes, but this was positively denied by a member of the firm. There were eleven employees and several outside workmen on the eighth floor. A ladder reached from this floor to the roof, which would have enabled those on that floor to reach the roof of an adjoining eight-story building, but in the excitement, this means of escape was forgotten. Several made the terrible leap to the sidewalk and were crushed, while the others ran the gauntlet of smoke and fire down the rear fire escapes. By noon the fire was under control, and at 2 o'clock this afternoon a force of men began clearing away the debris to recover the bodies of the victims.

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On 10/25/1900 a Detroit, Michigan firefighter “died from the injuries he sustained after a wall had collapsed.”

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On 10/25/1918 a Staten Island, New York (FDNY) firefighter “while operating at a ship fire, inhaled poisonous gas and suffered a fatal heart attack after returning to quarters.”

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On 10/25/1922 a Portland, Oregon firefighter died at the Washington High School fire. “The fire, which was purposely set, caused over $400,000 in damage (in 1922). It was a spectacular blaze that could be seen across the east side of the city. The fire, which went to a 4th alarm, brought both on and off-duty firefighters from across the city. Engine 12 was assigned to the southeast corner of the building. Just after rendering their hose line operational, the Chief realized the wall of the building was about to collapse. He ordered the crew of Engine 12 to evacuate their position. While other crew members moved away parallel to the falling wall, the firefighter moved perpendicular. One firefighter was not fast enough to escape the falling stone and brick as it collapsed upon him. He had died instantly.

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On 10/25/1931 a Chicago, Illinois firefighter died “while fighting a fire on South Parkway. The fire originally started when a still exploded. The firefighter and four other firefighters were operating inside the building when a second explosion occurred. The firefighters were struck by a wall of flames. All five firefighters were burned, but one died from his injuries later that day at Michael Reese Hospital.”

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On 10/25/1938 a Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York (FDNY) firefighter “was killed when he was overcome by smoke, after he led his men into a cellar at 2984 W. 3rd Street, Coney Island, during a rubbish fire. He had been directing operations on the blaze for only 5 minutes when he collapsed.”

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On 10/25/1941 a Hartford, Connecticut firefighter “died from the injuries he sustained while operating at Box 316.”

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On 10/25/1944 a Manhattan, New York (FDNY) firefighter “died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning and burns sustained while operating at a four-alarm fire. The four-alarm blaze was fed by drums of olive oil and destroyed the six-story building.”

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On 10/25/1949 a Boston, Massachusetts firefighter “died from inhalation of smoke and gases, while working at Box 1461, (Washington & West Streets). The fire was at 2230 hours on October 24, 1949, at 59 Temple Place, Downtown.”

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On 10/25/1952 a Chicago, Illinois firefighter “collapsed during a hotel fire, shortly after rescuing several civilians from the burning building. He was taken to Ravenswood Hospital where he was pronounced dead due to smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion. The fire, located at the Argyle Hotel at 1967 W. Argyle Street, was started by an employee of the hotel who was angry about a domestic dispute with his girlfriend, a hotel resident. The employee later confessed to starting the blaze by setting two fires (one by igniting a stack of papers on the second floor of the hotel and the other by setting fire to a mattress in the second-floor hallway) and was charged with arson and murder by arson.”

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On 10/251987 around 8:45 a.m., three firefighters were killed and three injured during a multi-department, live-fire training exercise involving a vacant, two-story, wood-frame farmhouse in Milford, Michigan. “An unusual training exercise involving simulated arson sets and live firefighting evolutions in an abandoned farmhouse resulted in the deaths of three volunteer firefighters and injuries to three others. The incident occurred in Milford Township, Michigan, a rural area approximately 30 miles from Detroit. Four area volunteer departments participated in the exercise and the fatalities included members of three of the departments. The drill was arranged and directed by the Milford Fire Department, with the other departments participating as guests. It was intended to familiarize the firefighters with the evidence that would result from arson fires. To achieve this objective, several different arson sets were prepared in the two-story abandoned structure, using flammable and combustible liquids as accelerants. The plan was to ignite all of the arson sets and then extinguish the fires, allowing the trainees to examine the evidence before and after the fact. Some of the trainees would gain added experience in interior structural firefighting and the use of self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). A tanker shuttle was to be used to supply water for the drill, providing an opportunity for all four departments to practice this method, and members of an Explorer Scout group were on hand to practice operating exterior handlines. The plan was to reignite the house and burn it to the ground after completion of the interior operations and examination of the evidence. Exterior 2-?-inch hoselines were positioned to protect an exposed new house under construction on the same property. The deaths and injuries occurred because of an unanticipated flashover on the ground floor that trapped six members on the upper level. Three of those members escaped, but three were killed as the fire rapidly extended to the second floor. All three deaths were attributed to inhalation of products of combustion, although all were wearing full protective clothing and SCBA.”

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On 10/25/2005 an Altoona, Pennsylvania firefighter and Pennsylvania State Fire Academy Instructor died during a live-fire training exercise. The class was completing the final burn on Sunday, October 23. The firefighter was serving as an instructor, assigned to start the basement fire. He had checked the fire and then gone to the first floor to see whether the students and their instructor were ready to enter the basement. The instructor stated that they were ready. He re-entered the basement via the interior stairs to add 2 skids to the fire. The students, with their instructor, entered the basement. They moved to the doorway of the burn room, extinguished the fire, and then vented the smoke and heat out through the exterior stairway. Upon returning to the burn room, they found the instructor inside the burn room. They radioed a Mayday and called for a rapid intervention team (RlT) to respond to the exterior stairs. The students and instructors removed him to the stairs, and the RIT then moved him to the street. The advanced life support (ALS) ambulance, was assigned to the training grounds during the class, and a paramedic instructor met the RIT as they exited the building. He was treated and transported to Lewistown Hospital. The paramedic on scene requested a helicopter to meet the ambulance at the hospital to provide transportation to a burn facility. The firefighter was flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital burn unit. He had received burns on 85 percent of his body and to his respiratory system. He was pronounced dead on Tuesday, October 25 at 11:07 a.m. The cause of his collapse is unknown; the autopsy did not reveal any underlying health conditions that might have led to a collapse.”

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On 10/25/2003 near San Bernadino, California "the Old Fire" was set by Rickie Lee Fowler & Martin Valdez Jr. near Old Waterman Canyon Road and burned for nine days in the San Bernardino Mountains, the fire destroyed 1,000 homes, scorched 91,281 acres, caused $42 million in damage, six people died of stress-related heart attacks.

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On 10/25/1995 a fire in an occupied college dormitory in Franklin, Massachusetts originated in a second-floor room and spread through the second and third floors of the three-story, wood frame, unsprinklered structure built around the turn of the century. There were no fatalities or injuries. The building was equipped with a fire alarm system; individual sleeping rooms were equipped with heat detectors and system smoke detectors in the hallways.

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On 10/25/1986 in Minneapolis, Minnesota eight people died in a duplex fire in the 1200 block of Knox Avenue N.

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On 10/25/1964 near Orange, Texas two workers were killed and seventeen injured at six petrochemical plants after a series of gas explosions rocked two of a string of six plants. “Ruptures in pipelines carrying highly volatile gas apparently caused the blasts, but company officials said they were unrelated. Neither firm shares any facilities.” “The first explosion ripped the Spencer Chemical Company plant after a leak developed in a line carrying highly volatile ethylene gas under a pressure of 2,500 pounds per square inch.” “About three hours later, a series of perhaps five explosions injured three men at the nearby Allied Chemical Company when an automatic safety valve blew off on a line carrying oxide or ethylene gas.”

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On 10/25/1995 seven students died and several others were injured in Fox River Grove, Illinois as a Crystal Lake school bus filled with high school students, stopped within three and a half feet of the bus left on the railroad crossing when train number 624 headed into downtown Chicago, collided with the bus.

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On 10/25/1921 the “Tampa Bay hurricane of 1921 (also known as the 1921 Tarpon Springs hurricane) developed from a trough in the southwestern Caribbean Sea on October 20. Initially a tropical storm, the system moved northwestward and intensified into a hurricane on October 22 and a major hurricane by October 23. Later that day, the hurricane peaked with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph. After entering the Gulf of Mexico, the hurricane curved northeastward making landfall near Tarpon Springs, Florida. In Florida, the storm surge and abnormally high tides caused damage along much of the state's west coast from Pasco County southward. Strong winds also damaged hundreds of trees, signs, buildings, and homes. Four deaths occurred in Tampa, three from drownings and another after a man touched a live wire. The storm left two additional fatalities in St. Petersburg. The hurricane left at least eight deaths and about $10 million (equivalent to over $120 million) in damage.

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On 10/25/1994 Susan Smith reported a false carjacking to cover the murder of her two small children.

On 10/25/1944, the first time Japanese deployed kamikaze "divine wind" suicide bombers were used against American warships during the Battle of the Leyte Gulf.

On 10/25/1864 the Civil War Battle of Mine Creek.

On 10/25/1854 The Charge of the Light Brigade, a charge of British light cavalry led by Lord Cardigan, against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War. British forces had intended to send the Light Brigade to prevent the Russians from recapturing guns from overrun Turkish positions. However, miscommunication in the chain of command, and the Light Brigade was instead sent on a frontal assault against a different artillery battery resulting in very high British casualties and no decisive gains.