Thirty Year Remembrance: Buffalo (NY) Box 191 North Division & Grosvenor Street, December 27, 1983 As Buffalo (NY) firefighters arrived at the scene of a reported propane leak in a three-story radiator warehouse (Type III Ordinary and Type IV Heavy Timber construction), a massive explosion occurred, killing five firefighters instantly and injuring nine […]

  On October 17th, 1966, Manhattan Dispatch recorded an alarm from a resident at 7 East 22nd Street for smoke on the 4th floor of a brownstone. Box 0598 was transmitted at 2136 hours. Engine 14, 3 & 16, Ladders 3 & 12, Battalion 6 & Division 3 turn out. Upon arrival, they were confronted […]

A View from the Street; Remembrance and Paying Respect A brief trip on Friday took me to the City of Buffalo, New York. Following business, I made my way to 1815 Genesee Street. As the morning sun began to burn off the light layer of fog, I came upon my destination which at first glance […]

Fire escapes can be readily found on numerous buildings of heritage and legacy construction, are you aware of some safety considerations?

The Thirty-five year anniversary of the FDNY Waldbaum’s Fire and Collapse: Do you know the lessons learned?

The relative calm of a quiet Sunday, Father’s Day, June 17th , 2001 was broken…

A fire in a three story multiple family apartment building injured four City of Chicago (IL) firefighters when an interior stairway collapsed during firefighting operations. The building was constructed in 1927 and consisted of 5456 square feet of space with 3-5 apartment units. Built of masonry wall construction with a wood floor joist system, the […]

A large warehouse fire in a 211,000 SF complex resulted from from a transformer explosion this morning at the Wix Distribution Center in Gastonia, NC.  The building complex was a former textile mill and was built in 1917. Published report indicate that more than 60 firefighters operated at the scene to control the fire. It was reported that  Fire Chief Phillip Welch stated […]

Eleven Minutes to Mayday: Lessons from 2008 Resonate Today

Identifying, Establishing and Managing Collapse Zones I mentioned in a recent post about on-going research and recommendations being developed for a significant report. A notable issue that seems to resonate and surface on a reoccurring bais is the identification, establishment and management of collapse zones. Building type, construction systems and materials, initiating, apparent or contributIng […]