23rd Street Fire

Last updated
23rd Street Fire
Location map Lower Manhattan.png
Red pog.svg
23rd Street Fire (Lower Manhattan)
Date17 October 1966
Time21:36 EST (UTC–5)
Location7 East 22nd Street, New York, NY
Coordinates 40°44′27″N73°59′20″W / 40.74083°N 73.98889°W / 40.74083; -73.98889
CauseUnsafe storage of flammable materials
Deaths12 firefighters

The 23rd Street Fire was an incident that took place in the Flatiron District neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, on October 17, 1966. A group of firefighters from the New York City Fire Department responding to a fire at 7 East 22nd Street entered a building at 6 East 23rd Street as part of an effort to fight the fire. Twelve firefighters were killed after the floor collapsed, the largest loss of life in the department's history until the collapse of the World Trade Center in the September 11 attacks of 2001. [1]

Contents

Incident

A fire was reported at 9:36 p.m. at the American Art Galleries, an art dealer located in a four-story brownstone at 7 East 22nd Street (just off Broadway), transmitted as Box 598. [2] A FDNY report after the incident showed that the dealer had stored highly flammable lacquer, paint, and finished wood frames in the basement. By the time the first firefighters arrived, the intensity of the smoke and heat made it impossible to enter through the 22nd Street side of the building. [3]

Firefighters attempted to approach the burning building through Wonder Drug, a store located at 6 East 23rd Street in a five-story commercial building on a 45-by-100-foot (14 m × 30 m) lot that abutted the burning art dealership. As part of a construction project that had recently been completed, a common cellar under the two buildings was renovated, removing a load-bearing dividing wall that had supported the floor above. The removal of the wall allowed the art dealer to increase available storage space and move some of their supplies into a space that was now under the drugstore. [3]

The building at 7 East 22nd Street had a two-story extension adjoining the rear of the building at 6 East 23rd Street. The cellar of the 22nd Street building extended about 35 feet (11 m) under the drug store. The drugstore's floor was supported by 3-by-14-inch (7.6 cm × 35.6 cm) wood beams. 3⁄4 inch (19 mm) wood planking atop these beams was covered with 5 inches (130 mm) of concrete finished with terrazzo. The fire underneath the store weakened the wooden beams, while the thickness of the floor prevented firefighters from feeling the extreme heat below. [4]

A 15-by-35-foot (4.6 by 10.7 m) section of the floor collapsed at 10:39 p.m., one hour and three minutes after the initial alarm was transmitted, causing ten firefighters to fall into the burning cellar. Two other firefighters on the first floor were killed in a flashover. In all, twelve firefighters were killed: two chiefs, two lieutenants, and eight firefighters. It took firefighters 14 hours to dig out the rubble and reach their dead comrades. The dead men left behind 12 widows and 32 children. [3] The fire raged to a fifth alarm. [5]

Aftermath

10,000 firefighters lined Fifth Avenue on October 21, 1966, as ten firetrucks carried ten coffins to separate services at St. Thomas Protestant Episcopal Church and at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Firefighters came from as far away as the U.K., Ireland, Anchorage, Los Angeles and San Francisco, the Northeast United States, and a group of 500 firefighters from Boston who had come to pay tribute. [6]

Firefighters killed in the line of duty include:

Related Research Articles

<i>9/11</i> (2002 film) Franco-American documentary film about the September 11 attacks in NYC

9/11 is a 2002 documentary film about the September 11 attacks in New York City, in which two planes were flown into the buildings of the World Trade Center, resulting in their destruction and the deaths of nearly 3,000 people. The film is from the point of view of the New York City Fire Department. The film was directed by brothers Jules and Gédéon Naudet and FDNY firefighter James Hanlon and produced by Susan Zirinsky of CBS News.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York City Fire Department</span> American municipal fire department

The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) is the full-service fire department of New York City, serving all five boroughs. The FDNY is responsible for providing Fire Suppression Services, Specialized Hazardous Materials Response Services, Emergency Medical Response Services and Specialized Technical Rescue Services in the entire city.

<i>Ladder 49</i> 2004 American film

Ladder 49 is a 2004 American disaster thriller film directed by Jay Russell and written by Lewis Colick. The film follows Baltimore firefighter Jack Morrison, who is trapped inside a warehouse fire, and his recollection of the events that got him to that point. The film stars Joaquin Phoenix and John Travolta, and was released on October 1, 2004. It received mixed reviews and grossed $102 million worldwide on $60 million budget.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York City Fire Museum</span> Museum in Manhattan, New York

The New York City Fire Museum is a museum dedicated to the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) in the Hudson Square neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It is housed in the former quarters of the FDNY's Engine Company No. 30, a renovated 1904 fire house at 278 Spring Street between Varick and Hudson Streets.

This is a glossary of firefighting equipment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter J. Ganci Jr.</span> American firefighter chief (1946–2001)

Peter James Ganci Jr. was a career firefighter in the New York City Fire Department killed in the September 11 attacks. At the time of the attacks, he held the rank of Chief of Department, the highest ranking uniformed fire officer in the department.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wholesale District, Los Angeles</span> Neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles

The Wholesale District or Warehouse District in Downtown Los Angeles, California, has no exact boundaries, but at present it lies along the BNSF and Union Pacific Railroad lines, which run parallel with Alameda Street and the Los Angeles River. Except for some ancillary commercial uses, its cityscape is mostly occupied by warehouses and refrigerated storage facilities. This area is known as Central City North in the Los Angeles city zoning map.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hotel Vendome fire</span> 1972 fire in Boston, Massachusetts

The Hotel Vendome fire in the United States was the worst firefighting tragedy in Boston history. Nine firefighters were killed during the final stages of extinguishing a fire on June 17, 1972. The Hotel Vendome was on the southwest corner of the intersection of Commonwealth Avenue and Dartmouth Street, in the Back Bay area of Boston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ballantynes fire</span> 1947 fire in Christchurch, New Zealand

On Tuesday, 18 November 1947, a fire engulfed the Ballantynes department store in central Christchurch, New Zealand, resulting in the death of 41 people. It remains the deadliest fire in New Zealand's history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orio Palmer</span> American fire battalion chief (1956-2001)

Orio Joseph Palmer was a Battalion Chief of the New York City Fire Department who died while rescuing civilians trapped inside the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Palmer led the team of firefighters that reached the 78th floor of the South Tower, the floor where the plane had struck the building. As of 2024, his remains have never been identified.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1975 Philadelphia Gulf refinery fire</span> Fire at refinery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

A refinery owned by Gulf Oil Corporation in Philadelphia, located at Girard Point on the Schuylkill River in South Philadelphia, caught fire on Sunday, August 17, 1975. This incident grew into an 11-alarm fire, not brought under control until 24 hours later, and resulted in the death of eight firefighters of the Philadelphia Fire Department (PFD), injuries to 14 other firefighters, and the loss of four PFD vehicles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurel–Rex Fire Company House</span> United States historic place

The Laurel–Rex Fire Company House, consisting of the Laurel Fire Company's engine house and the Rex Hook & Ladder Company's truck house, is a historic fire station located in York City, York County, Pennsylvania. The oldest building, the Laurel engine house, was built in 1878, and is a two-story, brick building in the Italianate style. The original engine house was expanded in 1887 with a horse stable and in 1892 with a ladder truck house. It has a three-story bell tower on the southwest corner and a second faux tower atop the roof on the northwest corner. It measures 48 by 96 feet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winecoff Hotel fire</span> 1946 fire in Atlanta, Georgia

The Winecoff Hotel fire, of December 7, 1946, was the deadliest hotel fire in American history, killing 119 hotel occupants, including the hotel's original owners. Located at 176 Peachtree Street in Atlanta, Georgia, the Winecoff Hotel was advertised as "absolutely fireproof". While the hotel's steel structure was indeed protected against the effects of fire, its interior finishes were combustible and the building's exit arrangements consisted of a single stairway serving all fifteen floors. All of the hotel's occupants above the fire's origin on the third floor were trapped, and the fire's survivors either were rescued from upper-story windows or jumped into nets held by firemen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great New York City Fire of 1845</span> Fire and explosion in Manhattan

The Great New York City Fire of 1845 broke out on July 19, 1845, in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The fire started in a whale oil and candle manufacturing establishment and quickly spread to other wooden structures. It reached a warehouse on Broad Street where combustible saltpeter was stored and caused a massive explosion that spread the fire even farther.

The Yonkers Fire Department (YFD) provides fire protection and emergency medical services to the city of Yonkers, New York, United States.

The Vulcan Society, founded in 1940, is a fraternal organization of black firefighters in New York City.

Black Sunday has been used to describe January 23, 2005, when three firefighters of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) died in two fires: two at a tenement fire in the Morris Heights section of the Bronx, with four others being seriously injured, and one at a house fire in the East New York section of Brooklyn. It was the deadliest day for the FDNY since the World Trade Center attack on September 11, 2001, and the first time since 1918 that firefighters had died at two separate incidents on the same day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brooklyn Fire Department</span> Former fire department of Brooklyn, New York

The Brooklyn Fire Department (BFD) was a professional fire department that provided fire protection and rescue services to the city of Brooklyn, New York, within modern-day New York City, from 1869 to 1898. The Brooklyn Fire Department, a paid firefighting force, replaced a 3,000-person volunteer fire department that was poorly equipped to serve Brooklyn's growing population.

The Waldbaum's Supermarket Fire was a major fire on August 2, 1978, in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York City, United States, that killed six FDNY firefighters. The Waldbaum's store at 2892 Ocean Avenue was undergoing extensive renovations, but was open for customers when the fire broke out.

References

  1. ↑ Duggan, Dennis. "Following in Heroic Footsteps", Newsday , September 15, 2001. Accessed August 7, 2008. "Fernandez was a young firefighter in 1966 at the scene of what until Tuesday had been the worst fire disaster in the department's history when 12 firefighters died at a West 23rd Street fire."
  2. ↑ Watson, Edward (1976). New York then and now : 83 Manhattan sites photographed in the past and in the present. New York: Dover Publications. pp. 158–159. ISBN   978-0-486-23361-1. OCLC   2694848.
  3. 1 2 3 O'Donnell, Michelle. "Oct. 17, 1966, When 12 Firemen Died", The New York Times , October 17, 2006. Accessed August 7, 2008.
  4. ↑ "The 23rd. Street Fire, October 17, 1966.", New York City Fire Department. Accessed August 7, 2008.
  5. ↑ FDNY Honors 52nd Anniversary of 23rd Street Fire, New York City Fire Department, October 17, 2018. Accessed March 25, 2024. "The ground floor of the Wonder Drug Store at the corner of 23rd Street and Broadway collapsed during a five-alarm fire that originated in a storage area, which was concealed by a four-inch thick cinderblock wall illegally constructed by the building’s previous owner."
  6. ↑ Alden, Robert. "Firemen Bear Their Dead Down 5th Ave. in Silent Grief; Throngs Watch as Firemen Bear Their Dead Down Fifth Ave, in Silent Grief", The New York Times , October 22, 1966. Accessed August 7, 2008.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.