Never Forget!!
Posted by hdf561 on June 19, 2010
This time of year marks the anniversary of two important firefighter LODD’s. The first and the one you have heard about most is the Charleston 9 or the Super Sofa Store Fire. This fire was significant due to the number of lives lost, and the amount of learning that has taken place from the incident.
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/reports/face200718.html Charleston NIOSH Report
The second is a little lesser known fire. It was called the “Fathers Day Fire” and happened in 2001. This fire took the lives of 3 FDNY firefighters (Ford, Downing, and Fahey). unfortunately this fire lost a lot of significance because just a few short months later the tragedy of September 11th 2001 occurred. I still think this is an important fire to learn from, and of course being a father it always hits home on father’s day that your next shift could be your last.
http://stevespak.com/fathersday.html Fathers Day Fire Coverage
The most important thing that we can do to honor our brother firefighters who gave the ultimate sacrifice is to learn from them, and to never ever forget them, or what they represented as fireman.
So take a few minutes and read about these incidents and take something back that you can use to save your life, and most importantly NEVER FORGET THEM!!!!!!!!!!!
2 Responses to “Never Forget!!”
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Average Jake Firefighter Blog 
Engine Captain Missouri said
Dave is very correct in saying that we become complacent during the overhaul phase of a job. I remember hearing about this collapse, from my uncles on the job, I was nine. At no time can we be complacent, before, during, or after the fire is out. Murphy is always waiting! Train to survive, not take up space, by collecting a paycheck and waiting for days off, train to be a FIREMAN!
Dave LeBlanc said
Another important event is the Vendome Fire that killed nine firefighters in Boston in 1972. While before some of our times, it is significant as the collapse that killed these brothers occured during overhaul, as companies were switching out from dayshift personnell to nightshift personnel. Many of those killed had been at the fire for only a few moments.
Overhaul is a time when we tend to become complacent. The urgency is over, but this fire proves that we can never let our guard down. Because anything can happen at any time.