Tragic Fires Remembered

The beginning of December typically signifies the kick-start of the holiday rush.  People looking for good deals on Christmas buys, decorating for the holidays and trying to tie up loose ends on things as the year comes to a close.  December also starts out with the anniversaries of some tragic life-loss fires too.

When we look back at fires of the past, where lives are lost, families torn apart and society was reeling from the aftermath, its important to look beyond the losses, and see that there are, in fact some positives amidst the grief.  The honor and memory of those who gave their lives is lest forgotten, and their names can be memorialized in many different ways.  We should never forget these events, and always strive to learn from them and do our best not to let tragedy strike again.

On December 1, 1958 95 lives were lost in the Our Lady of Angels School fire in Chicago.  92 children and 3 nuns perished in a fire that was likely the result of arson, yet the exact cause was never determined.

OLA School Fire (Courtesy of http://www.olafire.com/Home.asp)

A wealth of information on the OLA fire can be found at: http://www.olafire.com/Home.asp

 December 3, 1999 is a day that is hard to forget for many firefighters, and one that gripped the nation.  It signifies the anniversary of the Worcester Cold Storage warehouse fire, in Worcester, Ma.  It was a fire that brought out deep emotional responses from many, for a variety of reasons.  Most notably, the loss of 6 firemen stunned not only the Worcester Fire Department, but it sucker punched firefighters across the nation and left many people asking why?  The biggest of those questions is why would those firemen place themselves into a situation with such little hope for what turned out to be a pair of homeless people, who had actually fled the scene of a fire they had accidentally started?  Was it worth it?  As for the decisions made by fire commanders that day, were they right?  Many questions came to light, some have been satisfied, some still linger.

In the flames over the cold storage warehouse, the silhouette of what appears to be a firefighter emerges...

Born of the ashes of that building, and the souls of the 6 firemen who died that night, is a program that aims to educate.  Worcester fire officials travel the country spreading the word about the lessons they learned that night to other firefighters, in the hopes their lessons will prevent toe loss of others.  One of those men, Retired District Fire Chief Michael McNamee was a key figure in the mission to spread that word. 

Retired District Chief Recalls Cold Storage Fire

There is alot of information about this fire, it can be seen here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worcester_Cold_Storage_Warehouse_fire

Take a few minutes out of the next few days and honor those lost, and educate yourself to protect yourself, as a firefighter as well as your friends and family by learning from these tragedies.