Below you’ll find a non-exhaustive list of significant events in fire service history that happened in the month of June, including major incidents, firefighter line-of-duty deaths (LODDs), innovations, and the like. Thanks to Grant Schwalbe and Sam Hittle for proving their insights, as well as the work of Glenn Corbett.
Some of these incidents may provide a springboard for your company training or training ideas for drills. See the fire history calendar for July here.
June 1
Coal-fueled power plant, 33 dead, Berlin, Germany, 1948
June 2
Air Canada DC-9 in-flight fire, 23 dead, Cincinnati, OH, 1983
LODDs: Two San Francisco firefighters killed in hillside residential house fire, 2011
June 3
Gas pipeline explosion, 650 dead, Russia, 1989
LODD: Captain Vincent Fowler, Fire Department of New York (FDNY), 1999
On June 3, 1999, Captain Fowler, 45, and a probationary firefighter were searching for victims and fire in the extremely congested basement of an occupied residential structure. The low-air alarms on the firefighters’ self-contained breathing apparatus were sounding. Captain Fowler delayed his own exit from the basement as he called for and accounted for his probationary firefighter and he ran out of air. Captain Fowler and the probationary firefighter buddy breathed until Captain Fowler collapsed. The probie dragged Captain Fowler until he was joined by other firefighters, however it took an extended period of time to remove Captain Fowler from the building. Captain Fowler died the next day on June 4, 1999.
- Mayday Monday: Basement Fire LODDs
- Mayday Monday: Getting Air to the Down Firefighter
- Mayday Monday: Moving a Down Firefighter Up Stairs
June 4
LODDs: Three Waco (GA) firefighters killed in dynamite truck explosion, 1971
North Hungarian Chemical Works fire, 13 dead, Hungary, 1979
June 5
LaSalle Hotel fire, 61 dead, Chicago, 1946
June 6
K-Mart Warehouse fire, Falls Twp (PA), 1982
June 7
Ellington apartments fire, 13 dead, Cleveland OH, 1932
June 8
Metal mine fire kills 163, Butte (MT), 1917
June 9
Nightclub fire, 41 dead, Ivory Coast, 1977
June 10
First forest fire lookout tower staffed, Squaw Mountain, ME, 1905
June 11
Showa Denko Co. chemical plant fire kills 11, Kawasaki, Japan, 1964
June 12
Conflagration damages 70 buildings, Whitewright, TX, 1911
June 13
Hercules Inc. plant fire, $23 M loss, Covington, VA, 1980
June 14
Carterest (IL) Shopping Center fire, $37M loss, 1974
June 15
SS General Slocum steamship fire kills 1,030, NYC, 1904
June 16
ASTM founded, Philly, PA 1898
June 17
LODDs: Hotel Vendome fire, nine firefighters die, Boston, MA, 1972
- 10-15: Tragedy on Com Ave: The Collapse of the Hotel Vendome
- Father’s Day: Its Special Meaning for the Fire Service
LODDs: Father’s Day Fire, three FDNY firefighters die in Long Island General Supply fire, 2001
June 18
Kostinbrod Chemical Works fire kills 10 near Sofia, Bulgaria, 1968
LODDs: Sofa Super Store Fire kills nine Charleston (SC) Firefighters, 2007
- The Fires That Forged Us: Sofa Super Store Fire
- Charleston Sofa Super Store: An Unfiltered Perspective
June 19
Wildfire damages 15K acres, Los Alamos, NM, 1977
June 20
Mayaguez Theater fire, 150 dead, San Juan, PR, 1919
June 21
St. John City (BR) Detention Center Fire, 21 die, 1977
June 22
Henderson Department Store fire kills 11, Liverpool, England, 1960
June 23
First NFPA committee on Safety to Life appointed, 1913
June 24
Upstairs Lounge fire kills 32, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1973
Champlain Towers South Condominium collapse, Surfside, Florida, 2021
June 25
Aerlex Corp. fireworks fire kills 21, Hallett, OK, 1985
June 26
LODDs: Nitrate truck explosion, Marshalls Creek, PA, 1964
Maury County jail fire kills 42, Columbia, TN, 1977
June 27
Santa Barbara Co. CA forest fire, $334M loss, 1990
June 28
LP gas tank car derailment, 23 dead, Meldrim, GA, 1959
June 29
Virginia City (NV) conflagration, nine dead, 1873
June 30
North German Lloyd line steamship fire, 326 dead, Hoboken, NJ, 1900
Flammable Fabrics Act takes effect, 1954
LODDs: Yarnell Hill Fire, 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots dead, 2013
