Below you’ll find a non-exhaustive list of significant events in fire service history that happened in the month of October, 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.
October 1
LODDs: Five firefighters killed in toy factory fire, Boston, 1964
NFPA’s Fire News Begins (as NFPA News Letter), 1916
October 2
First national Fire Prevention Week proclaimed by President Warren Harding, 1922
October 3
Brush fire kills 28, Griffith Park, Los Angeles, CA, 1933
October 4
Forest fire kills 44, northern Ontario, 1922
October 5
Crystal Palace destroyed by fire, NYC, 1858
October 6
SC-340, submarine chaser ship, is destroyed by fire, off St. John, Virgin Islands, 1923
October 7
First Fire Fighters Memorial Sunday is held, 1979
October 8
Great Chicago Fire kills 250, 1871
- Construction Concerns: Wanted: Building and Fire Codes
- The Great Conflagration That Swept Through Chicago
- The Great Chicago Conflagration
Peshtigo (WI) Fire kills 1,152, 1871
October 9
First Fire Prevention Day, 1911, marks end of two-day Great Chicago Fire, 1871
October 10
Oles Inc. hardware store fire kills 4, South Pasadena, CA, 1984
October 11
Forest fire kills 22, Minnesota/Ontario border, 1938
LODD: Brad Clark, Hanover, VA, 2018
October 12
Forest fire kills 559, Cloquet, MN, 1918
October 13
Monsanto chemical plant fire kills 11, La Salle (PQ), 1966
October 14
Colliery fire kills 439, Mid Glamorgan, Wales, 1913
October 15
US Postal Service HQ fire, loss worth $48M, Washington, D.C., 1984
October 16
USS Leyte carrier explosion kills 39, Boston, MA, 1953
October 17
LODDs: 23rd Street Fire, 12 FDNY firefighters killed, NYC, 1966
- Building Construction Awareness Project: The 23rd Street Fire
- Podcast: The 23rd Street Fire and Collapse
High-rise building fire kills 6, Chicago, IL, 2003
October 18
Alexander Hamilton home hotel fire kills 15, Paterson, NJ, 1984
October 19
Geiger nursing home fire kills 15, Honesdale, PA, 1971
LODDs: Two Baltimore firefighters killed (Rodney Pitts III, Dillon Rinaldo), 2023
October 20
International Association of Fire Chiefs founded, Balitmore, MD, 1873
Oakland (CA) fire storm kills 25, 1991
October 21
Care-of-aged facility fire kills 28, Hof, Germany, 1947
October 22
Stag Canyon #2 coal mine explosion kills 263, Dawson, NM, 1913
October 23
Phillips Petroleum plant fire, loss worth $1,113 M, Pasadena, TX, 1989
October 24
Puerto Rican Social Club fire kills 25, NYC, 1976
October 25
“Old” wildland fire, $975 M loss, San Bernardino, CA, 2003
October 26
USS Oriskany carrier flash fire kills 43, Gulf of Tonkin, Vietnam, 1966
October 27
Laguna forest fire, Orange County, CA, 1993
October 28
St. John’s Parochial School fire kills 22, Peabody, MA, 1915
October 29
Federal Fire Prevention & Control Act of 1974 creates U.S. Fire Administration, 1974
October 30
Jumbo floating restaurant fire kills 34, Hong Kong, 1971
October 31
Society of Fire Protection Engineers founded, Boston, MA, 1950
