23rd Street Fire

The 23rd Street Fire was an incident that took place on October 17, 1966 in the New York City borough of Manhattan, when 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, 2001 terrorist attacks. [Duggan, Dennis. [http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-lottop2367538sep15,0,5314349.column "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."]

The incident

A fire was reported shortly after 9:30 pm at an art dealer located at 7 East 22nd Street, just off of Broadway, in a four-story brownstone. A NYFD 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.O'Donnell, Michelle. [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/17/nyregion/17fire.html "Oct. 17, 1966, When 12 Firemen Died"] , "The New York Times", October 17, 2006. Accessed August 7, 2008.]

Firefighters attempted to approach the burning building through Wonder Drug, a store located at 6 East 23rd Street in a a five-story, 45x100 commercial building that abutted the burning art dealership. As part of a recent construction project, 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 their storage space and move some of their supplies into a space that was now under the drugstore.

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 under the drug store. The drugstore's floor was supported by 3" x 14" wood beams. 3/4" wood planking atop these beams was covered with five inches 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. [ [http://nyfd.com/history/23rd_street/23rd_street.html "The 23rd. Street Fire, October 17, 1966."] , New York City Fire Department. Accessed August 7, 2008.]

A 15 by 35 foot section of the floor collapsed at around 10:40 pm, 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 six firefighters plunged into the flaming cellar, while two more firefighters were killed by the blast of flame and heat on the first floor. 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.

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 Anchorage, Alaska, and San Francisco. There were 500 firefighters from Boston, Massachusetts who had come to pay tribute. [Alden, Robert. [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10916F83F58117B93C0AB178BD95F428685F9 "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.]

References

External links

* [http://nyfd.com/history/23rd_street/23rd_street.html "The 23rd. Street Fire, October 17, 1966."] , New York City Fire Department