MISSOURI HISTORICAL EVENTS

On February 3, 1902, at approximately 8:00 p.m., the St. Louis Fire Department responded to a structure fire at 312-314 Chestnut Street, the American Tent and Awning Company. Initial arriving units reported fire on the fourth and fifth floors of the nearly fifty year old building, on what was reported as the coldest night so far of the 1901-02 winter season.

Approximately one hour after the fire was reported, and with the flames mostly under control, crews were sent to the upper floors to extinguish remaining spot fires. Without warning, the structure collapsed. Afterwards, Fire Chief Charles Swingley was quoted as saying "to all appearances, there was no danger to the pipemen who went into the upper floors, the fire was all on the fourth and fifth floors, and more on the fifth than on the fourth. Under such conditions no one would expect a building to collapse". It was later revealed the structure had been seriously damaged by a May 1899 fire. A contractor had been hired by the owner to install "an additional row of girders" to repair the damage.

Without the benefit of modern technical rescue equipment readily available today, nearly all of the debris removal and rescue was done by hand. The sounds of survivors still trapped in the rubble ceased at 1:00 a.m. and the first firefighter was not freed from the debris until 3:00 a.m., but died en route to the hospital.

Seven St. Louis Fire Department members were killed, the largest loss of life in a single event in the department's history.

On Thursday, May 17, 1849, the City of St. Louis was in the midst of a cholera epidemic which would ultimately kill over 4,000 residents. A steamboat from New Orleans named the White Cloud was moored on the north end of what is now Laclede's Landing, when a mattress fire was reported in one of her cabins. The fire was extinguished on the deck of the boat, and the mattress placed it back in the cabin.

At approximately 10:00 p.m., volunteer fire fighters from the Missouri Fire Company Number 5 were summoned and arrived on-scene to find heavy flames visible from the deck of the White Cloud which had already extended to another steamboat, the Edward Bates. The flames caused the Bates to break free of its moorings and float downriver, spreading the fire to other boats moored along the landing. Strong winds helped the flames quickly overwhelm the fire crews; within 30 minutes, 23 steamboats were engulfed in flames along the riverfront of what is today the Gateway Arch grounds.

On October 21, 1942, sparks from a chimney ignited the roof of a large, limestone castle which had been constructed between 1905 and 1922 on a 250-foot high bluff overlooking a small, spring-fed lake, outside of what is now Camdenton. The lake would later be consumed by the creation of Lake of the Ozarks. Construction of the castle, the vision of Kansas City businessman Robert Snyder, began in 1905; however, was stopped when Mr. Snyder was killed in 1906, the victim of one of the first automobile accidents in Missouri. After a period of time, Snyder's sons resumed construction, and the less elaborate structure was finished in 1922. The mansion had 28 rooms and featured a center atrium, rising 3 1⁄2 stories to a skylight, a private water tower, and carriage house. Mr. Snyder initially envisioned a 60-room European-style castle with multiple greenhouses and stables.

In the 1920s and 1930s, the castle served as a weekend and summer home for the Snyder family. The property was eventually converted to a hotel. The 1942 fire destroyed the castle and carriage house, and in 1976, the original water tower was destroyed by a fire intentionally set by vandals. The water tower was later restored.

On July 17, 1981, approximately 2,000 people were attending a "Tea Dance" at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City. Tea Dances had become a popular Friday evening event for the city in the summer of 1981. The Hyatt Regency, located in the Crown Center complex near Union Station, was the tallest building in Missouri at the time and featured an elegant lobby with suspended skywalks on the second, third, and fourth floors spanning the atrium.

At approximately 7:05 p.m., with the crowd swing dancing to the song "Satin Doll", the skywalks on the second and fourth floors suddenly collapsed onto the crowded dance floor below. Fire crews from across the metro area descended on the lobby to begin rescue efforts. On arrival, they discovered many victims trapped beneath tons of concrete, steel and glass. Working without the aid of modern technical rescue equipment, on-scene commanders put out an urgent call for help from local construction companies and equipment suppliers. These unsung heroes brought concrete saws, torches, compressors, jackhammers, and heavy-lift jacks to assist in freeing victims trapped beneath the rubble. Cranes were brought to the scene and the booms forced through the atrium glass to help lift the debris off of trapped victims. During the collapse event, fire sprinkler pipes were severed, causing a torrent of water to fall onto the atrium floor; the rising water additionally threatened the lives of trapped victims. Much of the 14-hour rescue effort took place in the dark since building power was disconnected to reduce the chance of fire during the rescue effort.

114 lives were lost and approximately 200 injured. A subsequent investigation conducted by the National Bureau of Standards cited structural overload resulting from design flaws as the cause of the accident.

The Hyatt Regency Skywalk disaster would remain the deadliest structural collapse in the United States, until the collapse of the World Trade Center South Tower on September 11, 2001 and remains the deadliest non-deliberate structural failure in U.S. history.

On February 17, 1957, at approximately 2:30 p.m., a 92-year-old resident at the Katie Jane Memorial Home in Warrenton thought he smelled smoke on the first floor of the sixty year old annex building; however, no one heeded his warning. Approximately 10 minutes later, a visitor in the hallway observed flames coming from the linen closet beneath the stairwell leading to the second floor. Bed-confined residents were housed on the second floor so that ambulatory residents would not be required to transit stairways.

It took an estimated five minutes for the visitor to locate an employee, the employee to verify the presence of fire, reach the telephone located in the office of the main building, and phone in the alarm. During this time, the fire rapidly spread through the annex making reentry impossible. The Sunday afternoon weather was unseasonably warm leading residents to have their windows open; this allowed smoke and fire to quickly sweep through the open passageways into the main building and throughout both structures.

On February 5, 1911, Jefferson City residents were enjoying an unseasonably warm Sunday afternoon when a thunderstorm rolled through the capitol city at approximately 6:15 p.m. Monsignor Joseph Selinger was in the area of St. Mary's Hospital when he witnessed a bolt of lightning strike the dome of the Missouri State Capitol building. A short time later, some boys playing in front of the building noticed smoke coming from the dome. The current from the strike had traveled down old electrical wires in the dome and ignited the structure's pine frame. Flames were soon visible from the windowed structure at the top of the dome called a lantern.

Hampered by low water pressure and a lack of ladders able to reach the raging flames in the dome, Jefferson City's volunteer fire companies were quickly overwhelmed. Initial calls for assistance were made to the state penitentiary, where trustees were freed to help battle the flames. An urgent appeal was sent out to surrounding communities for assistance. At 9:55 p.m. a special train was sent from Sedalia containing fire apparatus and manpower, which remarkably made the 64-mile journey in 77 minutes, a record at that time.

On August 18, 1959, at approximately 8:20 a.m., the Kansas City Kansas Fire Department responded to a flammable liquid fire at the Continental Oil Company, 2 Southwest Blvd. The facility was a combination service station and bulk storage plant near the Kansas-Missouri state line. Initial arriving units reported heavy smoke and fire showing from the facility. Leaking gasoline had extended underneath four 11x30 cylindrical horizontal storage tanks resting above ground, each with a 21,000 gallon capacity.

At 8:33 a.m. a first alarm mutual aid assignment was requested from the Kansas City Missouri Fire Department. As the fire spread, additional KCFD alarms were requested in rapid succession, a second alarm at 8:37 a.m., third alarm at 8:45 a.m., fourth alarm at 8:54 a.m., and fifth alarm at 8:59 a.m. High August temperatures combined with a 13 mph wind, high humidity, and the radiant heat of the burning fuel, hampered the efforts of fire crews. Firefighting foam technology was in its infancy in 1959 and although a foam apparatus was on- scene, it was ineffective because there was no way to control and contain the leaking gasoline to create a foam blanket.

On November 29, 1988, at approximately 3:40 a.m., the Kansas City Fire Department responded to a vehicle fire at a construction site along U.S. Highway 71 near 87 th Street. During the 911 call, a security guard in the background could be heard saying "the explosives are on fire." Pumper 41 was assigned to the alarm. Dispatchers cautioned Pumper 41 of the potential for explosives at the scene.

At 3:46 a.m., Pumper 41 arrived on-scene and found two separate fires burning and requested an additional pumper be dispatched to assist. Pumper 30 was assigned and arrived on-scene at 3:52 a.m. Discovering multiple fires at the scene, the Incident Commander suspected intentionally set fires and requested law enforcement officers respond to the scene. At approximately 3:57 a.m., Pumper 30 requested a Battalion Chief be dispatched "emergency" to assist. Over the next several minutes, it became clear there was confusion as to if there were actually any explosives on site, or if any were involved in the fires. At 4:02 a.m., a truck, trailer, and large industrial compressor were burning. There is no indication that any of the vehicles, or trailer were marked, indicating the presence of explosives, as markings were not required by the ATF or DOT at that time.

On November 1, 1855, at approximately 9:00 a.m., during a prolonged period of heavy rain, a passenger train carrying approximately 600 dignitaries and invited guests departed St. Louis Seventh Street Station (near today's Busch Stadium) with great fanfare, festivities, and speeches, bound for Jefferson City. The 15-car-train was being led by the locomotive "Missouri". The purpose of this trip was to travel the recently completed 125-mile section of track linking St. Louis to the state Capitol, and meet with Governor Sterling Price to celebrate the construction milestone and promote further westward construction of the rail line. However, the new rail line was not fully completed. The trestle spanning the Gasconade River near the town of Gasconade, was still under construction and the track was supported by a temporary structure.

As the train approached the rain-swollen Gasconade River crossing, the plan called for the train to stop and allow the dignitaries to view the 760 foot trestle and for Chief Engineer Thomas O'Sullivan to inspect the trestle prior to crossing. Due to time constraints, it was decided not to stop the train because another train with "heavy gravel cars" had used the trestle the day before and a single locomotive had crossed the trestle as a final check, just prior to the excursion train's arrival, both without incident. At approximately 1:30 p.m., the excursion train approached the trestle. As the train began to cross the trestle, the span between the east bank and first pier collapsed. The steam engine and seven cars fell approximately 36 feet onto the riverbed. The steam engine rotated and landed on the first passenger car, which carried many of the dignitaries, trapping and killing many of those passengers.