NFPA: Worst U.S. Firefighting Tragedies

The Associated Press

Among the worst documented U.S. fires in terms of firefighters killed, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

• March 10, 1946: 13 firefighters killed in a roof collapse at the Strand Theatre in Brockton, Mass.
• June 17, 1972: Nine firefighters killed in a collapse at the Hotel Vendome, Boston.
• April 16-17, 1947: 27 firefighters killed following fires and ammonium nitrate explosions aboard two ships docked at Texas City, Texas.
• Dec. 22, 1910: 21 firefighters killed at a stockyard and cold storage warehouse in Chicago.
• July 29, 1956: 19 firefighters killed at the Shamrock Oil and Gas Corp. refinery in Sun Ray, Texas.
• July 9, 1953: 15 firefighters killed in a wildfire in the Mendocino National Forest in California.
• July 6, 1994: 14 firefighters killed in a wildfire on South Canyon mountain near Glenwood Springs, Colo.
• Aug. 4, 1949: 13 firefighters killed in a forest fire at Gates of the Mountain, Mont.
• Dec. 21, 1910: 13 firefighters and one police officer killed in a Philadelphia leather remnants factory.
• Oct. 16, 1966: 12 firefighters killed when a floor collapses at a New York City drug store.
• July 5, 1973: 12 firefighters killed at the Doxol Gas Co. in Kingman, Ariz.