BOSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT
Commissioner Martin E. Pierce Jr.
Personnel: 1,575 career firefighters
Apparatus: 33 engine companies, 21 ladder companies, two heavy rescues, one tower company, two fireboats, three brushfire units, one safety operational unit
Population: 574,283
Area: 48.4 square miles
Photo by Jon Hill, staff/Boston Herald A Boston police officer at the incident moments after the explosion occurred. Heavy fire is taking possession of the structure before any water is applied.
The City of Boston is very diverse in its culture, its ethnic neighborhoods and its many types of structural architecture. Built within many of Boston's neighborhoods is a type of apartment building known as a "3-decker." This type of building is of wood-frame construction, three stories, or about 40 feet, in height, generally 30 by 60 feet front to rear, and normally contains three or more apartments. A duplex 3-decker is correspondingly larger in total area. Thousands of these buildings were constructed in the early 1900s.
These dwellings were built very well and are considered strong structures not prone to sudden collapse. Many of the cooking stoves in the apartments of these buildings are fueled by natural gas under pressure. This gas is distributed by a network of thousands of miles of decades-old cast-iron piping buried under the old streets of Boston.
On occasion, one of these pipes can leak natural gas. How much gas is leaking, and where it is leaking, will determine the outcome. Such a cause-and-effect scenario occurred on Aug. 26, 1998, with devastating results.
Engine Company 52 and Ladder Company 29 are stationed on Blue Hill Avenue in the Dorchester/Franklin Field section of Boston. The fire alarm box on the front wall of the station is box 36. This station is located in a neighborhood where there are hundreds of wood 3-deckers that are occupied.
Explosion Near Quarters
It was very warm and sunny on that Wednesday morning just after 11 o'clock. Engine Company 52, under the command of Lieutenant Claus Guttenberg, had been dispatched to investigate the report of a baby in a dumpster in Franklin Field near a public school building. This call proved to be false.
As Guttenberg and his crew were investigating the dumpster, they heard a loud explosion coming from the direction of their station. They walked back to the engine and heard Boston fire alarm dispatch a box alarm assignment for an explosion on Floyd Street. The explosion was actually at 8 Ashton St., near Floyd Street, only a few blocks from their quarters.
Ladder Company 29, commanded by Lieutenant Richard Powers, had been in quarters when members heard what sounded like "sonic booms" coming from the direction of Floyd and Calendar streets. A few minutes later, they were dispatched to a level zero hazmat incident away from the direction of the sonic boom sound. As Ladder 29 pulled out onto the apron of the station, Powers saw a column of smoke coming from the direction of Floyd Street. At that time, box 36 was transmitted for the explosion and Ladder 29 was reassigned to that box.
Photo by Jon Hill, staff/Boston Herald Construction workers who were nearby found a ladder and helped rescue occupants still in the building after the explosion occurred.
Upon the arrival of Ladder 29, Powers and his crew observed a scene of destruction, heavy fire and smoke showing from the fire building, injured people and a large, chaotic crowd yelling that a child was trapped in the third-floor apartment. Boston Emergency Medical Service crews and Boston police were on the scene treating the injured residents. Powers quickly sized up the situation and ordered a "working fire" via radio to the Boston fire alarm office. An additional engine company, ladder company, the Division 2 on-duty deputy fire chief, the safety operational district fire chief and other support units were dispatched to the scene. Powers ordered Firefighter Edward Munroe to raise Ladder 29's 110-foot aerial ladder to the third-floor front window and directed Firefighter Michael McLean to ascend the ladder and perform a rapid primary search for the child that was reportedly trapped. McLean, the father of three children, later reported, "The walls and ceilings were partially collapsed. It was a very dangerous situation, and I was really scared."
As the search was going on, Powers was told that the child was not in the fire building and was safe. He then told Munroe to ascend the aerial ladder and tell McLean that the child was not in the building and to come out.
Engine Company 52 arrived on-scene and Guttenberg and his crew ran their attack line up the front outside stairs. Guttenberg made a rapid size-up of the dangerous conditions and withdrew his firefighters to a safer location on the street. Members of Engine Company 16, under the command of Lieutenant Thomas Gunn, ran their attack line to the north side of the fire building to protect two other wood-frame buildings that were being exposed by the fire.
Signs Of Danger
I arrived on-scene within five minutes after box 36 was transmitted, with my aide to the district fire chief, Firefighter Richard "Red" MacKinnon, and assumed command. I observed heavy fire and smoke conditions, a strong odor of natural gas, a crowd of dazed people, street construction, blast debris in the street and Ladder 29's aerial raised to a third-floor window of the remains of the large 3-decker apartment building.
A firefighter was at the tip of the aerial ladder and another firefighter was inside the building. The entire north and rear walls had been blown apart and were lying in adjacent yards. At least two cars were buried with this debris. All three floors of the building were wide open and I could see furniture and appliances in each apartment. The building's roof was sagging in the rear. Surrounding structures showed signs of blast damage. It was a surreal scene of devastation.
Photo by Jon Hill, staff/Boston Herald Lieutenant Thomas Gunn of Engine Company 16 directs one of his crew.
My immediate thoughts were of life safety of the firefighters and others. I ordered, via radio to the fire alarm office, "All firefighters immediately evacuate the fire building and that no firefighters are to enter it! Have the safety operational chief establish a collapse zone around the fire building upon his arrival."
I ran over to Powers to determine whether any firefighters or residents were in the building. He said that a search was being conducted for a child, but the child was just found and OK. He told me that McLean had been searching for the child and was coming out of the building. I made sure Powers understood that everyone was ordered out of the fire building.
I radioed my aide, who was sent to the rear yard, to direct Engine Company 18 and Ladder Company 6 to the rear and protect exposures. I watched as the two firefighters from Ladder 29 descended their aerial ladder and reached the ground to safety.
It was then and without warning that the entire 3-decker collapsed with a roar in a cloud of dust and smoke! From the time I radioed the evacuation order and watched the two firefighters get off the aerial ladder, about one minute passed. We all stood there for a moment, transfixed at what had just occurred.
I thought of Red and the other firefighters in the rear yard. I radioed them several times with no response. Finally, Red answered me and said that he and the others were OK. I then made an accountability check with each officer to make certain that all firefighters were accounted for.
As other fire companies arrived, they were put to work running hoselines or checking adjacent buildings for occupants to be evacuated. The possibility of a second explosion was on my mind. The incident was far from over.
Change Of Command
Division 2/Deputy Fire Chief Andrew O'Halloran arrived on-scene and assumed command. I then became the operations chief and gave a report of conditions to O'Halloran, informing him that all firefighters were accounted for, where lines were placed and operating, and where Boston EMS units were staged. EMS personnel were triaging and treating the 15 civilians who were injured when the explosion occurred.
Photo by Jon Hill, staff/Boston Herald First water is applied to heavy fire minutes before the evacuation order is given to firefighters and the 3-decker collapsed. All firefighters withdrew safely.
What was once a large, fully occupied wooden apartment building had been reduced to a large pile of burning debris. The roof, covered with a thick rubber membrane, sat atop this pile of debris and acted like a cover on a pot. The fire was now inaccessible and continued burning freely despite the use of two ladder pipes, two deck guns and six handlines.
Heavy fire and smoke conditions continued despite firefighting efforts. It was suggested that Class A foam might be able to control and extinguish this now deep-seated fire. O'Halloran ordered one of Boston Fire's new brushfire units to the scene. The brushfire units are equipped with Class A foam systems. At least 50 gallons of Class A foam concentrate were expended in an unsuccessful attempt to extinguish the fire.
The firefighters had been working this fire for several hours in bunker turnouts with temperatures in the low 80s. The BFD's rehab unit had already been established and a Mass Bay Transportation Authority air- conditioned bus was ordered to the scene for cooling firefighters. Three additional engine companies were eventually dispatched to the incident to relieve first-alarm companies.
It was determined that a piece of heavy equipment would be required to dig out the stubborn fire. O'Halloran called the fire alarm office and ordered a large excavator to the incident. It was a couple of hours before the excavator arrived, but once the machine began pulling apart the burning pile of debris, the fire was quickly extinguished. As the debris was pulled apart, it was also inspected for any unaccounted-for persons.
Cause And Loss
At least a week before the explosion, a contractor had been digging in the street and installing new water mains close to the existing gas line. Reportedly, a resident next door to the apartment house that was destroyed had detected an odor of gas on the Wednesday prior to the explosion incident. The local gas company did respond and it was reported that it replaced a gas line running into that resident's house.
Photo by Mark Garfinkel, staff/Boston Herald This aerial view was taken from a helicopter about one hour into firefighting operations.
As of this writing, the exact cause of this explosion and fire is undetermined. The fuel that caused the explosion and subsequent fire has been determined to be natural gas.
The source of ignition of the natural gas has not been determined. The loss was set at $750,000. There were 15 civilian and three firefighter injuries. One of the civilian injuries was very serious and CPR was required to revive the victim.
Lessons Learned
- Life safety of firefighters, other emergency service personnel and civilians takes precedence over all other considerations.
- A system of accountability is critical. The incident commander and company officer must know where their people are throughout any incident.
- Training for building construction and building collapse potential is essential.
- Maintain clear communications.
- Evacuation order announced and establishing a collapse zone without delay is vital. Make certain that all personnel hear the evacuation order.
- After a collapse has occurred, obtain an accurate head count of all personnel.
- Provide medical care for injured personnel and others.
- Establish an operating procedure for responses to an odor of gas. Never trivialize this type of response. It can become a disaster should ignition occur.
- Always consider the possibility of another explosion. Evacuate surrounding buildings, tape off the street area and maintain crowd control.
Some Final Thoughts
Boston Fire Commissioner Martin E. Pierce Jr. stated, "If it were not for the good judgment of the chief (Winston), we could have lost some firefighters in there today." Those were kind words of praise and I appreciated them. How-ever, there is a lot to be said for the professionalism and good discernment of those experienced company officers and firefighters at this incident. They did an outstanding job.
This was an unusual incident that could have turned tragic for the members of the Boston Fire Department and their families. It is also my opinion that God is with us at critical times. When one takes into account the power of that explosion, the fact that no person was killed and that firefighters narrowly missed being caught in that collapse by just seconds, I would say there was a divine presence on Ashton Street that warm summer morning.
Robert M. Winston, a Firehouse® contributing editor, is a district fire chief in the Boston Fire Department. Questions and comments may be sent to him via e-mail at [email protected]
