Buffalo Box 191 North Division & Grosvenor Streets; December 27, 1983

Buffalo Box 191 North Division & Grosvenor Streets; December 27, 1983

Buffalo Box 191

As Buffalo (NY) firefighters arrived at the scene of a reported propane leak in a three-story radiator warehouse (Type III Ordinary and Type IV Heavy Timber construction), a massive explosion occurred, killing five firefighters instantly and injuring nine others, three of them critically.

The force of the blast blew BFD Ladder 5′s tiller aerial 35 feet across the street into the front yard of a dwelling. BFD Engine 1′s pumper was also blown across the street with the captain and driver pinned in the cab with burning debris all around them. Engine 32′s engine was blown up against a warehouse across a side street and covered with rubble.

Previously posted on Thecompanyofficer.com HERE

• Remember to think about occupancy risk and not occupancy type and the factors related to the occupancy usage and the nature of the call. Nothing is ever routine.
• WKBW.com Cached video clip, HERE
• Buffalo, NY Propane Gas Explosion, Dec 1983, HERE
• Propane blast death affects son of fireman, HERE and HERE
• PROPANE EXPLOSION 25th  ANNIVERSARY IN BUFFALO,NEW YORK, HERE
• New York Times, HERE and HERE
• Rememberance, HERE and History Repeating Events, HERE
• Insights from Mike Lombardo, HERE
• http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/buffalo/Firefighters-remember-North-Division-Street-explosion