Video: Philly FFs Killed in '75 11-Alarm Refinery Blaze Honored
Volunteers from a nonprofit group remembered the sacrifice of eight Philadelphia firefighters who died while battling a massive oil refinery blaze 45 years ago.
Member of the Second Alarmers Association, an organization that provides rest and rehab for Philadelphia fire crews, placed flowers Monday on plaques in front of the city's Fireman's Hall Museum honoring the firefighters who lost their lives in the 11-alarm blaze decades ago, KYW-TV reports. The Aug. 17, 1975, incident at the Gulf Oil refinery along the Schuylkill River in south Philadelphia involved an enormous firestorm and multiple explosions, and it took crews nearly 24 hours to get the fire under control.
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The blaze injured 14 firefighters and damaged four Philadelphia Fire Department apparatus. A sudden flare-up during the call killed six firefighters and severely burned two others, who died days later.
The eight firefighters who lost their lives were:
- John Andrews, 49
- Carroll Brenek, 33 (died a week after the incident)
- Ralph Campana, 41
- Robert Fisher, 43
- Hugh McIntyre, 53
- Roger Parker, 28
- James Pouliot, 35 (died nearly two weeks after the incident)
- Joseph Wiley, 33
Two years after the fire, the city cited Gulf Oil Corp. for more than 100 violations and fined the company $37,000. In 2007, International Association of Fire Fighters President Harold Shaitberger unveiled plaques honoring the late firefighters during an event that attracted about 200 people.
