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1905 May 13 Salem Fire Department Established
1906 April 18 San Francisco earthquake and fire, 492 deaths.
1907 Gasoline-powered motors and pumps begin to appear in the fire service.
1907 Invention of first pumper with a single engine to do both driving and pumping.
1908 March 4 Lakeview Grammar School Fire in Collinwood, Ohio 175 children and one teacher are killed.
1908 April 12 Chelsea, Massachusetts fire burns 3,500 buildings and kills eighteen.
1909 Nov 13 Great Cherry Coal Mine Disaster, 259 Dead, Cherry, IL

1910 Salem Fire "Old Station Two" opens 110 East Broadway.
1910 Fire in the Nelson Morris Co. Chicago, Illinois. 21 firemen killed by falling wall.
1910 New York City fire, Grand Central terminal yard. Transport of hazardous materials is quickly becoming a great hazard.

1911 March 25 Fire at the Triangle Shirt Waist factory in New York City, Over 150 killed. This fire aroused the public and labor against sweat shops and child labor.  New York City created Committee on Safety which led directly to Safety to Life Committee of National Fire Protection Association (the NFPA).

1912 Equitable Building fire in New York City (4Civilians and 2 Fire Fighters Die).
1912 Titanic sinks 1,513 lives are lost.

1913 Hot Springs, Arkansas, Fire destroys 518 buildings in Binghamton Clothing Factory fire results in new standard for building exits (35 deaths).
1913 Single-driving and pumping engine developed to efficiency.
1913 Life Safety Code® is established.

1914 June 25 Salem, Massachusetts 1,600 buildings are destroyed when fire sweeps through
1914 Panama Canal opened.
1914 World War I begins.

1915 Telephone service from New York to San Francisco is initiated.
1915 The S.S. Lusitania is sunk.

1916 March 21 Fire burns 1440 buildings, nearly the entire town of Paris, Texas.
1916 March 22 Fire in Nashville, Tennessee burns 648 buildings, mostly dwellings.
1916 March 22 682 buildings burn in downtown Augusta, Georgia.
1916 July 30 "Black Tom Pier" fire and explosion in New Jersey.

1917 Ammunition storage explosion kills 1,500 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
1917 Eddystone Ammunition Corporation explosion, Eddystone, Pensylvania (133 deaths).
1917 April 6 United States enters World War I.
1917 May 21 Simultaneous fires destroy 1,938 buildings in Atlanta, Ga.

1918 International Association of Firefighters Union organized.
1918 October forest fires in Minnesota destroying fifteen townships and killing 559.
1918 November 11 Armistice is signed, World War I ends

1919 January 15 Boston, Massachusetts. The Great Molasses Flood (21 Deaths and 150 Injured).
1919 Two-platoon system begins in New York City. Many cities had already adopted shorter hours for firemen, others were to follow soon.

1920 Prohibition in effect.
1920 September 16 Wall Street explosion; 40 killed.

1921 California passed a law forbidding wooden shingles on roofs but pressure from the roofing industry brought a repeal.

1922 President Harding issued first Fire Prevention Week proclamation.
1922 Standards for Municipal Fire Alarm systems are adopted.
1922 December 8 fire destroys 30 blocks in the center of Astoria, Oregon during a rainstorm.
1922 December 20 Last horse-drawn engine in New York City is retired.

1923 Cleveland School Fire in Beulah, SC (77 deaths).
1923 Tokyo and Yokohama earthquake and conflagration, Japan (91,344 deaths).
1923 United States Chamber of Commerce sponsors National Fire Waste Council with contest for fire prevention in cities by local chamber of commerce. Fire prevention education in schools required by thirteen states.
1923 September 17 Brush fire roars through Berkeley, California and destroys 640 buildings.

1927 First sound movies.
1927 Lindbergh flies from New York to Paris.
1927 Annual Fire Prevention Week inaugurated.

1928 Fire in Fall River, MA burns 107 factories and business blocks.

1929 May 15 Cleveland Clinic Fire, 125 people are killed when X-ray films burn and give off poisonous fumes. As a result of this fire, in laws require the use of "safety film.”
1929 Stock Market Crash. The great depression had devastating effects on fire department budgets resulting in losses of manpower and stations. Arson fires increased.

1930 Ohio State Penitentiary fire, Columbus, OH (320 deaths).
1930-1933  Comprehensive fire loss study estimates that most fire deaths involving the very old and the very young occur in ordinary dwellings.

1934 S.S. Morro Castle caught fire off the New Jersey coast, 134 killed.
1934 Conflagration in Hakodate, Japan destroys one-half of the city and takes 2,018 lives.
1934 Woolworth building fire in Aurora, IL. Three firefighters are killed and six others were injured when a wall collapsed.

1937 May 19 Chicago Stockyards Fire.
1937 Fire destroys 20 blocks in center of Nome, Alaska on September 17.1937
1937 Consolidated School fire in New London, TX gas explosion (294 deaths). This fire focused attention on the need to safeguard buildings not subject to municipal ordinances.
1937 German Zeppelin Hindenburg burned as a result of an engine spark igniting flammable hydrogen (36 deaths).

1939 World War II begins. Incendiary bombs dropped on European cities.

1941 March 10 Brockton, Massachusetts Strand Theatre Fire resulted in the deaths of 13 Fire Fighters
1941 December 7 Bombing of Pearl Harbor resulted in loss of 2,383 lives and 19 American ships. Other losses - $25 million damage to aircraft, $25 million damage to buildings, supplies and ammunitions, 88 ships damaged and 960 persons missing. Pearl Harbor experience led to fire training program of the US Navy. Japanese and European cities continue to be destroyed by war conflagrations.

1942 November 28 Coconut Grove Night Club fire, Boston, MA (492 deaths). This fire showed the need for practical improvements. UL stepped up research on combustibles in public places.

1943 "Rain of Terror," in Hamburg, Germany. Fire storms killed 60,000 to 100,000 people.

1944 July 6 The Ringling Bros.and Barnum & Bailey circus tent catches fire in Hartford, Connecticut (167 killed nearly 500 are injured).
1944 Gas explosion and fire at the East Ohio Gas Co.in Cleveland, Ohio (130 deaths).
1944 Munitions Depot explosion in Port Chicago, California (300 deaths).

1945 Dresden, Germany, explosive incendiary bomb raid ( 300,000 deaths).
1945 Eastern Air Lines DC-3 near Florence, S.C., fire in flight (22 deaths).
1945 Empire State Building struck by aircraft (14 deaths).
1945 Germany surrenders. Japan surrenders after atom bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (over 220,000 dead).

1946  June 5 Sixty-one die in a fire at the LaSalle Hotel fire, Chicago, Illinois.
1946 December 7 Winecoff Hotel fire in Atlanta, Georgia (119 deaths).

1947 The Morkoy, petroleum tanker fire in Los Angeles, CA. Fireboats used to fight miles of waterfront fire.
1947 April 16 Ammonium nitrate being loaded on the S.S. Grandcamp explodes in Texas City, Texas. More than 600 are killed, including entire membership of volunteer fire department.
1947 Centralia Coal Co., Centralia, IL dust explosion (111 deaths).
1947 October 23 Forest fires burn in Maine, 1,200 buildings burn and 16 die.

1948 The New England Hurricane damages exceeded $306 million and 600 people killed.
1948 DC-4 accident at Chicago Municipal Airport (12 deaths). This fire recognized the need for specialized aircraft rescue and fire fighting vehicles for airports.
1948 The US Postal Service issues a three-cent stamp honoring volunteer firemen

1951 Sparky the Fire Dog created as a symbol of fire prevention for children.

1953 June 9 The Worcester Tornado, the deadliest New England twister on record traveled 46 miles through Central Massachusetts, killing 94 people (60 in Worcester alone).

1954 Cleveland Hill School fire, Cheektowaga. New York (15 deaths).
1954 Oil refinery fire in Whiting, Indiana resulted in $16 million loss, explosion and boilover.
1954 Junior Fire Department in Los Angeles, CA organized.

1958 Our Lady of Angels School, Chicago. IL, rubbish fire spread through open stairway (95 deaths).

1964 Salem Fire Station 1 opens 152 Main Street

1965 Multiple fires resulting from Watts riots in Los Angeles, California. After 34 lives were lost, special gear was used to protect fire fighters as a defense.

1967 McCormick Place fire, Chicago, Illinois
1967 Apollo Space Capsule fire, Cape Kennedy, Florida, 3 astronauts died.
1967 A fire resistive fabric, Nomex,® came into existence.
1967 Forrestal aircraft carrier fire off coast of Vietnam (131 deaths).

1972 Burst dam flood, 238 Dead, Rapid City, SD

1974 Salem Fire Station 3 opens at 170 Lawrence Road

1975  727 plane crash and fire in New York. Spilled fuel ignited after crash (113 deaths).

1976 Social Club fire, Bronx, New York (25 deaths)
1976 Nursing home fire in Chicago, Illinois (24 deaths)

1977 Fire at the "Beverly Hills Supper Club" in Southgate, KY results in 165 deaths.

1979 Chicago, IL, American Airlines Flight 191, 271 Dead,

1980 Las Vegas, Nevada, MGM Hotel fire(85 deaths)
1980 Harrison, New York, Stouffer's Inn hotel fire(26 deaths).

1981 January 14, Kansas City, Missouri, Hyatt-Regency Hotel walkway falls, killing 114,

1983 Salem, NH, Salem Fire Department received its Certificate of Affiliation from the IAFF as the "Brotherhood of Salem Fire Fighters Local 2892."

1994 Nov 8, Aliquippa, Pennsylvania USAir Flight 427 Boeing 737-3B7, 232 Dead, 1995 April 19, Oklahoma City Bombing, 169 Dead.

1996 May 11, Everglades, FL, ValuJet DC-9 Flight 592, 109 Dead,
1996 July 17, East Moriches, New York, Boeing 747-131TWA Flight 800, 230 Dead,

1999 October 31, 60Miles South of Nantucket, MA, Boeing 767, Egypt Airlines Flight 990, 217 Dead,
1999 December 3, Worcester Massachusetts, Worcester Cold Storage 6 Fire Fighters Died.

2001 September 11, Terrorist attack the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington DC and Flight 93

2001 Nov 12. American Airlines Flight 587 Airbus A300B4-605R, 260 Dead, Belle Harbor, New York.

2003 February 20 The Station Nightclub Fire in West Warwick, R.I. (100 die).

2005 December 17 Salem Fire Station Two Opens at 279 North Broadway

2007 June 18 Charleston, S.C. 9 Firefighters died in sofa warehouse fire