Today in Fire

Something I noticed with our newest firefighters is that they don't have the knowledge of historical fires. They know the big ones — September 11th, Black Sunday, Yarnell Hill, Station Nightclub. But when asked about fires that aren't as mainstream, the knowledge wanes. Fires like Vandalia Ave in New York, the Back Bay Fire in Boston, or the Sofa Super Store fire in Charleston. Important fires. Important lessons.

I've written about the importance of reading to understand our profession — but I realized I could do more than just say "go read." I wanted a place to go that would tell me: what happened today in fire history? What incidents shaped the tactics we use? What lives were lost that we should still be honoring? And how can I help other firefighters access this knowledge quickly and easily?

That's why I built Today in Fire.

Today in Fire is a free, searchable archive of fire history — major incidents, line-of-duty deaths, and the lessons that came from them. You can browse by today's date, search by city, date, or incident name, and bookmark entries to revisit. It's designed to be fast, simple, and useful — something you can pull up at the station or share with your crew.

The archive is a growing collection, not a definitive record. If you know of an incident that belongs here, a lesson that's missing, or a source that should be linked — please reach out. This is a community resource and it gets better when people who care about this history contribute to it.

I think we owe it to the people who came before us — and to the ones coming up behind us — to keep that memory alive.