A launch pad fire during Apollo program tests at Cape Canaveral,
Florida, killed astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Edward H. White II,
and Roger B. Chaffee.

The astronauts, the first Americans to die in a spacecraft, had
been participating in a simulation of the Apollo 1 launch that 
was scheduled for the following month.

The Apollo 1 prime crewmembers intended for the first
manned Apollo space flight: (L to R) Edward H. White II,
Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, and Roger B. Chaffee.

 
With locked exits and boarded-up vents, the Iroquois Theater was a perfect death trap.

A fire in the Iroquois Theater in Chicago, Illinois, killed more than
600 people on December 30, 1903. It was the deadliest theater fire
in U.S. history. Blocked fire exits and the lack of a fire-safety plan
caused most of the deaths.

Shocking 1903 illustration of the infamous Chicago Iroquois Theater Fire. Originally published in France.

The Oriental Theater, which retained the façade of the ill-
fated Iroquois Theater.

A police photo of ‘Lucy’.

ARLINGTON, Wash. — A family dog in Arlington alerted her
owners to a nearby fire early Friday morning allowing them
to quickly call 911 for help.

Just after 3 a.m. Friday, North County Fire/EMS and Arlington
police officers were sent to a structure fire in the 17900 block
of 31st Drive NE. A detached shop next to a residence had
caught on fire, according to the Arlington Police Department. 

While the structure was burning, a neighboring dog named
‘Lucy’ barked, alerting her owners to the fire. They were able
to call the fire department and help their neighbors quickly
extinguish the fire, the APD said.

First responders arrived and helped put out the flames and
ensure it did not spread to anything else on the property. The
APD praised ‘Lucy’, the neighboring pup, for her help.

A photo of Arlington police officers with a hero.

A fire at Our Lady of Angels grade school in Chicago killed
87 children and three nuns on December 1, 1958; five more
children later died as a result of their injuries.

The Our Lady of Angels School was operated by the Sisters
of Charity in Chicago.

On October 8, 1871, flames spark in the Chicago barn of Patrick
and Catherine O’Leary, igniting a two-day blaze that killed
between 200 and 300 people, destroyed 17,450 buildings, left
100,000 homeless and caused an estimated $200 million
(in 1871 dollars; roughly $4 billion in 2021 dollars) in damages.

Legend has it that a cow kicked over a lantern in the O’Leary barn
and started the fire, but other theories hold that humans or even
a comet may have been responsible for the event that left four
square miles of the Windy City, including its business district, in
ruins. Dry weather and an abundance of wooden buildings, streets
and sidewalks made Chicago vulnerable to fire.