Today in fire history: a fire in a 38-story-high-rise building kills three fire fighters

On Saturday, February 23, 1991, an early evening fire occurred at a 38-story high-rise building in downtown Philadelphia resulting in the death of three fire fighters, fire extension to nine floors, and severe structural damage to the building. During the 18 1/2-hr effort to control the blaze, fire fighting activities were hampered by the loss of electrical power (including emergency power) and inadequate fire attack hose stream pressure to suppress the fire. As a result, the fire was able to spread from the floor of origin, the 22nd floor, to the 29th floor. The vertical fire spread was completely stopped...