Ebenezer Church Fire, Pittsburgh, PA (2004)

Ebenezer Church Fire, Pittsburgh, PA (2004)

March 13, 2004, two career firefighters with the City of Pittsburg (PA) Fire Bureau were fatally injured during a structural collapse of a bell tower at the Ebenezer Baptist Church fire. Battalion Chief Charles G. Brace (55 years of age) was acting as the Incident Safety Officer and Master Firefighter Richard A. Stefanakis (51 years of age) was performing overhaul, extinguishing remaining hot spots inside the church vestibule when the bell tower collapsed on them and numerous other fire fighters. Twenty-three fire fighters injured during the collapse were transported to area hospitals. A backdraft occurred earlier in the incident that injured an additional six fire fighters. The collapse victims were extricated from the church vestibule several hours after the collapse. The victims were pronounced dead at the scene. A total of twenty-nine other fire fighters were injured during the incident. http://www.thecompanyofficer.com/2010/03/16/learning-from-the-past-five-alarm-church-fire-and-collapse-leads-to-two-line-of-duty-deaths-lodd-and-twenty-nine-fire-fighter-injuries-three-hours-into-the-incident/#sthash.IyCibqJF.dpuf http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/reports/face200417.html