Go Fire

Here's a look at the past. Items have been culled from The Chronicle's archives of 25, 50, 75 and 100 years ago.

1983

Dec. 21: The San Francisco Fire Department launched a citywide effort Dec. 20 to test and remove all potentially incendiary Christmas trees in hotels, department store, offices and apartment buildings.

The unprecedented campaign, expected to take several days, is in response to Sunday's disastrous blaze at the Cathedral Hill Hotel that gained explosive force when a Christmas tree in a meeting room ignited, rapidly spreading flames through the hotel mezzanine and killing a man and a pregnant woman. Meanwhile, investigators continued their frustrating search for the cause of the fire, interviewing people with information that might relate to possible arson.

Fire Marshal Joseph Medina said authorities became convinced that a citywide drive was necessary after testing branches from three trees remaining in the hotel and finding that two of them burst into flames when touched with a match. Random tests of other trees in the city showed that about half were dangerously combustible. Medina said inspectors will flood the city, testing every tree on display in a public area. He conceded that the drive will not be popular during the week before Christmas. "You're never popular when you're a Scrooge," he said.

link

Associated Press 2:51 AM CDT, October 26, 2008

CHICAGO - Authorities in Chicago say an unidentified person has been rescued from Lake Michigan off the city's North Side.

Police News Affairs says a passenger on a cruise ship saw a person walking along the shore fall into the water about 1 a.m. Sunday and called 911.

A police marine unit and a Chicago Fire Department water rescue team responded to the call, and the firefighters who arrived at the scene first lowered a ladder from the lake wall to pull the victim to safety.