BOSTON FD MEMORIAL SERVICE LT STEVE MINEHAN L 15 LODD RESCUE EFFORT TO LOCATE 2 TRAPPED BFD FF'S 6/24/1994

[mack]

Commissioner Dempsey & Companies came to Honor Lt.Stephen Minehan of Ladder15 with a moment of silence. 28 years ago June 24th 1994 he made the ultimate sacrifice trying to rescue 2 trapped Firefighter’s. May he Rest In Peace.


Fire Lieutenant Steven F. Minehan, age 44, Ladder Company 15 On June 24, 1994, Lt. Minehan died in a very large warehouse while searching for trapped firefighters. He became lost and ran out of air at 44 Charles River Ave., Charlestown. 9 alarms were transmitted from Box 4113, (City Square near Main Street). He probably died from inhalation of smoke and gases as his face piece was off when he was found. Fire Lieutenant Minehan had 20 years of service.

 

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UPI ARCHIVES

JUNE 24, 1994

Boston fire Lt. dies saving others​

BOSTON, June 24 -- A Boston fire lieutenant died Friday while saving colleagues trapped and disoriented in a smoky, nine-alarm warehouse fire on the Boston waterfront, which authorities said may have been set.

Lt. Stephen Minehan, a father of four, apparently became lost in the sprawling, vacant Rapids Furniture warehouse that went up in flames on a pier in the city's historic Charlestown section.

Fire Commissioner Martin Pierce said when all firefighters were ordered out of the burning building because the roof was about to collapse, Minehan returned to help get out several of his men who apparently were disoriented in the smoke and flames.

The trapped firefighters were found and rescued, but Minehan died in the effort.

'We believe he might have got lost in the heavy smoke and fire conditions and perished in that way,' Pierce said. 'He died doing what he loved to do.'

Minehan's body was removed from the smoldering ruins more than seven hours after the fire started just after midnight.

Six other firefighters were injured, two critically. The two most seriously injured were flown by Coast Guard helicopter to a special oxygen chamber at the Norwalk (Conn.) Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.

The others were treated at Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston City Hospital and released.

Some 200 firefighters battled the blaze as heavy smoke choked parts of the city, closing roads and causing traffic jams on the central traffic artery and the Mystic-Tobin Bridge that carries traffic in and out of the city to the north.

The cause of the fire was not immediately determined, but officials said a burning boat was spotted beneath the piershortly before the flames broke out so they were investigating the possibility of arson.

Boston fire Lt. dies saving others - UPI Archives

A Boston fire lieutenant died Friday while saving colleagues trapped and disoriented in a smoky, nine-alarm warehouse fire on the Boston waterfront, which...

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[mack]

Boston fire Lt. Steven Minehan died 25 years ago today.​

by markadminPOSTED: MONDAY, 6/24/2019
On June 24, 1994 Boston fire Lieutenant Steven F. Minehan, of Boylston street’s Ladder 15, died in a 9-alarm fire in Charlestown after he became trapped in a large warehouse while searching for other firefighters who had become trapped. I had been a staff photographer at the Boston Herald for almost 15 months that night when the police/fire radio scanners broke the silence of what had been a quiet evening on my 5pm-1am shift. John Landers Jr., then Herald night desk photo editor, and I heard the initial call for help from Minehan as John dispatched me to the scene. Below are my photos from that night and from Lt. Minehan’s funeral. Over the years I have been lucky to be able to call Lt. Minehan’s wife Kathy a friend. She is a very kind and considerate soul. RIP Lt. Minehan. My photos from that night are seen below. The photo of Lt. Minehan, at very bottom of page, is courtesy of Bill Noonan.






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