CC SA-BY-NC Our OaklandOver the years, the Oakland Fire Department has had a number of Line of Duty Deaths. It is worth noting that firefighting is hazardous but not always immediately fatal. Lives of some firefighters have been shortened by smoke, chemicals and injuries. There were doubtless deaths earlier than 1898, but as of yet, no documentation has been found.
The source of information for most of these entries is OFD Battalion Chief Geoff Hunter, author of Oakland Fire Department, and from the California Firefighters Memorial.
Note: "extraman" was basically a volunteer firefighter paid a nominal salary to respond to alarms with his assigned company, as a stopgap for professional departments that weren't quite big enough. In 1911, the police and fire commissioners re-organized the downtown Oakland Fire Department stations into a fully paid force.
In Memoriam
Year | Rank | Name | Company | Incident | Notes |
1898 | Firefighter | Austin Bailey | 6th Street fire | Brave Fireman's Death SF Call 1898 | |
1899 | Extraman | William Moran | Engine No. 6 | Fall in firehouse | Death of Fireman Moran SF Call 1899 (fall was late 1898) |
1901 | Foreman | John G. Rutherford | Engine No. 5 | Smoke inhalation | Births-Marriages-Deaths SF Call 1901 |
1901 | Driver | William C. Ennis | Structure fire | Brave Fireman's Widow Receives a Pension SF Call 1901 | |
1903 | Extraman | John J. McCarthy | Engine No. 1 | Injuries during First Baptist Church fire | Devotion to Duty Results in Death SF Call 1903 (fire was 1902) |
1903 | Hoseman | Frank Parker | Engine No. 3 | Arcata Lodging House fire | Fireman Meets Death in Flames SF Call 1903 |
1907 | Firefighter | Edward Brandt | Engine No. 1 | Collins Brothers' Drug Store fire | Fire Fighting to be Made Less Perilous SF Call 1907 |
1908 | Extraman | Clinton Baccus | 6th St. | Fall in firehouse | Injured Fireman Dies SF Call 1908; brother of CM William Baccus |
1913 | Battalion Chief | Gardner "Sam" Morgan | Vehicle hit by train | Assistant Fire Chief is Hurt in Crash Oakland Tribune 1913. Died several months later of typhoid | |
1915 | Driver | Howard Roberston Doane | Vehicle accident | City Driver Charged With Recklessness Oakland Tribune October 28, 1915 | |
1917 | Extraman | Patrick Barry | Struck by street car | ||
1919 | Firefighter | George W. Brown | Heart attack | Apoplectic Stroke Kills Fire Fighter Oakland Tribune November 10, 1919 | |
1920 | Firefighter | Ernest Walter Loeffler | Truck No. 4 | Ladder collapse during Zinkand Restaurant fire | Firemen Are Injured; Fire Loss Heavy Oakland Tribune 1920 |
1923 | Chief's Operator | Francis G. Bell | Auto collision while responding | Colbourn Raps Citizen Causing Fireman's Death Oakland Tribune 1923 | |
1923 | Firefighter | Stanley Nicolaison | Vehicle accident | this refers to Bruce Nicolaisen, driver Truck No. 2 | |
1924 | Firefighter | Elvert Storm | Engine No. 18 | Vehicle struck by train | Auto Accidents in Bay Region Oakland Tribune February 4, 1924 |
1924 | Driver | Raymond Franks | Truck No. 1 | Collision with PG&E truck | Berkeleyan Blamed for Fatal Accident Berkeley Daily Gazette July 21, 1924 |
1924 | Chief's Operator | George Grazier | Vehicle accident |
Non-stop Drivers Face Jail Terms Oakland Tribune October 13, 1924 William Lutkey was injured in the crash. |
|
1925 | Hoseman | Thomas Francis Heelan | Engine No. 1 | Fire engine struck by SP train | City to Sue S.P. in Train Crash Death Oakland Tribune October 16, 1925 |
1932 | Hoseman | N. V. De Soto | Vehicle accident | ||
1933 | Battalion Chief | Max Dohrmann | Ongoing injuries | Max Dohrmann, Battalion Fire Chief, Dies, 53 Oakland Tribune 1933 | |
1935 | Engineer | Clarence E. Whitmore | Heart attack | Fireman's Widow Wins Suit Against City For Pension Oakland Tribune October 16, 1936 | |
1938 | Firefighter | Edward F. Bohan | Fell from fire engine | Fireman's Fall Off Truck Proves Fatal Oakland Tribune 1938 | |
1940 | Hoseman | Dewey E. Records | Chemical No. 1 | Gross Brothers' Furniture fire | $85,000 Blaze Kills Fireman, Sweeps Downtown Store Oakland Tribune 1940 |
1943 | Lieutenant | William P. Cerini | Truck No. 4 | Heart attack during structure fire | Blaze Fatal To Fireman Berkeley Daily Gazette 1943 |
1943 | Hoseman | William Porteus Chapman | Heart attack | ||
1943 | Hoseman | Noah McGaha | McGaha Oakland Tribune December 12, 1943 | ||
1944 | Chief's Operator | Joseph A. Wilson | Heart attack | Fireman Wilson, 63, Dies While on Duty Oakland Tribune June 7, 1944 | |
1946 | Captain | Joseph Pimentel | Engine No. 24 | Fire engine struck tree | Crash Kills Fire Captain Oakland Tribune 1946 |
1947 | Hoseman | Louis Cetraro | Engine No. 3 | Roof collapse |
Fireman Dies, Six Hurt in Midnite Fire Oakland Tribune 1947 photos Oakland Tribune 1947 |
1957 | Lieutenant | Ralph W. Waalkes | Engine No. 32 | Electrocuted | Shock From Live Wire Kills Fireman Oakland Tribune 1957 |
1959 | Carl John Vinther, Jr. | Heart attack | Carl J. Vinther, Jr. Oakland Tribune May 3, 1959 | ||
1959 | Engineer | Leo B. Centini | Heart attack while fighting fire | Heart Attack Kills Fireman At Blaze Oakland Tribune November 9, 1959 | |
1964 | James E. Christian | Heart attack | |||
1967 | Harry N. Morse | Heart attack | |||
1968 | Lieutenant | John T. Carlyon | Engine No. 31 | Brush fire at Mills College | 1968 Mills College Fire. Died several weeks later |
1968 | Hoseman | Floyd J. DeMarco | Engine No. 31 | Brush fire at Mills College | " " |
1968 | Hoseman | Terry M. Silveria | Engine No. 31 | Brush fire at Mills College | " " |
1970 | Camilius E. Williams | Heart attack | |||
1971 | Lieutenant | Michael J. Wright | Heart attack | Michael J. Wright Oakland Tribune November 16, 1971 | |
1979 | Lieutenant | William Elliott | Truck No. 1 | BART Trans-Bay Tube fire | William Elliott Oakland Tribune January 18, 1979 |
1985 | Alvin M. Brown | Heart attack | |||
1990 | Firefighter | Lance Jorgen Petersen | Engine No. 4 | Fell from fire engine | |
1991 | Battalion Chief | James M. Riley | Battalion No. 4 | Struck by falling power pole | During Oakland Firestorm. Plaque at Station 24 |
1997 | Lieutenant | Richard A. Sanders | Heart attack | ||
1999 | Firefighter | Tracy Dolan Toomey | Engine No. 12 | Building collapse | Plaque at Station 6 |
2007 | Lieutenant | Kevin Charles Reed | Station No. 8 | Cardiac arrest following structure fire | Firefighters mourn deaths of 2 comrades SFGate.com 2007 |
2010 | Assistant Chief | Neil Rodney Honeycutt | Cancer |