1928

To this day, no one is sure exactly what ignited the fire and explosion that triggered a catastrophic chain of events that left one man dead, twenty-eight injured, three ships burned and the pumper of Engine 12 destroyed.

Shortly after midnight on July 27, 1928, the oil barge Cahill, which had just been loaded with 5,000 barrels of crude oil, suddenly exploded....shattering the quiet of a summer night and lighting the skies above the Buffalo River.

Water was poured on the blaze until a foam generator could be obtained but the efforts of the Buffalo Fire Dept. to control the fire were in vain. The decision was made to let the boat burn out to the water's edge.

The Cahill had been secured with cables but, at around 11:00 a.m., they either burned through or just gave way, allowing the burning barge to begin to drift. As the crew of the fireboat, W. S. Grattan, valiantly attempted to attach a line to the tanker, she drifted....first into the docks of an oil company and then traveled further on, hitting the oil tanker McColl and the fireboat.

The McColl's tanks were empty but a severe explosion occurred when the remaining fumes were ignited. This second explosion engulfed the Grattan with fire and showered her crew with hot, burning oil. In imminent danger of losing their lives, the Grattan's crew was forced to jump into the Buffalo River and swim through the flames to safety. Marine Engineer Thomas J. Lynch lost his life that night.

As the untended boilers of the Grattan ran dry, they, too, blew up - causing the Grattan to burn to the hull. At the age of 28, she had lost her fight with two blazing tankers.

Despite what would seem to be an insurmountable setback, she was not gone though. Like the mythical phoenix, the W. S. Grattan rose from the ashes - stronger and more capable than ever before - and has since served another 75 years.