VIDEO: Fifty years after the Gulf oil refinery fire killed eight firefighters in South Philadelphia, a solemn ceremony was held at the city’s Fireman’s Hall Museum in Old City on Sunday to honor those that were lost. The oil refinery fire that erupted on Aug. 17, 1975, took more than 24 hours to be put out and set off 11 alarms. “It was bad. It turned very, very bad very, very fast,” said Retired Capt. John Higgins of the Philadelphia Fire Department. “These brave men gave themselves for their fellow firefighters and the residents of Philadelphia.” More than 600 firefighters in all worked to put out the flames, with eight of them dying and even more of them getting injured. Families of the eight firefighters who died were at the event, including Jeannie McIntyre Green, whose father Hughy lost his life in the flames. Hughy was a firefighter for 22 years who was set to retire the week of the fire.
