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Family, friends reveal untold stories after deadly fire

Original post made on May 2, 2017

Saturday marked the 20th anniversary of one of the deadliest residential structure fires in the United States, and certainly the most devastating in East Palo Alto, according to Menlo Park Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman.

Read the full story here Web Link posted Monday, May 1, 2017, 10:38 PM

Comments (4)

Posted by Kathy Eshoo
a resident of another community
on May 2, 2017 at 9:04 am

I was one of the Menlo Park Police officers that responded that day. I have never forgotten this senseless tragedy.


Posted by SteveC
a resident of Menlo Park: Downtown
on May 2, 2017 at 12:27 pm

SteveC is a registered user.

The are some cases that fire and police personnel will never forget. This is just one of them, I am sure.


Posted by Peter Carpenter
a resident of Atherton: Lindenwood
on May 2, 2017 at 1:55 pm

Peter Carpenter is a registered user.

"The early morning blaze took the lives of nine family members, including five children, and it resulted in changes in state fire-safety laws."

And it was the MPFPD which lead the campaign for those new State laws - just as it did after the Beechwood School fire when MPFPD lead the campaign for a State law requiring fire alarms in schools.


Posted by Neighbor
a resident of Menlo Park: Central Menlo Park
on May 2, 2017 at 9:40 pm

I have lived in Menlo Park for 17 years and never knew about this tragedy. Thank you for sharing it. Thank you to the family for their courage in sharing their .healing process. Thank you to the MPFPD for its dedication to helping our community.

Fifteen years ago this department helped my family through a terrible tragedy, although not a fire. It's important to recognize the good work that people do and to appreciate this dedicationn


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