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Louis Mambretti

Lieutenant

On March 9, Lieutenant Joseph Mambretti of the San Francisco Fire Department died of severe respiratory burns he received after becoming trapped in the garage of a house that was on fire. Lieutenant Mambretti, the officer on the first arriving engine, had led his crew with the first attack line into the garage when the electrically controlled garage door closed behind them. The fire spread quickly due to 50 mile-per-hour winds, creating heavy fire conditions in the garage and injuring the three firefighters before other crews could breach garage door with axes and saws to pull them out.
photo of the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial
Louis Mambretti was honored on the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial in Emmitsburg, Maryland and was included in the USFA’s annual report Firefighter Fatalities in the United States.

Department information

San Francisco Fire Department
80 Digby Street
San Francisco, California 94102

Chief: Joseph Medina

Age: 57
Rank: Lieutenant
Classification: Career
Incident date: March 9, 1995 02:10
Date of death: March 9, 1995
Cause of fatal injury: Caught or Trapped
Nature of fatal injury: Asphyxiation
Activity type: Forcible Entry
Emergency duty: Yes
Duty type: On-Scene Fire
Fixed property use: Residential

Last updated: January 10, 2018