It's That Time of Year...

Don't have your story show up on This Date in Fire History. Change your clock, change your battery.

(Swiped from the Maine Fire Chiefs Association Facebook page. I hope they don't mind)

This Date in Fire History: Oct 17, 1966, The Wonder Drug Store Fire

I must have been brain-cramping like mad yesterday. I meant to post this, but forgot all about it.

Which is inexcusable.

Twelve firefighters died, twelve wives lost their husbands (and breadwinners), AND 32 CHILDREN LOST THEIR FATHERS.

And I forgot to post this.
____________________

From the New York Times, Oct 17, 2006:

It is Oct. 17, 1966, and Vinny Dunn, a 31-year-old lieutenant in the Fire Department, is sprinting east on 23rd Street to get his orders on working the rear of a burning building on East 22nd.

He reaches a chief who orders him and his engine company into an adjacent building. Then the chief turns and orders another young lieutenant, Joseph Priore, to have his company pull a hose line into the Wonder Drug store on 23rd Street, which backed up to the burning building. Lieutenant Priore and the men of Engine 18 disappear inside, never to be seen alive again. They were lost in a floor collapse, which killed 12 firefighters, including the commander who ordered the men in, Deputy Chief Thomas A. Reilly.

Among them, the dead men left 12 widows and 32 children. It took 14 hours to dig out the dead. Until Sept. 11, 2001, it was the heaviest loss of life in the Fire Department’s history. A lengthy inquiry showed that a cellar wall had been moved, leaving the drugstore’s five-inch-thick terrazzo floor unsupported and vulnerable to collapse.

This was yet another watershed moment for FDNY, in that it opened the city's eyes to the dangers of illegal building renovations (a cellar wall had been moved,  leading to the collapse of the building).

For once, we do not have the usual suspects to blame: overcrowding, flammable decorations, insufficient exits, etc. This time, it's just greed - moving a wall to increase storage space, without shoring up the ceiling.

Left to right, top to bottom:

 

LT John J Finley, L-7

LT Joseph Priore, E-18

DC Thomas A Reilly, 3rd Div

BC Walter J Higgins, 7th Batt

Fr Bernard A Tepper, E-18

Fr Daniel L Rey, E-18 (probationary)

Fr James V Galanaugh, E-18

Fr Joseph Kelly, E-18

Fr Carl Lee, L-7

Fr John G Berry, L-7

Fr William F McCarron, 3rd Div

Fr Rudolph F Kaminski, L-7

 

 

And, as always, the firefighters stood by their fallen:

 



10,000 firefighters -- ten thousand -- from across the country turned out for the funerals, including firefighters from Anchorage, Alaska, and San Francisco. There were 500 who came from Boston alone.

This Date in Fire History: Feb 20

Tomorrow marks the tenth anniversary of the tragic Station Nightclub fire in West Warwick, RI, which killed 100 and injured countless more.

I was going to do one of my usual "Fire History" pieces, looking at the causes, fatalities, injuries and ramifications of the fire.

Until, that is, I saw this piece at Rescuing Providence.

Captain Michael Morse did a much better job of bringing home the horror that is a major fire.

I'm sure Capt Morse won't find if I lift his list of victims, for we must keep them in our memories if we don't want them to have died in vain.

Rest In Peace:

Louis S. Alves
Kevin Anderson
Stacie Angers
Christopher Arruda
Eugene Avilez
Tina Ayer
Karla Bagtaz
Mary H. Baker
Thomas Barnett
Laureen Beauchaine
Steven Thomas Blom
William Christopher Bonardi
Kristine Carbone
Richard A. Cabral, Jr.
William Cartwright
Edward B. Corbet III
Michael Cordier
Alfred Crisostomi
Robert Croteau
Lisa D'Andrea
Matthew P. Darby
Dina Ann DeMaio
Albert Anthony DiBonaventura
Rachel DePietro (Florio)
Christina DiRienzo
Kevin J. Dunn
Lori K. Durante
Edward Ervanian
Thomas Fleming
Rachael K. Florio-DePietro
Mark A. Fontaine
Chief Petty Officer Daniel Frederickson
Michael Fresolo
James Gahan
Melvin Gerfin
Laura Gillet
Charline Elaine Gingras-Fick
Michael James Gonsalves
James Gooden
Derek Gray
Pamela Gruttadauria
Scott "Skott" Greene
Scott Griffith
Bonnie L. Hamelin
Jude Henault
Andrew Hoban
Abbie L. Hoisington
Michael Hoogasian
Sandy Hoogasian
Carlton "Bud" Howorth III
Eric James Hyer
Derek Brian Johnson
Lisa Kelly
Tracy F. King
Michael Joseph Kulz
Keith Lapierre
Dale Latulippe
Stephen M. Libera
John M. Longiaru
Ty Longley
Andrea Mancini
Keith A. Mancini
Steven Mancini
Judith Manzo
Thomas Marion, Jr.
Jeffery Martin
Tammy Mattera-Housa
Kristen McQuarrie
Thomas Medeiros
Samuel Miceli
Donna M. Mitchell
Leigh Ann Moreau
Ryan M. Morin
Jason Morton
Katherine O'Donnell
Nicholas O'Neill
Matthew James Pickett
Carlos L. Pimentel Sr.
Christopher Prouty
Jeffrey Rader
Teresa Rakoski
Robert L. Reisner III
Walter Rich
Donald Roderiques
Tracey Romanoff
Joseph Rossi
Bridget Sanetti
Rebecca "Becky" Shaw
Dennis Smith
Mitchell Shubert
Victor Stark
Benjamin Suffoletto
Linda Suffoletto
Shawn Sweet
Jason Sylvester
Sarah Jane Telgarsky
Kelly Viera
Kevin Washburn
Everett "Tommy" Woodmansee
Robert Daniel Young

Sincere condolences to the victims, survivors and families.

RIP: Richard Scheidt

Via FireGeezer, I learned today that Richard Scheidt died on Monday at the age of 81.

Who, you may ask, was Richard Scheidt?

We all know that "a picture is worth a thousand words." Some pictures, however, are worth much, much more. Some pictures capture the very essence of a scene far better than words ever could. The famous photo of the second jetliner hitting the World Trade Center is one of those pictures. So is the photo of the Oklahoma City firefighter carrying Baylee Almon from the rubble of the Murrah building.

Another is this photo of Richard Scheidt:

Scheidt was a Chicago fire fighter. On December 1, 1958, a fire occurred at Our Lady of Angels School, a Catholic school. The fire began about 2:42 PM, just 18 minutes before school would have been dismissed.

When the fire was out, 92 school children and three nuns were dead. Chicago American photographer Steve Lasker snapped this picture of Scheidt removing the body of ten-year-old John Jajkowski. Scheidt also pulled 19 other dead children from the building.

This picture became the icon for the entire tragedy, and was on the cover of Life magazine on December 15, 1958.

Scheidt retired from CFD as a captain, in 1986. Memories of the fire haunted him throughout his life.

Captain Scheidt leaves behind his wife, nine children, 28 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Schticks of One, Half a Dozen of the Other

The Cops Are Cheating…

According to AP…

A motorist who paid a speeding ticket he got from a state trooper who used out-of-state license plates on his unmarked patrol car wants his money back “What gives police the right to drive illegally on the highway?” said Dave Milbrandt, a company finance manager. “Do they have a special exemption?”

It appears Washington State Patrol Trooper Bradford A. Moon was driving an unmarked Dodge Charger with Oregon plates. Moon had removed the plates from a personal vehicle (presumably his, although the article didn’t specify it) after he moved to Washington from Oregon.

Now, when I was a cop, using license plates on a vehicle other than that for which they were issued was called “Misuse of Marker Plates.” In Connecticut, that was an arrest, rather than a ticket. Also, the plates were to be seized, and the car was to be towed. In addition, the car was considered to be (a) unregistered, and (b) uninsured. Operating an unregistered vehicle was a ticket, operating uninsured was another arrest offense. Generally, the penalties were fines: $250 for misuse of plates, $250 for operating uninsured, $50 for operating unregistered, and a one-year drivers license suspension, plus towing and storage charges. Oh, and you didn’t get your vehicle back until you showed up with valid plates, which meant paying the registration fee and buying insurance. Subsequent violations generally doubled all the fines.

So, if there were any justice in the world, the state of Washington would refund Milbrandt’s money, charge Moon with the appropriate violations, and fire his ass.


National Security Trumps All. Well, Almost All…

The telecommunications companies have justified their participation in NSA’s warrantless wiretapping on the basis of “national security.” And I’m willing to admit that national security is important, although not to the extent of sacrificing our liberties.

Unfortunately, a blogger at CSO Magazine found a little monkey wrench in the works:

Telephone companies have cut off FBI wiretaps used to eavesdrop on suspected criminals because of the bureau’s repeated failures to pay phone bills on time.

A few of the juicy details:

• A wiretap used in a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) investigation “was halted due to untimely payment,” the audit found. “We also found that late payments have resulted in telecommunications carriers actually disconnecting phone lines established to deliver surveillance results to the FBI, resulting in lost evidence.” [The blogger, Jeff Bardin, commented, “chain of custody and rules of evidence don’t mean squat if you can’t pay”]
• The ACLU also took a swipe at the telecommunications companies: “It seems the telecoms, who are claiming that they were just being ‘good patriots’ when they allowed the government to spy on us without warrants, are more than willing to pull the plug on national security investigations when the government falls behind in its bills,” and “To put it bluntly, it sounds as though the telecoms believe it when FBI says the warrant is in the mail but not when they say the check is in the mail.” [Bardin has another pointed comment: “We’ll violate laws as long as you pay for us to violate them.”]

Now remind me again why the telecoms are saying they should be granted retroactive immunity for engaging in national security investigations?


No More Good Hands in Florida…

This just in from Business Insurance Magazine:

Florida’s insurance commissioner said on Wednesday that he had suspended Allstate from writing auto insurance policies in the state because it had not complied with a subpoena to testify about its property insurance business.

State officials called off the hearing… when the company officials refused to answer questions and to provide specific documents.

We all know bush, Cheney and their sycophantic thugs are doing everything they can to turn the United States into a wholly-owned subsidiary of Corporate Thieves R Us, so I’m thrilled that Florida (now that Jebbie is gone, thank God) is telling Allstate to stuff their good hands.


Some Future Date in Fire History…

Via the Washington Post, we learn that the brand-spanking new Baghdad embassy is a fire trap:

The firefighting system in the massive $736 million embassy complex in Baghdad has potential safety problems that top U.S. officials dismissed in their rush to declare “mission accomplished”, err... construction largely completed….

“[No] one has ever inspected the electrical system, the power plant” and other parts of the embassy complex….

The Justice Department, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Halliburton, is investigating.

For all the good that will do…

The fire system was installed by First Kuwaiti General Trading & Contracting (probably a wholly-owned subsidiary of Halliburton). The pipes burst during a routine test. The State Department, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Halliburton, turned to “an outside consulting firm,” which although unidentified, is almost certainly a wholly-owned subsidiary of Halliburton.

The Justice Department “probe” is said to focus on James L. Golden, a contract employee (probably from Halliburton or one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries) and Mary M. French, the project coordinator based in Baghdad.

Once again, corporate profits come ahead of life safety.


Republicans: The Party of Honesty. Aw, BULLSH*T…

Those friggin’ Republicans – the ones who claimed to have restored “dignity” to the White House and the rest of the government – just cannot resist being sleazy and pulling sleazy tricks, no matter how unnecessary:

A mailer from a congressional candidate’s campaign contains a photo of his head attached to an image of a different body that makes him look thinner.

The photo is presented as a true image of Dean Hrbacek, a Republican former mayor of Sugar Land.

Campaign manager Scott Broschart acknowledged to The Houston Chronicle that the
image is a fake.

Is there anything about which a Republican would be truthful?

To borrow Great Orange Satanist Bill in Portland, Maine’s one-word answer…

NO.

This Date in Fire History - Jan 13

Today marks the 100th anniversary of yet another tragic fire, one that killed almost one-tenth of a town’s population, and directly affected everyone for miles around. Yet, because it happened in a small town near Philadelphia, instead of a major city like Chicago, Atlanta, or New York, very few people are aware of it.

Even more shamefully, after mentioning this fire many times over the years, I just discovered that I – along with many others – had been misspelling the name of the building where the fire occurred.

Many writers have mentioned the Rhodes Opera House fire. Even the National Fire Protection Association – the world’s leading fire safety and prevention organization – calls it the Rhodes fire. The building where the fire occurred, however, was owned by the Rhoads family (or maybe Rhoades, although the Boyertown Historical Society omits the “e”).

Additionally, it appears the opera house itself not named for the Rhoads family; the Boyertown Opera House merely rented the second floor of the Rhoads Building.

Boyertown, PA, is a small town (population 3702, according to the town’s website) located twenty miles east of Reading and 41 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

On the evening of January 13, 1908, about 350 people were in the Opera House to see a production of The Scottish Reformation, a religious play sponsored by a local church. According to the New York Times account of the tragedy, stereopticon operator H. W. Fisher “must have turned the wrong valve. There was a long, drawn out hissing noise that frightened the women and children.” In the ensuing rush, someone overturned a kerosene tank, which fueled the stage footlights; the kerosene ignited and set fire to the scenery and curtains.

The fire flashed over quickly, causing the audience to panic. Insufficient exits, locked exits, flammable decorations and furnishings, and the lack of a fire sprinkler system resulted in 170 deaths. Additionally, the two existing fire escapes were difficult to use, since escaping patrons would have to climb over a three-foot window sill. This would have been virtually impossible for an audience that has been described as primarily older women and young children – two populations that have (for different reasons) limited mobility.

According to the Times, the proportion of victims was about nine females to one male.

Contemporary news reports tell of men trampling women and children in their rush to get out. And – as we have seen at the Iroquois Theatre, the Triangle Shirtwaist factory, the Cocoanut Grove, the Rhythm Club, the Beverly Hills Supper Club and the Station Nightclub – rescuers found bodies piled high by the primary entrance.

This fire affected the Boyertown community much more than it would have in a major city. Boyertown, at the time, had about 2000 inhabitants; the small-town setting ensured that everybody in town had a personal relationship to at least one victim.

WFMZ-TV (Channel 69, Philadelphia) produced a one-hour documentary on the fire; it may be available for purchase through the station.

Cocoanut Grove: Part II

I had been planning on writing more in the previous post, but something came up. You know how that goes, right?

Anyway, to get back to the tragedy that happened 65 years ago today, we have seen the same factors cause multiple deaths in fire after fire... and we never seem to learn.

Life Safety Issues

The only access to the Melody Lounge was a narrow staircase. Once the fire started, this stairwell was jammed with people. Although there were at least two other potential exits from the lounge, they were known only to the staff members; few people were able to escape using these routes.

The revolving door on the Piedmont Street side of the Grove was the main entrance. As with all the other revolving doors of the era, the leaves were fixed in position. As panicked patrons attempted to exit through that door, their bodies jammed it, rendering it completely useless. Boston police officer Elmer Brooks recalled that when rescuers tried to pull bodies from the door, arms and legs came off in their hands. Stephanie Schorow, in her book The Cocoanut Grove Fire: New England Remembers, cites rescuers looking through the glass panels, watching victims burn before their eyes. Primarily as a result of the fire, revolving doors were redesigned with "break-away" leaves, meaning the leaves would fold out of the way under sufficient pressure.

A fire exit was located at the top of the stairs leading from the Melody Lounge, but owner Barney Welanski had locked and bolted this door to prevent people from leaving without paying their tabs. The door had been equipped with panic hardware (a so-called "crash bar"), which should have allowed the door to open. Investigators found dozens of bodies stacked up by this exit.

As I noted in the previous piece, the only usable exit from the Broadway Lounge opened into the club; the crush of fleeing customers jammed this door solid, and again, dozens of bodies were found here. Several researchers have postulated that as many as 300 additional people might have survived, had the doors opened outward -- with the flow of traffic.

A number of survivors complained of a "sweet" odor to the smoke. While the source has never been conclusively proven, many believe it may have been a product of the burning imitation leather used on the walls. Additional sources of toxic by-products included the seat covers and many of the furnishings. Burning plastics emit such toxic gases as benzene, toluene, butane, and xylene, along with the more-common toxic gases like carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, and phosgene. It may have been any of these gases -- or a combination of them -- that caused the "sweet" odor.

Another aspect of the fire that has never been satisfactorily explained is why the fire spread so fast. Some researchers cite sources indicating that the Melody Lounge was completely engulfed within two minutes, and that the fire had spread from the basement to the Broadway Lounge -- the opposite end of the building -- in as little as five minutes. Such fire spread is highly unusual. Of course, the flammable decorations had much to do with it, but some witnesses also claim to have seen unusual colors in the flames and/or smoke. Again, this could be caused by the fuels feeding the blaze.

Recently, attention had turned to the refrigerant in the cooling systems at the Grove. It is claimed that methyl chloride -- a highly flammable and toxic coolant which had replaced Freon during the war -- was responsible for both the rapid spread of the fire and for many of the fatalities.

With the exception of the methyl chloride, we have seen the same factors time after time. Whether it was the Iroquois Theatre (1903), the Rhythm Club in Natchez, MS (1940), or the Station in West Warwick, RI (2003), flammable furnishings, blocked exits, and overcrowding continue to claim lives to this day.

There were also witnesses who stated the walls felt "unusually warm" the night of the fire. This may have indicated a fire smoldering within the walls. Subsequent investigation determined that at least some of the wiring in the club had been installed by an unlicensed electrician; obviously, defective wiring could have either caused the fire or contributed significantly to it.

Medical Isues

On the medical front, perhaps the most amazing story of survival was that of 20-year-old Coast Guardsman Clifford Johnson. Johnson received second- and third-degree burns over approximately 75% of his body. In the 1940's, that was virtually a death sentence. Johnson, brought to Boston City Hospital, was given up for dead. Doctors administered morphine to ease his pain and moved on to victims with "better" chances. Four days later, however, Johnson was still alive, and doctors decided they had to help this tough sailor. Johnson was one of the very few survivors who did not have serious lung damage. Over six thousand tiny skin grafts were applied to Johnson's back and seemed to be holding. Unfortunately, doctors turned Johnson over too soon, and the grafts on his back failed. All told, Johnson suffered through twenty-five to thirty-five thousand "pinprick" skin grafts. He also had to deal with a kidney infection, edema, high fevers, and a codeine addiction. Johnson was finally discharged from the hospital in November... of 1945. Johnson wound up marrying one of the medical students at Boston City, and took his new bride home to Missouri with him. Johnson's miraculous story ends on a bitter note, however: in 1956, Johnson -- now working as a park warden -- rolled his jeep into a ditch. He was pinned in the overturned vehicle; leaking gasoline ignited and he burned to death.

Another notable name at the Grove that night was famous before the fire: Buck Jones, cowboy movie star. Jones, one of the famous "Rough Riders" was appearing in Boston to sell war bonds. He had also appeared at Boston Children's Hospital, where he signed autographs for thrilled fans, before attending the BC-Holy Cross game. After the fire, it was claimed that Jones had re-entered the building several times, rescuing trapped patrons. It was subsequently determined, though, that he was rapidly overcome by smoke. He was pulled from the building and died several days later. Jones' local publicist, journalist Martin Sheridan, received such severe burns on his hands that he had special cards printed up: "Not that it's any of your damned business, but my hands were burned in the Cocoanut Grove and don't ask any more questions!!" An understandable reaction, of course, but not what one would expect from a professional publicist.

In addition to proving the value of penicillin, the disaster was validation of several medical research projects being undertaken at Boston City and Mass general. Up to this time, burn victims had been painted with tannic acid to form a leathery scab, sealing the wound to reduce the chances of infection. The new protocol -- gauze impregnated with a mixture of petroleum jelly and boric acid, administered with intensive intravenous fluids -- was proven quite successful. It was also proven that treatment for shock and internal injuries was just as important -- if not more important -- than treating surface injuries.

Many victims suffered severe damage to their lungs and airways, due to the toxic chemicals inhaled during the fire. Much of the internal trauma was located below the vocal cords. Dr Stanley Levenson suspected the presence of phosgene in the smoke, a belief buttressed by Suffolk County Medical Examiner William J. Brickley: "Many of the victims had the appearance of soldiers I had seen gasses in the First World War."

So much medical knowledge was gained as a result of this tragedy that the entire June 1943 issue of The Annals of Surgery was devoted to a wide-ranging symposium discussing the injuries, fatalities, and findings of the medical professionals involved.

Enforcement Issues

A number of sources report that just a weekbefore the fire, Boston Fire Prevention Lieutenant Frank Linney, who declared the club's condition to be "good;" Linney declared the club had sufficient exits and non-flammable decorations. It became obvious, however, that Boston's building and fire inspectors in 1942 were no better than those in Chicago in 1903. In both cases (the Grove and the Iroquois), buildings that were inherently unsafe were allowed to be open to the public (which was also the case with the E2 Club in Chicaho, which experienced 23 fatalities in a 2003 crowd stampede); it was never determined whether incompetence or corruption was to blame (experience would lead me to say both).

Furthermore, a Boston police captain, James Buccigross, was in the club that night, along with Suffolk County assistant district attorney Garrett Byrne. The presence of two high-ranking public officials, in a club with such a questionable legal history, is at best suspicious. The club had originally been financed by a "Jack Berman;" Berman was actually Jack Bennett, a professional con artist and stock manipulator. A later owner of the club, Charles "King" Solomon, was described this way by Stephanie Schorow, quoting an unidentified source:

[Solomon] was at the peak of his crime renaissance, with a complete sideline of alki-cooking, morphine, heroin, cocaine and the dandruff-like little granules which produce delirious uproar. He hogged the bail-bond market, owned a large loan shark company at usurious rates, held full partnership in the white slave industry, a cut in a growing lottery racket and drivers and such like et ceteras built on human mischief."

In 1933, Solomon was murdered in the bathroom of the Cotton Club in Roxbury, another of his clubs.

Tomorrow, in Part III of this article, we'll look at what changes came out of this fire.

This Date in Fire History: Nov 28 - Cocoanut Grove

[See Update at end of piece... I forgot one of the most interesting pieces of trivia...]

NOTE: Due to the horrific nature of the Cocoanut Grove disaster, and the fact that survivors of this tragic fire are still alive, I want to empha­size once again that the use of quotations, excerpts, illustrations, or materials created by others in this post does not imply, and should not be construed to imply, their agree­ment with the opinions expressed elsewhere in 618 Rants.

Saturday, November 28, 1942, Boston… the day of the annual grudge football game between Boston College – going into the game undefeated – and arch-rival Holy Cross from nearby Worcester. BC was favored six-to-one as the winner, having outscored their opponents in the previous four games by a whopping 168-6, but Holy Cross – with a 4-4-1 record – pulled off a stunning 55-12 [1] upset at Fenway Park in front of 40,000 fans. The Boston College team cancelled their scheduled celebratory bash at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub, and went home to lick their wounds.

Losing that game probably saved the lives of most of the Boston College team [2].

Boston’s Cocoanut Grove nightclub was named after the famous Cocoanut Grove in Los Angeles, although the two clubs were not affiliated. The Boston club was owned by Barnett “Barney” Welansky, who claimed ties to the Boston Mafia as well as a close relationship with Mayor (and future Governor) Maurice Tobin. Located at 17 Piedmont Street, in what is now called the “Bay Village” neighborhood, the Grove was a mecca for Boston’s modern urbanites, as well as service members either on leave or preparing to ship out to serve in World War II. The Boston Globe, described the club this way: “Lined with palm trees, it was a tropical paradise. In summer, the roof could be rolled back electrically for dancing under stars.”

This somewhat blurry picture, from the Boston Fire Museum,
shows the interior of the main dining area.
(http://www.bostonfiremuseum.com/exhibits_cocoanut_grove.htm)

The main part of the building dated from about 1916 and had been used as both a garage and motion picture film exchange, prior to its incarnation as a night club. By 1942, the club had expanded to cover much of the block bordered by Broadway and Piedmont, Shawmut and Church Streets. The club operated both on the ground floor and in the basement of one portion. The area shown as “new cocktail lounge” below was also known as the “Broadway Lounge” and was the latest expansion of the club, having been completed in the fall of 1942. The main entrance to the club was through a revolving door on the Piedmont Street side. A separate entrance to the new lounge opened onto Broadway.

The overall décor of the club has been described as a Casablanca style – paper palm trees, cloth panels on the ceilings, and imitation-leather wall coverings, among other items. This “tropical paradise” had a price, however: some of the decorations obscured emergency exits and exit signs. A number of the exits had been locked to prevent patrons from leaving without paying their bills, and the plate glass windows on the Piedmont Street side of the building had been boarded over.

That Saturday, the Cocoanut Grove was filled beyond capacity, with well over 1,000 people crammed into a club with a nominal seating capacity of about 600 [3]. Additional tables and chairs had been placed to accommodate customers. Among those customers were a young serviceman and his girlfriend; many reports indicate the serviceman unscrewed a 7.5 watt light bulb (the wattage of a nightlight) to give himself a little more “privacy’ with his lady. A busboy, 16-year-old Stanley Tomaszewski, working in at the club illegally, was sent to replace the bulb.

At this point, there are conflicting stories of what happened: some people say Tomaszewski dropped the bulb and lit a match to find it, while other reports say he used the match to find the socket, which was concealed in the palm fronds. Witnesses said they saw flames spread out from the vicinity of the light socket, although others claimed seeing flames near the floor. Several survivors stated that the walls also appeared unusually warm to the touch (possibly indicating a smoldering fire within the walls). As the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) put it in their fire investigation report, “… the exact source of ignition was a factor of considerably less importance than was the inadequacy of exit facilities and the extensive use of combustible decorations.” [4]



By most reports, fire had fully engulfed the Melody Lounge within five minutes, before traveling up the stairs – which acted as a chimney – and exploding into the main dining area and continuing to the Broadway Lounge. The revolving door at the main entrance quickly became jammed as panicked patrons attempted to flee; more than 200 victims were found piled up at this door. An additional one hundred or more victims were found by the Broadway Lounge exit – a door that opened into the club. More lives were probably lost as people blundered about after the lights went out.

The scene outside the Cocoanut Grove.

Russell Priestley is on the right,

holding up the stretcher

Russell Priestley, who was in the Army Air Corps and awaiting deployment, was one of many people pressed into service that gruesome night. Excerpts from his account, which appeared in the Melrose Mirror, are repinted here with his permission.

Personally, I remember the disaster because I, with two friends, had attended a stage show at the RKO Boston. As we left the performance, sirens of fire engines and ambulances filled the crisp night air. We were compelled by the intense din to walk toward the source, a few blocks away. With my companions, John Bunker, now deceased and Ralph Pierce, now residing in Rye, New Hampshire, we edged our way close to the fire scene. We were close enough to be commanded, "Hey you, grab this stretcher!" We rushed to help. A stretcher for each victim was loaded into an ambulance, others were placed on the pavement, awaiting more vehicles ... in some cases cars, trucks and cabs were used.

I don't recall how long we stayed there to offer assistance, but I do know it was beyond the time for using public transportation. We ended our night by walking home from Boston, explaining to our parents where we had been, then going to bed for some sleep.

The final tally was 492 dead and several hundred more injured. Unlike most major conflagrations, those at the cocoanut Grove were more likely to be killed than injured; about 50% of those present died, while only 20-30% were injured. Usually, it's the other way around.

As noted above, the exact cause of the fire has never been conclusively proven, and probably never will be. The causes of the deaths, however, are all too familiar:

• Overcrowding
• Blocked, locked, and/or obstructed fire exits
• No fire sprinkler system (sprinklers had been protecting Massachusetts factories for about 75 years in 1942)
• Flammable decorations
• Delay in notifying the fire department

As is the case with other major fires, however, some good came out of the tragedy. Two local hospitals -- Massachusetts General and Boston City -- were well-prepared for a disaster of this magnitude, thanks to their war preparations. Additionally, Mass General had been experimenting with new protocols for treating severe burn victims; these new protocols, after being validated by the Grove fire, were instituted in most American hospitals. Furthermore, the Grove fire was the first wide-spread use of a new "wonder drug" -- some stuff called "penicillin."

There is an apocryphal story that the city of Boston passed a law prohibiting any business within the city limits from using the Cocoanut Grove name. Several researchers have debunked this theory, but no business-owner in his right mind would choose such a "jinxed" name.

UPDATE: This is something I should have mentioned originally. The bookkeeper at the Grove, Rose Gnecco Ponzi, was the ex-wife of Charles Ponzi, who achieved fame at the inventor of the financial scam that bears his name, the "Ponzi scheme"). As Paul Harvey might say, "now you know the rest of the story."

Additional Resources

Boston Globe archives of the fire
National Fire Protection Association NFPA Journal articles on the fire
Books on the fire on Amazon.com:
The Cocoanut Grove Fire (New England Remembers), Stephanie Schorow
Fire in the Grove: The Cocoanut Grove Tragedy, John C. Esposito
Fire in Boston's Cocoanut Grove: Holocaust, Paul Benzaquin
Cocoanut Grove: A Spellbinding Account of the Most Famous Fire in American History, Edward Keyes


FOOTNOTES:




[1] Much has been made of the “fact” that the final score, 55-12, “eerily” mirrors the jersey numbers of the BC co-captains. The cover for the game program is shown here: http://at.bc.edu/slideshows/familyfeud/5.html


[2] BC equipment manager Larry Kenney is the only person directly associated with the game who is known to have died in the fire.

[3] Various sources show differing seating capacities, ranging from 450 to over 600; most show 600.

[4] Moulton, Robert S, The Cocoanut Grove Night Club Fire. Boston, MA: National Fire Protection Association, 1962, p 5

This Date in Fire History: Sept 8

September 8th marks the 73rd anniversary of the loss of the S.S. Morro Castle, which caught fire en route to Havana, Cuba.

I was going to write a fairly long piece about the disaster, but during my research, I came across this piece -- written by the granddaughter of the woman who christened the ship, and the great-granddaughter of the head of Ward Lines -- at NakedAuthors.com. Cornelia's article is written with the depth of knowledge that can only come from family histories.

Go read it.

This Date in Fire History: May 28

1977. The top single of the year would be Rod Stewart’s “Tonight’s The Night.” Other performers in the top five would be Andy Gibb, the Emotions, Barbra Streisand, and Hot. 1977, however, also featured a number of clean-cut handsome young singers like Bobby Goldsboro, Bobby Sherman, and John Davidson.

On May 28, 1977, Davidson was scheduled to headline the show at the Beverly Hills Supper Club, “The Showplace of the Nation,” in Southgate, Kentucky, just across the river from Cincinnati. About 8:50 PM, the comedy team of Jim Teeter and Jim McDonald were getting the audience ready for Davidson’s entrance.

The Beverly Hills Supper Club was one of the most luxurious venues of its time, offering banquet and meeting facilities for groups from 20 to 1,000. A beautiful central hallway lined with mirrors had an open, curved stairway known as the Cinderella Stairway, which was itself lavishly decorated.

The building was of what is termed "unprotected, noncombustible" construction, what we might call "ordinary" construction: most of the exterior walls were masonry. The original building, constructed in 1937, had been added to many times over the years, especially after a major fire in 1970, during major remodeling. One result of all the additions was that virtually all the interior walls had been, at some time, exterior walls. The 1970 project included the construction of the Cabaret Room, the Garden Rooms, and a 60 foot glass atrium.

That May evening, “the joint was jumping.” In addition to the Davidson show in the Cabaret Room, the Greater Cincinnati Choral Union and the Afghan Hound Club of Southwestern Ohio were each using three of the upstairs Crystal Rooms for dinners; the Savings & Loan League of Southwestern Ohio and Northern Kentucky was holding an awards banquet, and a wedding reception was breaking up early in the Zebra Room.

The people at the reception complained about the temperature in the room; the consensus was that the air conditioning was out of order. Instead, improperly installed aluminum wiring was smoldering.

At 8:50 PM, about the same time that Teeter and McDonald were wrapping up their act, reservations clerk Eileen Druckman smelled smoke. She tracked the smell to the Zebra Room, opens the door and sees fire. A bartender grabs a fire extinguisher and races to the Zebra Room, returning just moments later. He tells a waitress to call the fire department and yells, “Let’s get the people out of here.” The Campbell County Dispatch Center, however, doesn’t log their first call on the fire until 9:01.

At 9:00 PM, busboy Walter Bailey takes the stage in the Cabaret Room to announce “a small fire.”

By 9:02, the fire has spread to the Cabaret Room. “Some 1,200 screaming people are pushing toward the three small exits, throwing chairs and tables out of their paths. Some are climbing from table to table, stepping over others,” according to the Cincinnati Post.

By 9:25 PM, portions of the building start to collapse, and by 2:00 AM, it is all over.

The “small fire” killed 165, including a member of Davidson’s entourage, music director Douglas Herro.

The investigation by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) listed the major factors contributing to the large loss of life:

• The lack of alarm and sprinkler systems allowed the fire to grow undetected for an extended period of time (sprinkler systems were required by Kentucky code at the time, although not necessarily at the time of construction)
• Staff attempted to fight the fire themselves before evacuating the patrons or notifying the fire department
• There was no evacuation plan for the complex, nor were staff trained in emergency duties
  The building was grossly overcrowded – the Cabaret Room alone was at double the legal capacity
• There were insufficient fire exits for the facility, especially in light of the overcrowding
• The entire complex was decorated with highly-flammable materials; the interior finish materials in the main corridor exceeded the flame spread allowed for places of public assembly and contributed to the rapid spread of the fire from the Zebra Room (where the fire originated) to the Cabaret Room.

WKRC-TV, Cincinnati's Channel 12, has video clips of the fire here.

The Cincinnati Post has extensive coverage here, and the Cincinnati Enquirer, here. Both include detailed coverage of the fire, the investigation, ensuing lawsuits, and stories by and about the survivors.

The biggest tragedy, of course, is that most or all of these deaths could have been prevented. All six factors above were also cited as causes for the deaths at the Cocoanut Grove – a fire that had occurred 35 years earlier.

Adding to the horror is the fact that five of the six factors also contributed to the 100 fatalities at the Station Nightclub… 26 years after Beverly Hills. (The Station staff didn’t try to fight the fire; they couldn’t – it spread too quickly).

Of course, there are moments of irony in this story, as with any other. Sycamore Township Fire Chief B.J. Jetter uses the Beverly Hills Fire in teaching his classes at Cincinnati State. But in 1977, he was the drummer in a band scheduled to play at wedding at Beverly Hills on May 28. The wedding was cancelled.

Thirty years later, by the way, the site of the club lies vacant. Trespassers who explore the site can still find macabre souvenirs: a spoon with a tree embedded in a tree root, partially burned serving trays, smashed plates, etc. Several attempts to develop the property have failed. The last proposal, for a shopping mall, was voted down by citizens who felt the area could not support a mall. A proposal for an office park was deemed not economically feasible by the property owners.

There are, as yet, no plans for a permanent memorial to the victims, but one will probably be an integral part of any future use of the land.

Forgot A Couple of Things...

... in my last post.

Of course, there were a number of lawsuits files after the Triangle fire. Due to the way the Triangle Company was structured, and the legal maneuverings after the fire, the lawsuits were settled... for about $75 per death.

The lessons learned from the Triangle Fire were soon forgotten... or at least ignored. Since 1911, the same problems -- insufficient fire exits, overcrowding, lack of fire safety equipment or training -- have occurred time after time: Cocoanut Grove, the Winecoff Hotel, the LaSalle Hotel, Our Lady of the Angels School, Beverly Hills Supper Club, the Station Nightclub, even the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. One of the cruelest reminders was a fire at a chicken processing plant in Hamlet, NC, in 1991: 25 employees died... because the exits were locked to prevent pilferage and unauthorized breaks. Another cruel reminder: on the 79th anniversary of the fire (1990), arson struck the Happy Land Social Club in the Bronx, NY, killing 87. Internationally, the record is even worse, including a fire in a Bangkok, Thailand, toy factory in 1993 that killed 188.

The Triangle Fire is the 14th worst single-building fire in United States history... and that includes the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

This Date in Fire History: March 25

Today marks the 96th anniversary of one of the most tragic fires in history, the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Company, owned by Isaac Harris and Max Blanck, occupied the top three floors (the eighth through tenth) of the Asch Building, located at the corner of Greene Street and Washington Place in Manhattan. Like most garment factories of the day, Triangle was a slightly-improved sweatshop: hundreds of workers -- many of them young immigrant girls -- working long hours for low wages in abysmal conditions. The girls, some of them as young as twelve or thirteen, worked fourteen-hour shifts during a 72-hour workweek, and made about $1.50 per week.

The Asch Building had two narrow stairwells, two freight elevators, one passenger elevator (which wasn't in use on that fateful Saturday), and a rickety iron outside fire escape. When the building was started in 1900, fire codes were in their infancy; even then, however, the architects and builders cut some corners - to get the necessary permits, they promised authorities to make some changes to the blueprints... changes that were never incorporated into the finished building. Nevertheless, the building was considered "fireproof", which was effectively true: the building itself sustained only minor damage. It was the human beings within the building that paid the price.

The eighth and ninth floors were crowded with long tables, each containing about 25 sewing machines. The tables stretched from one wall almost to the opposite wall, leaving only a narrow aisle. The rows of tables were so close to each other that only one employee at a time could move to or from her machine.

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

Illustration by Nick Rotondo ©2005,

URL:http://www.nickrotondo.biz

(Used by permission)

Fire sprinklers had been in use in warehouses for about twenty years, and their value had been proven time and again, but they weren't installed in the Asch Building. A standpipe system (fire hoses attached to plumbing in the stairwells) was in place, but apparently did not work. Fire safety was provided by about 30 leather pails of water on each floor. To make matters worse, the longest ladders on fire apparatus of the day only reached to about the sixth floor.

Triangle was one of many companies that manufactured the "shirtwaist" blouse made famous by Charles Dana Gibson's "Gibson Girl", an idealized woman, both liberated (by the standards of the day; they still couldn't vote) and feminine. The shirtwaist was the epitome of women's fashions in the early years of the 20th Century. Shortly after World War I, however, the soft, elegant gowns and shirtwaists of the Gibson era were supplanted by the more mannish fashions of Coco Chanel and others.

Of course, in 1911, a "World War" was inconceivable. A musical style called "ragtime" was sweeping the nation, exemplified by Scott Joplin's magnificent Maple Leaf Rag, which had sold over one million copies. Prohibition was still in the future, although the temperance movement was gaining strength. The growth of major cities brought educational, professional, and cultural advances to more people than ever before.

The future looked bright. America was becoming the "shining beacon" of hope and progress, not only to the undeveloped countries, but also to Europe. Immigration was swelling the United States population, and the mix of new cultures, languages, and customs made American culture far richer.

The industrialization of America was well underway. Henry Ford was cranking out cars in Detroit, factories like the Triangle were replacing the smaller family shops of the past, and the unionization of workers was beginning: a 1909 strike by women's shirtwaist makers, known as the "Uprising of 20,000," started with a spontaneous walkout at Triangle.

Saturday, March 25, 1911, was a warm spring day, and about 4:45 PM, the roughly 700 Triangle employees were getting ready to quit for the day when a worker spotted smoke curling from one of the scrap bins under the sewing machine tables on the eighth floor. Within seconds, the flames had spread to the tables themselves, and then to the flimsy patterns hanging overhead. One employee used a "teleautograph" -- an early ancestor of the fax machine -- to alert other workers but was unable to transmit the message properly. A telephone call to the offices on the tenth floor warned the employees there, but the alarm was not passed to those on the ninth floor. Almost all of the workers on the eighth floor were able to escape, as were most of those on ten (who climbed across ladders stretched from the adjacent New York University School of Law, across the alley from the Asch Building).

The workers on the ninth floor did not learn of the fire until it blew in through the windows. Again, the fire fed hungrily on the fabric scraps, paper patterns, oil-soaked wood and other combustibles. Women raced for both stairwells, but found one of the locked (in an effort to prevent theft). The door to the second stairwell opened into the work area; the crush of fleeing girls prevented the door from opening. The operators of the freight elevators made several trips to the ninth floor and were able to rescue several dozen workers. Others attempted to go down the exterior fire escape, but steel shutters over the ladders obstructed their passage. This may have been a blessing in disguise, for the escape could not support the weight of the girls, and collapsed, spilling many into the courtyard nine floors below.

With nowhere else to go, hundreds of girls crowded the windows, trying to escape the fire. Some fell, some may have been pushed, but many decided to jump. In a scene eerily prescient of 2001, they plunged to the pavement, choosing the quick and relatively painless death of jumping over the slow and agonizing death by suffocation due to smoke, or the excrutiating pain of burning to death. Others threw themselves down the elevator shafts, crashing themselves against the tops of the cars.

FDNY Engine 72, which was quartered only a few blocks from the Asch Building, was on the scene within five or six minutes, even before the fire had fully engulfed the ninth and tenth floors, but there was nothing they could do. Their ladders didn't reach the trapped workers, and their hoses couldn't shoot water high enough to protect them. Firefighters set up safety nets, but victims tore right through them. Their only viable option was to mount an interior attack, and try to fight their way to the trapped victims.

Despite having gotten the fire under control in about twenty minutes, 146 people had died, about one-third of them having jumped or fallen to their deaths. At least 60 bodies were recovered from the upper floors, primarily the ninth floor; many were burned beyond recognition, making subsequent identification impossible in some cases (seven unidentified bodies were buried).

As is often the case after a multiple-fatality fire, numerous investigations were launched, most with the laudible goal of "ensuring this never happens again." Manslaughter charges were filed against Blanck and Harris, but they were acquitted after a brilliant performance by defense attorney Max Steuer. The city created the "Factory Invesigating Commission" to examine the need for new legislation to prevent future fire disasters. The members of the Commission included State Senator Robert F. Wagner (who went on to the United States Senate, where he was instrumental in passing many labor-friendly laws), State Assemblyman Alfred E. Smith (a future candidate for President), and Samuel L. Gompers, founder and president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). All three were profoundly affected by what their Commission learned.

The Commission inspected 1836 businesses and interviewed 222 witnesses. The City of New York enacted over 30 new fire and occupational safety laws, in part due to the Commission's work.

The fire ushered in "the golden era of remedial factory legislation," greatly expanding occupational safety, fire safety, and worker's rights. In many ways, the Triangle Fire could be considered one of the progenitors of much of Franklin Roosevelt's "New Deal" legislation.

One witness to the fire, Frances Perkins of the New York Consumer's League, became FDR's Secretary of Labor (and was the first female Cabinet member, as well as the first woman in the presidential line of succession). Years after the fire, Perkins said in an interview that the fire sharpened her focus on labor issues.

The last known survivor of the Triangle Fire, Rose Freedman, died on February 22, 2001, at age 107; she was a lifelong crusader for worker safety.

This post is dedicated to the memory of
Becky Reines and her 145 coworkers who

perished in the Triangle Fire.

This Date in Fire History - Jan 11, 12, 13

Jan. 11: The second devastating fire in 24 years ripped through Savannah, GA, destroying 463 houses in about 8 hours (the first fire, in 1796, destroyed 2/3 of the city). The city virtually ceased to exist, according to Savannah-online.com. The fire started in a livery stable and spread quickly, due to a months-long drought, the explosion of stored gunpowder, and the wooden structures prevalent in the city. From the Savannah-online article:

The bright orange flames, set against the black night, would have been a beautiful sight if not for the misery and destruction they created.

The fire and a subsequent yellow fever outbreak had claimed 695 lives by the end of the year.

One of the major changes to come from the fire was the establishment of new fire companies and the purchase of firefighting equipment. Two of the companies – the Union Ax and Fire Co and the Franklin Fire Engine and Hose Co – were formed by 75 “free men of color,” making them probably among the earliest black fire brigades. The first primarily white fire companies weren’t formed until 1845.

After a reorganization in 1826, the firefighters were paid a stipend of “121 cents per hour,” an unheard-of amount for blacks in those days.


Jan. 12: A little more than four years after the Iroquois Theatre fire in Chicago killed 602, another fire claimed 170 at the Rhodes Opera House in Boyertown, PA.

Because of Boyertown’s size, this fire had a much greater impact on its community than the Cocoanut Grove or Iroquois fires had on their respective cities.

According to an analysis by Arup Fire for the National Institutes of Standards and Technology, some of the factors contributing to the death toll were locked exits, flammable interior finishes, and “crowd crush” or panic… some of the same factors that contributed to the deaths in the 2003 fire at The Station Night Club. In the ten largest loss-of-live fires in theatres, stretching from 1811 to 2003, all of them – every one of them – involved flammable interior finishes. Other sobering findings:

• Eight of the ten involved blocked or hidden fire exits
• Five had locked exits
• Seven had insufficient exit capacity
• Seven involved panicked crowds
• Three – including the Station – had exits doors opening into the building – against the flow of exiting persons.

Jan. 13: A coal mine fire in Wilburton, OK, killed 91 in 1926. According to one account, one cemetery had at least 50 open graves one Saturday, awaiting those to be interred. One survivor, “Sam”, a mule, was finally rescued after 168 hours in the shaft.

This Date in Fire History - Jan 8, 9, 10

Okay, so maybe I've bitten off a little more than I thought with this project. It certainly doesn't help that the sprawling and luxurious "Chez 618" is temporarily restricted to (ulp) dial-up Internet access, nor that I am trying to start a side business. It also doesn't help that for many of the fires shown on the National Fire Protection Association's list of "Key Dates in Fire History", there isn't much information available on line.

As a result, I think I'm going to scale this project back a bit, and not go nuts looking for information that just plain can't be found. On the truly major fires -- the Meridian Plazas, the DuPonts, the MGM Grands -- I'll be able to put up reasonably comprehensive posts.

On the rest of them, it will probably just be a line or two.

This may look like I'm slighting the older or lesser-known fires, but I'm really not. I have neither the time nor resources to delve as deeply into some of these fires as I may want, but keeping them alive in our collective memory is still memorializing those whose lives were affected (or ended) by them.

Jan. 8: M/V Erling Jarl passenger ship fire kills 14, Bodo, Norway, 1958. Not surprisingly, the only information I could find was in Norwegian. Which I don't speak, read, or understand.

Jan. 9: Laurier Palace movie theater fire kills 78, Montreal (QB), 1927. Most of the victims were children, which resulted in minors under the age of 16 being banned from Quebec theatres for years; the prohibition was lifted in 1961. On this one, the info is in French... but here's a photo showing the devastation left behind.

Laurier Palace, 1927

Jan. 10: Pathfinder Hotel fire kills 20, Fremont (NE), 1976. From Wikipedia:

More recently, on January 10, 1976, in downtown Fremont, the Pathfinder Hotel exploded due to a natural gas leak in the basement. At the time the hotel was being used as a nursing home. This explosion shattered windows around the city and the ensuing fire killed 18 people and destroyed most of the city block which the hotel sat on.

This Date in Fire History - Jan 5, 6, and 7

Sorry for the light posting... still dealing with a multitude of technological challenges at 618Rants World HQ: had to locate a replacement AC adapter for the laptop (thank you, Radio Shack), still trying to figure out enough Linux to get Mrs 618's computer working (hey, I learned in the days of DOS 3.3), and/or trying to get the old Windows box (which runs Win98) fired up.

Anyway...

Jan 5: A fire at a Texaco plant in Erath, LA, caused $51 million in damages (loss adjusted to 2003 dollars by NFPA). Another one where I couldn't find too much info. On the other hand, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out a fire at a facility refining petroleum-based products has the potential to get real bad, real fast. At least no one was killed.

Jan 6: A fire at the Thomas Hotel in San Francisco killed 20 in 1961. While researching this one, I ran across a page that lists many of the significant hotel/motel fires around the world. In my piece on the Dupont Plaza Hotel fire, I listed some tips from a USA Today article on a hotel fire in NYC; Today, I found a memo from the Australian FAA with fire safety tips to flight attendants at Qantas (as an aside, Qantas has long been known as the only major airline that has never had a fatal crash; these folks take safety real seriously)(1). The points made bear repeating:

• Fire Escape Plan Once you know your room, check all the exists available on the floor.

• Fire Alarm Installations Ensure you know were the fire alarm installations on your floor are.

• Fire Extinguisher/Fire Hose Reel Make sure you know the location of that type of equipment, and how to access and operate it.

• Evacuate immediately and close all doors behind you. Leave the building immediately via the exit staircase.

• Fire Alarm If you hear the fire alarm, and you are asked to evacuate, do so immediately via the nearest exit staircase.

• Do not try to take your personal effects with you or attempt to pack your things.

• Do not use the elevators for evacuation.

• If you are caught in your room, inform the hotel telephone operator, go to the window and signal people below.

• Should you encounter thick smoke entering your room, take wet towels or sheets and put them against the door to prevent smoke entering your room.

• Should you encounter thick smoke whilst trying to leave, get on to the floor and crawl to escape.

• Do not jump out of the building (higher floors) as rescue might not be far away.

Jan 7: A 1950 fire at the Mercy Hospital in Davenport, IA, killed 41. I couldn't locate too much on this one either (doing research while on dial-up really sucks), but I can make a few guesses, based on other health-care facility fires through the years:

• Lack of automatic sprinklers: as I have noted before, virtually every fire investigator, fire protection engineer, and safety professional points out that fire sprinklers are the most cost-effective fire protection mechanism there is.
• Perhaps a delayed response, while hospital staff attempted to extinguish the fire themselves; as noted with the DuPont Plaza, a delay can be -- and often is -- fatal.
• Involvement of piped oxygen and other medical gases: depending on the cause and origin of the fire -- and again, I was unable to find the info -- medical gases may have played a role. Oxygen is incredibly flammable, which is one reason why smoking hasn't been permitted in patient rooms for years. On a related note...
• Smoking in a patient room: this has caused numerous health-care facility fires, although usually in nursing homes, where the residents try to sneak a smoke indoors now and then.

(1) For a somewhat light-hearted view of the maintenance issues that Qantas mechanics have dealt with, see here.

This Date in Fire History - Jan 4

The year was 1933, and luxury ocean travel was still popular among the well-to-do (the Great Depression had not yet spread world-wide). The Normandie and the Ile de France were two of the better-known luxury liners. A third was the L'Atlantique, built in the same shipyard as the Ile, and sharing some of the same interior design team as both the Ile and the Normandie.

L'Atlantique was commissioned for the "southern routes", Europe to South America. Her maiden voyage, from Bordeaux, France to Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Montevideo, and Buenos Aires, began on September 29, 1930.

"The Classic Liners of Long Ago" has some pictures of the ship and despite the article's claim that "it looked clumsy", that was only on the outside; the interior design looked wonderful.

In January of 1933, the ship was being moved from Bordeaux to Le Havre for refitting, when it caught fire in the English Channel, possibly from the buildup of static electricity in the hull and wiring of the ship, although sabotage was also suspected. There was a crew of 200 aboard, even though there were no passengers.

Crewmembers fought the fire, which consumed a section of first class cabins before abandoning ship. The still-burning hulk was towed to Cherbourg, where the fire was finally extinguished on January 8.

The number of fatalities -- all crew members -- seems to be in dispute: The New York Times, in an article dated January 5, 1933, said, "was feared that a score of the more than 200 men of the crew who were aboard drowned or perished" [via the "Classic Liners" site; no link to the Times article, as it is, of course, behind that blasted firewall]. Wikipedia claims nine crewmen died, while NFPA, in their "key dates" list (which is where I draw the topics for these posts), says 18 perished.

To me, it has always seemed ironic that fire is the most-feared shipboard emergency. My father was in the Merchant Marine during World War II, and he told me of the fire fighting training all sailors went through. It makes sense, however: should a shipboard fire get out of control (and all fires have that potential), there is no place to go, no place to run, no place where you would be safe.

One final irony: the Normandie (renamed the USS Lafayette, after being seized by the United States for conversion into a troopship) also met her demise by fire, in New York Harbor on February 9, 1942. Not surprisingly, the Normandie/Lafayette will be the post for that date.