PANIC IN HOTEL FIRE

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24898, 11 June 1946, Page 5

PANIC IN HOTEL FIRE

GUESTS JUMP TO DEATH

ESCAPE CUT OFF BY FLAMES (NJE. Press Association— CopyrUtat.

(Rec. 8 p.m.) NEW YORK, June 9. Like Chicago's La Salle Hotel fire tragedy, in which «0 persons lost their lives, panic contributed to the death toll when the Canfield Hotel at Dubuque, lowa, was destroyed with the loss of 15 lives. It was the greatest fire disaster in the history ot the city, which has a population of more than 40,000. In spite ot frantic entreaties by spectators, tour hysterical men and live women leaped to their death. Most of those whose escape was cut off, but who resisted the impulse to jump, were saved, with the exception of one man, who broke a window on the fourth floor and threatened to jump. Several hundred persons, who had gathered on the other side of the afreet, screamed at him to stay where he was. Firemen erected a ladder to the window, tied a rope round the man’s body, and lowered him to the ground, where he was found to be dead. Heroic Rescues Firemen, civilians, and police made many heroic and spectacular rescues. One man made a rope from bedclothing and slid towards the ground. Unfortunately, he misjudged the distance and was obliged to drop 25 feet He received critical injuries. One male guest had escaped the Chicago holocaust, but for the second time he lost- everything he had with him. The fire chief said that he would never forget the screams of scores ot gersons standing at windows in the otel when the brigade arrived. The firemen concentrated their efforts on saving them before they began to fight the flames. Firemen searched the charred wreckage for bodies when the Outbreak was brought under control, but it . may be days before all the bodies are recovered. Volunteers assisted firemen to hold the nets. One man jurilped from the fourth floor. His head struck the rim of the nets and he died a few minutes later, A woman misjudged her jump from the fourth floor, missed the net altogether, and died instantly as she struck the pavement. Owner's Body Found

The latest count gives 15 dead and 21 in hospital. The search for further bodies has been suspended while workmen brace the blackened walls of the hotel, which are sagging dangerously. Twenty-three persons remain unaccounted for, but the fire chief said most of them probably were permanent guests who had left the hotel tor the week-end. The Red Cross broadcast an appeal tor all persons registered at the hotel on Saturday night to report to the Red Cross. The cause of the fire cannot immediately be ascertained. The fire, which occurred in the early morning, apparently had made considerable progress before it was discovered. A hand extinguisher was employed without effect while the brigade was on its way. The body of the hotel owner, Mr William Canfield, aged 70, was found on the floor below his living quarters, from which he had probably fallen. Mrs Canfield was found and carried from the hotel, apparently dead, but a hospital doctor discovered that she was alive, though critically injured. The body of the Canfield’s nurse has not yet been found. A brother of the nurse, while searching t6r her. discovered and rescued two persons on the fourth floor. One was unconscious. These were among several rescues made by civilians who aided 70 firemen and 35 police in fighting the fire. A . The death roll in, the La Stille Hotel fire in Chicago last Wednesday rose to 61 with the death tn hospital last night of a man whose wife and 15-year-old son also perished in the disaster. In New York the City Housing and Building Commissioner has announced that a double fire, protection inspection Will be made in New York of 470 hotels. Additional inspectors are being assigned to a survey to check fire escape and elevator shafts.