TRAGIC FIRE IN AMERICAN HOTEL

Chronicle (Levin), 9 December 1946, Page 5

TRAGIC FIRE IN AMERICAN HOTEL

Jvoeoived Sunday, 7.0 p.m. .XKW YORK, I)o c. 7. At lcast 112 deallis occurred in a fi re whieh swept Winecoff Hotel 5 n Atlantajs best-known thoroughPare, Peaeh Tree Street. The hotel eonsisted of 15 floors aiul containod .194 rooins. It is boliovod there were 280 guests -in the hotel. The lire appeared to rage J'rom 1ho sixth floor upward. The fire was flrst detected by a negro elevalor girl about 3.40 a.m. She notified the night manager who imiiiediately began tolephoniiig warnings to the guests. Scores raeed i'rom tli e blazing building i ii night attire. A I'cw guosls escaped by swinging I'rom window to vvindow on improvised ropes whieh enabled them to rench i-oom.s untouehed by the tiro or uot dangei'ously filled willi smoke. Al oue stage almost every wiiiilow in the upper liall" of the hotel hcld persons ealling J'or help. Many jnmped into net.s which fireineii wero holding below but hit Ihe nets with stioh J'orce that the nol holders wero unable to prevent lliom striking tlie ground. Some niissed the" nets hltogether. A fireinan said he saw a molher t.hrow two eliildren and herselr to' death I'rom the seventh floor. Twii women stood at a tvvell'th floor window i'or two honrs sinil- ; ing and waving to the erowds as the tiro crept towards them ■ Finnllv Ihe flames reaelicd their: floor. Oue woman e.ollapsed and: the othor picked her up and held lier until Iioth j'oll baok into the i-oom. iioth aro believed to have died. Oue girl jnmped from the fif- [ toenth floor into a rescue net. l»oth her legs are broken but she is alive. A flreman was killed when a woman, leaping I'rom a high window, craslied on to him as he was aseending a ladder. Oue woman escaped by sliding down a rope oi' knotted sheets ' I'rom tlie seventh to the t'ourth floors where she elimbed on to an extension ladder. Ambulanees operated shuttle ' serviees between the fire and sur- : roiinding lios])itals. Thousands of spectators jarm 1 med Ihe streets and servicemeii wero jiressed into the rescue operations. A Red ('ross disaster station was established near the hotel and Ihe guests were given

plasma, most oi' which had been brought back I'rom overseas and rnadc avaiiable to Atlanta hospitals. The fire was finallv brought under control at 7 a.m. The hotel was supposedly fireprooii. Evidenee of attempts to escape were i'onnd in almost every room. Inadequnte ropes had been fashioned with blankets, sheets and towels. Many of the&c improvisations had never been used. The United Press says tlie worst previous hotel. lires occurred at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1883 when 71 perished, and also the La ►Saile Hotel, Chicago, in May 1946 when 61 died. Atlanta City authorities expressed amazement when they I ea med that the Winecoff Hotel had no fire escapes or other emergency means of sal'ety. The hotel was classed as fire resistant, had been inspeeted during ihe past 'week, and met the regulations. Pathetic scenes wei'e witnessed today at hospitals and mortuaries where mourners sought to ascertain the I'ate of loved ones bu1 many bodies were eharred and mangled beyond identifieation except perhap;. by dental impressions. The dead included W. V Winecoff, one of the builders of the hotel and Mrs. WinecofT. Pathetieally, ('harles Boschonz. aged 21, who was honeymooning in the hotel, sought his bride who is still uuidentified. lle Iast saw her falling I'rom a rope oi" sheets The hotel guests included 49 boys and girls, delegates to a youth eonference, whose fin.al meeting was held as scheduled but it was a memorial serviee for three youths are dead and 21 missing. One of the starkest diseoveries was a voung mother praving in a bathroom with three small children clutching her nightdi'ess. They were like a group of fireblackened statuary.