A number of deadly hotel fires focused attention on fire safety in such structures. On June 5, 1946, a fire at the LaSalle Hotel (Chicago, Illinois) killed 61, including one battalion chief. A few days later, a fire at the Hotel Canfield (Dubuque, Iowa) left 19 dead. From the Fire Engineering Vault, see the July 1946 issue, including the cover, the editorial “How Long Will This Persist?” the fire report, “Chicago and Dubuque Fires Emphasize Laxity in Protection,” followed by the August 1946 article, “Fire Department Statistics of the Hotel LaSalle Fire,” which details the Chicago Fire Department response HERE. On the cover, firefighters rescue guests from the Hotel Canfield. The editorial decries the lack of adequate local fire and life safety codes, quoting Chicago’s chief fire marshal: “It is only a matter of time before Chicago suffers a major disaster.” It also condemned investigations which seem aimed “to whitewash some person or interest, not to dig out all the truth so that the long-standing evil conditions may be corrected.” The magazine expressed a similar cynicism regarding investigations after the 1904 General Slocum disaster HERE.
On the fifth anniversary of the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack, 119 people perished in Hotel Winecoff in Atlanta, Georgia. See the January 1947 Fire Engineering cover depicting rescue operations on the scene, as well as the editorial “Hotel Business is BIG Business,” and the fire report “Atlanta’s Hotel Winecoff Fire Worst in Nation’s History.” HERE Also included are hotel fire reports from Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The editorial noted that because of the postwar housing shortage, many of the nation’s estimated one million nightly hotel guests were permanent residents. To improve fire protection for hotels, the editorial advised, “now is the time” to request better fire apparatus/equipment; demand stricter, more enforceble fire safety codes; and bring about better cooperation between the hotel industry and the fire service.
The September 1947 issue included the editorial “What Is the Best Practice?”, which considered appropriate alarm responses, and another double fire report on the Park Plaza Hotel fire in St. Louis, Missouri (no fatalities), and the Herbert Hotel in San Franciso, California (four firefighters killed), “Hotel Fires Continue to Cause Loss of Life and Property” HERE.
Fire Engineering contributor Greg Havel outlines the factors that made the LaSalle, Canfield, and Winecoff hotel fires so deadly, and compares the fire safety codes of that era with the more stringent ones of today below.
The three fires had the following common factors:
· Guest room floors that were beyond the reach of the tallest fire department ladder.
· Open stairways that ran to the top floor.
· Guest room doors, transoms, and frames were made of combustible materials; transoms and doors were open.
· No automatic fire sprinkler system.
· Hotels advertised as “fireproof” had combustible wall coverings, draperies, carpets, and furniture; and had furniture stored in the corridors.
· No fire alarm system, and no way to notify guests of the emergency.
· Delay between discovery of the fire and notification of the fire department.
The 26 Recommendations of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) Committee on Fire Prevention and Protection and Hotels, approved in January 1947 and presented in the February 1947 issue of Fire Engineering, HERE have been implemented over the past decades by incorporation into the model Building Codes and Fire Codes; and into NFPA 101 Life Safety Code ®. These codes have the force of law only when they are adopted by a state, municipality, or other governing body; and the adoption frequently adapts the code to local situations and politics. Modern technology (smoke detectors, “addressable” local fire alarm systems, and other electronic devices) have simplified the function of these recommendations.
The 26 Recommendations also mean that fire department inspections and plans review must be performed by trained and educated personnel. Today, this means that fire inspectors must be familiar with automatic fire sprinkler systems, fire alarm systems, fire department operations, and development of facility emergency operations plans; they must also be capable public fire educators. To support this, firefighters must be familiar with the history of the fire service, including “landmark” fires like these hotel fires from 1946, so that they can explain not only what the fire and public safety codes require, but also why these requirements came to be. Firefighters must engage in an ongoing continuing education program for themselves, so that in performing their duties they will not be placing at unnecessary risk themselves, other firefighters, or the public.
MORE FROM THE FIRE ENGINEERING VAULT
- 1944 Hartford Circus Fire: Tent Burned “Like Tissue Paper”
- Conflagration at Chelsea, 1908
- The Saga of the Steamer
- 1945: Firefighting in War and Peace
- 24 Die in 1958 Factory Fire
- A Comedy of Errors
- 1964 Truck Explosion Offers Hazmat Preplanning, Response Lessons
- The Artist Behind Fire Engineering’s 1977 Centennial Covers
- Sleighride!
- More Fire Service History
