Twenty-eight Lives Lost in Boston Lodging House
GENERAL NEWS FEATURES
Twenty-eight men lost their lives and injured in a cheap lodging house fire in Boston on December 2. The holocaust took place at 2 o’clock a. m. in the Hotel Arcadia, a 15, 20 and 25 cent all-night lodging house at 1202 Washington street, corner of Laconia street, in the center of the South End tenement section. The building was constructed of brick, five stories high, with a mansard roof and covers 3,900 square feet of ground, with an 80-foot frontage on Washington street and an L in the rear. It has one wooden spiral stair case in front and one balcony fire escape on its rear end. There were accommodations for 213 men. On the fatal night 148 men had registered. The rear end of the building is on an alley; the street floor is occupied by a saloon, shooting gallery, bootblack stand and a tobacco store. The four upper floors were occupied as a lodging bouse, on which $5,000 was recently expended for improvements. The one entrance to the lodging house is on Washington street. The next building north is also a lodging house, and the Grand Opera House is next. A broad Might of stairs leads to the office, a small room on the second Moor. Back of the office is a reading room, and the rest of the space on this floor and the two floors above contain small rooms with flimsy partitions of matched boards which reach only part way to the ceilings of tile high studded rooms. Two beds were in each of the small rooms. The fifth floor was one big dormitory filled with double-deck iron beds, located as close together as it was possible to have them. The 15 cent lodgers occupied this floor.
The patrons of the Arcadia were men who had poorly paid jobs, many of them derelicts who were transients and registered under false names. At the time of the fire 19 occupied 25 cent beds on the second and third floors, 40 occupied 20 cent beds on the fourth and 80 15 cent cent beds beds on on the fifth floor. The hotel was conducted by the Lyons Hotel Company, which has eight other similar hotels in Boston and many in other large cities. The building was provided with chemical fire extinguishers, but none were used. The only means of reaching the fire escape on the second and third floors was through a small bathroom. On each floor was a sign with the words “hire Escape” with an arrow pointing in both directions, and a red light was over each sign. These signs proved to be snares, as neither of the arrows pointed in the direction of the fire escape and some were probably lured to their death by them. There were no fire escapes on three sides of the building.
The fire started in a small closet under the stairs, in which waste and a refuse barrel were kept. It is supposed to have been caused by spontaneous combustion. It was discovered by a man in the reading room, who did not have money enough to obtain a bed. He notified the night clerk and watchman. who were talking in the office. They gave the alarm and claim to have sounded the house fire alarm, but the lodgers declare that no alarm was sounded on that system. All the lodgers were aroused by the clerk and watchmen. A citizen passing on the street sent in the regular city fire alarm. The flames, fanned by a draft from the street, swept up the stairway to the top of the building, where most of the deaths took place. Not much damage was caused by fire, the stairs being only scorched. Most of the deaths were due to suffocation. All was over in 10 minutes from the time the fire was discovered. On retiring the lodgers were compelled to lock their clothing in a box at the foot ot their beds, and most of them had no time to dress. Nearly all of those rescued and those whose lives were lost were naked or nearly so. Only 21 of the dead have so far been identified. Only the top floor had a means of escape. The fiat roof of an adjoining building, on which manycrowded, had a skylight, so they could not enter the building. A number jumped across an alley to an adjoining building, but others failed to reach the other building and fell into the alley badly injured. Lack of fire escapes was the principal cause of so many deaths.
The first alarm was at 2.05 o’clock, followed by a second at 2.10 and a third at 2.12. Engine company No. 3. Captain M. Boyle, was the first on the scene, followed by Truck 3, Capt. Wm. Coulter. Both companies are located in the same station on Harrison street in the rear of the burning building, and approached the fire through Laconia street. The firemen saw the lodgers trying to escape before they reached the fire, and got their jumping nets ready while en route. These were spread and saved many lives. Inside of a minute Truck 3 had three ladders raised on the Washington street end of the building, and a minute later two more ladders were run up on the Laconia street side. Engine company 3 worked its way with a line of hose up the burning stairway, extinguishing the fire as it went, and with Engine 22 and other companies which responded on the first alarm, made short work of the fire. Deputy Chief P. F. McDonough and District Chief J. T. Byron, whose headquarters are close by, were among the first to arrive. Much credit is given the fire department by the press and public for its excellent work in saving lives and extinguishing the lire, in which the police rendered much assistance. For the first time canvas sacks for lowering bodies at fires were used bytile department.
This is the worst holacaust in the annals of Boston. Its next largest was the great fire in 1872 when 10 firemen and four citizens were killed. At the recent fire a heavy rain caused the dense smoke to settle about the building, which hampered the firemen in their work. There was also some delay in shutting off the power of the elevated street railway opposite the building on Washington street. Many rescues were made byfiremen climbing ladders and passing rescued men down. Several investigations by the grand jury, the building, health, and other city’ departments are now in progress.
