1923 — April 27, Fire, Tenement Building, East 109th Street, New York, NY    –12-13

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 3-7-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–12-13  Blanchard. One NFPA source notes 12 deaths and another notes 13. A next day

  newspaper source notes 12, while also noting that one tenant (David Braunstein) was

  taken to a hospital “in a dying condition.” We could not locate a report on his death or

  recovery. If he died the death toll would be 13.

–13  NFPA. “Loss of Life Fires in Apartments and Tenements.” Quarterly, 34/3, Jan 1942, p238.

–12  Daily Messenger, Canandaigua, NY. “12 Perish In N.Y.C. Tenement…Fire.” 4-27-1923, 1.

–12  NFPA.  “Two Tenement Holocausts.” Quarterly of the NFPA, V. 17, No. 1, July 1923, p66.

 Narrative Information

National Fire Protection Association, “Two Tenement Holocausts.” 17/1, July 1923, p. 26: “The tenement at 69 East 109th Street, involved in the fire of April 27, 1923, was an old type brick structure with a bakery, tailor shop and shoe repair shop on the first floor and apartments on the upper four floors, four families to a floor….The stairs were located in the center of the building and enclosed in a 16 in. brick shaft, but with only wooden, plain glass paneled, doors to the floors. There was also a wooden lath and plaster air shaft in this stair shaft.

“The building had two outside vertical ladder type fire escapes, one at the front and one at the rear.. As the fire started at the rear end of the hallway at the foot of the stairs, it cut off the front from the rear portion of the building. The fire was first noticed by a person across the street at 3:17 A. M. The fire had evidently been burning for some time. The loss of life was undoubtedly caused by suffocation before the people had any opportunity to escape. Although…the fire escapes were of decidedly sub-standard type, many people were able to escape by this means. Many others were rescued by the firemen. Twenty persons were injured, largely from burns and not from falling or jumping. The twelve bodies were removed from the upper floor.

“The importance of having stairs of fire-resistive construction, and the exclusion of all other shafts from the stair shaft is apparent.  The installation of fire doors at all openings from the stair shaft to the interior of a building is also an obvious necessity.  The lessons of this fire have long since been learned.  The defects which contributed to loss of life in this case have for a long time been prohibited by law in the erection of new buildings.” (NFPA Quarterly, 17/1, 1923, pp. 66-68.)  

National Fire Protection Association. “Loss of Life Fires in Apartments and Tenements.”    

“Tenement, New York, N.Y., April 27, 1923. An early morning fire resulted in the suffocation of thirteen persons before they had an opportunity to escape. Many other occupants escaped by rear and front fire escapes when the central stairway was cut off by flames. (Quarterly, July, 1923, p. 66.).” (Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 34, No. 3, Jan 1942, p. 238.)                                

Newspaper

April 27: “New York, April 27. – Twelve persons perished and 20 were injured in a three-alarm fire which swept through the upper floors of a five story tenement house early Friday. Most of the victims were women and Children. One whole family was annihilated. This was the family of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Kuxis, both of whom were killed along with their two children, Bertha 21, and David 19.

“Mrs. Mandelbaum and her six children all met death on the top floor. The young victims were Minnie, 15; Michael 12; Morris, 10; Benjamin 8; Alexander 4; and a baby boy aged 18 months.

“Mrs. David Braunstein, a tenant on the third floor, also burned to death. Her husband was taken to the hospital in a dying condition.

“The cause of the fire was not determined. The blaze was put out after burning fiercely for two hours.

“One of the persons rescued by the firemen and police was Anna Solomon, a 75 year old cripple. They carried her to safety.

“Miss Bertha Kuxis was to have been married to Edward Aaron on June 17. She had spent Wednesday visiting her sweetheart’s family and Thursday visiting another family in Harlem. She returned to her home Thursday night and six hours later was a corpse.” (Daily Messenger, Canandaigua, NY. “12 Perish In N.Y.C. Tenement House Fire.” 4-27-1923, p. 1.)

Sources

Daily Messenger, Canandaigua, NY. “12 Perish In N.Y.C. Tenement House Fire.” 4-27-1923, p. 1. Accessed 3-7-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/canandaigua-daily-messenger-apr-27-1923-p-1/

National Fire Protection Association. “Loss of Life Fires in Apartments and Tenements.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 34, No. 3, Jan 1942, pp. 237-238, 244, 246-247.

National Fire Protection Association. “Two Tenement Holocausts.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 17, No. 1, July 1923, p. 66.