1923 — Feb 23, Fire, Hatley Building rooming house, Kansas Ave., Kansas City, KS — 13
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 3-9-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–13 Jones. “The Second Most Tragic Fire…Wyandotte County, Historical Journal…Wyandotte.
–13 Joplin News Herald, MO. “13 Dead, 3 Missing in Fire.” 2-23-1923, p. 1.
–13 Lawrence Daily Journal-World, KS. “Hunt Cause of Fire.” 2-24-1923, p. 1.
–13 NFPA. “Fires in Which There Was Loss of Life.” NFPA Quarterly, V. 16, N. 4, Apr 1923.
–13 NFPA. “Loss of Life Fires in Rooming and Lodging Houses.” Quarterly, 34/3, Jan 1942, 257.
–13 NYT. “13 Die in Fire Trap Above a Garage; 21 Others Barely Escape…” 2-24-1923, p. 6.
Narrative Information
Jones: “….This building was located at 951-57 Kansas Avenue and was two stories in height. The building, which measured 75 feet across the front and 56 feet deep, housed a rooming house on the second floor, with a commercial garage on the first floor, which at the time of the fire housed 15 cars. Also in a diagram of the building in the Kansas City Star of 2/23/1923, it shows that a section on the east side of the building was occupied by a Millinery Shop, but further articles state this was actually a furniture store….
“The building was wood in construction with a stucco front. The upper story had eighteen rooms where thirty-five people resided. The family of Henry Harrelson occupied five of the rooms. Mr. Harrelson was a nephew of Tom C. Hatley who was the building owner….
“It was estimated that the fire had possibly started around 1:30 a. m. From Kansas City, Kansas Fire Department records, it is shown that the first alarm was turned at 1:42 a.m….
It was reported that within eight minutes after the arrival of the first fire companies the building was collapsing, undoubtedly trapping some of the occupants if they had not already been overcome by either the fire or smoke….
In the Kansas City Star, Vol. 43, No. 159, of 2/22/1923, it states the following: “Thomas C. Hattley, owner of the garage was sleeping in the garage office when the fire broke out. ‘I had dropped off to sleep,’ Hattley said ‘when I was awakened by the intense heat. I first thought of the stove, but it didn’t take me long to learn the building was on fire. I groped my way about the office, trying to reach the telephone. The heat was too much and I had to leave the building. I rushed up to a restaurant a little way up the street, where I told the persons there that the garage was on fire and to turn in an alarm. I haven’t the least idea what could have caused the fire. I’m sure there was no explosion.’
“A streetcar was coming along Kansas Avenue about that time and it stopped and the crew of the streetcar and others stood on the street and hollered to try and alert the residents….
“There had…been numerous reports that Mr. Hatley had been drinking the evening prior to the fire breaking out. Resentment was reportedly running high later in the day throughout the Armour- dale district against Mr. Hattley. At one time it was even feared that violence might break out and a group of police officers were stationed in the area around the burned building and of the residence of Mr. Hattley who actually lived across the street from the fire scene….
“The investigation on the fire got underway on Saturday morning. Several testified about Mr. Hattley drinking the evening prior to the fire…. The Fire Department had considered the building a firetrap. T. A. Flynn, city fire warden. (fire inspector) testified that he considered the Hattley building one of the greatest fire hazards in the city and that he repeatedly had notified Hattley to clean up certain rubbish and papers about the rooms. Mr. Hattley always would comply with his request Mr. Flynn said.
“In the Kansas City Star of Sunday, February 25, it quoted the following of Mr. Baird, the county attorney: “From the testimony thus far,” Mr. Baird said, “we find that the fire probably started in the rear of the garage office; that the lower part of the building was constructed partly of light inflammable boards; that Thomas Hattley, owner of the garage, was intoxicated at 11:30 o’clock, two hours before the fire started. ‘We find that Hattley went to sleep in his garage office about two feet from the gas stove; that his office was littered with rags and oil soaked waste. We are not in a position to say what new information we may get. The responsibility for the disaster rests largely on the community for allowing such a fire trap to exist’.” (Jones. “The Second Most Tragic Fire…Wyandotte Ct., Historical Journal of Wyandotte County, V. 2, No. 8, 2007.) [A list is provided of the fatalities. Seven were children aged from 2 to 8.]
National Fire Protection Association. “Fires in Which There Was Loss of Life.” :
“A fire which gutted a two-story frame building occupied as an 18-room rooming house with a garage below caused the death of thirteen persons. The building was a typical fire trap housing thirty-five persons on the upper floor. The entire first floor of the building was used as a garage and the fire, starting from unknown cause, progressed very rapidly.
“The unusual construction of the stairways trapped several persons in the building. The stairs led up to a center corridor on the second floor. At the head of the stairs, corridors branched in four directions. Persons run by the head of the stairs and on into the other side. Three bodies were found at the top of this stairway. The persons that did escape ran down the stairs before the fire had cut them off. The building collapsed fifteen minutes after the fire started.
“An ordinance prohibiting rooming houses over garages had been presented by the city building inspector some time before the fire but it was defeated.” (NFPA. “Fires in Which There Was Loss of Life.” NFPA Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 4, April 1923.)
National Fire Protection Association. “Loss of Life Fires in Rooming and Lodging Houses.”
“Rooming House, Kansas City, Kans., February 23, 1923. A flimsy two-story wooden structure used as an eighteen-room rooming house and with the added hazard of a garage on the first floor, took a toll of thirteen lives when an early morning fire destroyed the structure in fifteen minutes. One reason for the great loss of life was the unusual construction of the stairways, which led up to second floor at each end and at the head of which the corridors branched in four directions. Persons blinded by smoke might readily have passed by the head of the stairs and thus have gone on into thee burning portion while attempting to escape.”
Newspapers
Feb 23: “Kansas City, Kan., Feb 23 (AP). — Thirteen persons were burned to death and three others were reported missing in a fire here early today which destroyed a two-story frame rooming house at 951-7 Kansas avenue. The dead and unaccounted for are:
Mrs. Eliza Colston, 27; and children, Violet, 5, John Vernon, 2.
Theo Brown, 32, wife, Bessie, 23…children, Catherine, 8, Arthur, 6; Margaret, 4; Leo, 2.
Alonzo Bradford, 23; wife, Lillian, 20, and infant child.
Edgar Munyon, 17, and grandmother, Mrs.____ Munyon, 60.
Mrs. Anna Sargeant, 43, and grandson, Donald, 5.
Chester Slayton, 19.
“Thirteen bodies had been recovered at noon. Seven of these were children and six adults. The only bodies identified were those of Mrs. Colston and her two children.
“Between thirty and forty persons occupied rooms on the second floor of the building. Several escaped by jumping from windows.
“The first floor of the building was the H. & H. garage, in which about fifteen motor cars were destroyed. Fire Chief John McNary estimated the total property damage at $30,000. The fire was discovered shortly after 2 o’clock by persons on a passing street car. The crew and passengers shouted to those in the building to awaken them.
“Elisha Colston, a transfer man, escaped with his 5-year-old daughter. He was unable to bring out the rest of his family.
Stairs Collapsed.
“‘I thought I had my youngest child in my arms when I ran from the house,’ Colston said. ‘Instead, I had my oldest. My wife attempted to follow with the other two children. The building was burning so fast that the stairs collapsed as I went down the steps.’
“Mrs. Ella Sargent, who escaped from the burning building with her daughter, said she was positive her son, Donald, and her mother-in-law, Mrs. Anna Sargent, had perished in the fire. No trace has been found of the five members of the Brown family.
“T. C. Hattley, proprietor of the garage, was in the building when the fire was discovered. He attempted to turn in an alarm, but the flames prevented him reaching the telephone.
“The fire spread to a two-story frame dwelling house which was virtually destroyed.
“The authorities today were endeavoring to determine the origin of the fire….
“Unusual construction of the stairway is believed by firemen to have trapped many persons in the burning building. The stairs lead to a center corridor on the second floor, which branches out in four directions. Persons blinded by smoke coming from the west side of the building, it was pointed out, easily could run by the head of the stairs and on into the east side of the building. This, Colston said, is what happened to his wife and two children, who were directly behind him when he made his escape. He asserted he tripped on the head of the stairs and rolled down the length of the stairs to the front door, the while clutching his 7 year-old daughter, Helen in his arms….” (Joplin News Herald, MO. “13 Dead, 3 Missing in Fire.” 2-23-1923, p. 1.)
Feb 23: “Kansas City, Feb. 23 – Thirteen persons lost their lives early this morning when fire swept through a rooming house over a garage at 951 Kansas Avenue. Twenty-one other persons managed to make their escape with difficulty through the halls and down the stairs of the two-story frame building.” (New York Times. “13 Die in Fire Trap Above a Garage; 21 Others Barely Escape When Swift Flames Raze a Two-Story Frame Building.” 2-24-1923, p. 6.)
Feb 24: “Kansas City, Kan., Feb. 24. – Five witnesses testified this morning before a body of state officials investigating the origin of the fire here yesterday in which thirteen persons were burned to death. At the close of the session J. N. Baird, county attorney, said: ‘So far, it looks to me as if no one persons is criminally responsible. The responsibility rests on the community for allowing such a fire-trap to exist.
“Much of the testimony centered around the sobriety of Thomas C. Hattley, owner of the garage, who was in the garage office when the fire started. Three witnesses testified that Hattley had been drinking. Two of them said the gas stove in the garage office was extremely hot when they were in the office late Thursday night….Hattley…told officials yesterday he had taken two drinks of liquor Thursday night before the fire broke out. Mr. Hattley said he took the drinks for a cold from which he was suffering. He denied he was intoxicated….” (Lawrence Daily Journal-World, KS. “Hunt Cause of Fire. Hattley, Owner of the Kansas City Building Admitted Taking Two Drinks.” 2-24-1923, 1.)
Sources
Jones, Donald K. “The Second Most Tragic Fire in Wyandotte County, The Historical Journal Wyandotte County, Special Expanded Edition, Vol. 2, No. 8, 2007, pp. 349-353.
Joplin News Herald, MO. “13 Dead, 3 Missing in Fire.” 2-23-1923, p. 1. Accessed 8-26-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=166771531
Lawrence Daily Journal-World, KS. “Hunt Cause of Fire. Hattley, Owner of the Kansas City Building Admitted Taking Two Drinks.” 2-24-1923, 1. Accessed 8-26-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=170566198
National Fire Protection Association. “Fires in Which There Was Loss of Life.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 16, No. 4, April 1923, p. 397.
National Fire Protection Association. “Loss of Life Fires in Rooming and Lodging Houses.” Quarterly, Vol. 34, No. 3, Jan 1942, pp. 257-273.
New York Times. “13 Die in Fire Trap Above a Garage; 21 Others Barely Escape When Swift Flames Raze a Two-Story Frame Building.” 2-24-1923, p. 6. Accessed at: http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10A11FD3D5416738DDDAD0A94DA405B838EF1D3