1943 — Dec 24, Standard Hotel lodging fire, West 42nd St. between 9th and 10th, NYC NY–19
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 4-19-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
— 19 Times Record, Troy, NY. “Nineteenth Victim of Hotel Blaze Expires.” 12-29-1943, p. 1.
— 17 National Fire Protection Assoc. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003).
Narrative Information
Dec 24: “New York, Dec. 24. – (AP) – Fourteen persons died and at least 10 others were injured today when a fire mushroomed through a “Bowery type” lodging house known as the Standard Hotel, a five-room structure on 42nd street between Ninth and Tenth avenues. Deputy Fire Chief Gerhardt Bryant said the toll might go even higher. Three bodies remained on the third floor and one on the fourth when the fire was brought under control two hours after it broke out at 2 p. m.
Ten injured persons were taken to Roosevelt Hospital.
“As thousands of persons, many drawn from their Christmas shopping, watched, two persons were seen to leap from the flaming brick building. A man walked down a fire escape with his clothes aflame and collapsed on the sidewalk.” (El Paso Herald-Post, TX. “14 Dead, 10 Hurt in Hotel Fire.” 12-24-1943, p. 1.)
Dec 25: “New York (AP) – In one of the worst Christmas Eve tragedies in New York City’s history, 17 persons perished late yesterday when a fire mushroomed rapidly through the five-Story Standard Hotel. Some of the victims were killed in leaps from windows, but most died in the flames. Only five of the victims had been identified last night.
“The hotel, located on 42nd Street between 9th and 19th Avenues, was described by William Wilson, commissioner of housing and buildings, as a ‘Bowery type lodge.’ Police said the brick structure had 248 beds. Charles Spath, a roomer, said however that the place accommodated about 270 persons, with some sleeping days and others at night in the same beds.
“Thousands of Christmas shoppers witnessed the fire. Firemen handicapped by frigid weather that turned water underfoot into ice and by the rapid headway the fire made at its start, brought it under control in two hours.
“A search of the smouldering ruins disclosed at first two bodies, and then others in groups of two or three.
“A policeman expressed belief the fire probably started from a cigarette.” (Times Record, Troy, NY. “17 Perish, 16 Injured as Flames Sweep N.Y. Hotel.” 12-25-1943, 1.)
Dec 28: “New York (AP) — The death toll in the Christmas Eve blaze which swept through the Standard Hotel had climbed to 18 yesterday as Fire Marshall Thomas P. Brophy prepared to question witnesses in an attempt to get a complete explanation of the blaze. A preliminary investigation, Brophy said, showed that the fire started in a second floor storeroom of the building, described as a ‘Bowery type lodge.’ The cause of the blaze has not been determined. Three of the injured still were in critical condition last night. Eleven of the dead have not yet been identified.” (Times Record, Troy, NY. “Eighteenth Victim of Hotel Blaze Dead.” 12-28-1943, p. 2.)
Dec 29: “New York (AP) – The toll from the roaring blaze that gutted the five-story Standard Hotel on West 42nd Street Christmas Eve mounted to 19 yesterday with the death of James Grant, 63. The list of unidentified dead was reduced to nine with the identification of John Ferrar, 56, a dishwasher.” (Times Record, Troy, NY. “Nineteenth Victim of Hotel Blaze Expires.” 12-29-1943, p. 1.)
Sources
El Paso Herald-Post, TX. “14 Dead, 10 Hurt in Hotel Fire.” 12-24-1943, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/el-paso-herald-post/1943-12-24
National Fire Protection Association. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003). (Email attachment to B. W. Blanchard from Jacob Ratliff, NFPA Archivist/Taxonomy Librarian, 7-8-2013.)
Times Record, Troy, NY. “17 Perish, 16 Injured as Flames Sweep N.Y. Hotel.” 12-25-1943, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=14218675&sterm
Times Record, Troy, NY. “Eighteenth Victim of Hotel Blaze Dead.” 12-28-1943, p. 2. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=14219231&sterm=standard+hotel+fire
Times Record, Troy, NY. “Nineteenth Victim of Hotel Blaze Expires.” 12-29-1943, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=13633251&sterm=fire