1953 — March 29, Fire, Littlefield’s Nursing Home, Pinellas County, near Largo, FL –33-35

1953 — March 29, Fire, Littlefield’s Nursing Home, Pinellas County, near Largo, FL –33-35

— 35 National Fire Sprinkler Association. F.Y.I. 1999, 6.
— 35 Babcock, Chester I. “Florida Nursing Home Fire.” Quarterly of [NFPA], 46/4, 4-1953.
–32 patients in the fire
— 1 nurse in the fire
— 1 rescued patient (one of a group) killed in transport vehicle in vehicular accident.
— 1 driver of vehicle transporting injured patients to a hospital in the vehicular accident.
— 33 Babcock. “A Place for Old Folks to Live.” Quarterly of…[NFPA], 51/1, July 1957, 37.
— 33 Barlay, Stephen. Fire: An International Report. Stephen Greene press, 1973, p. 193.
— 33 Bugbee. “Fire Protection Developments in 1953.” NFPA Quarterly, 47/3, Jan 1954, 213.
— 33 NFPA. Deadliest Fires in Facilities for Older Adults Since 1950 (website). March 2003.
— 33 U.S. Senate. Nursing Home Care in the United States (Senate Report 94-00). 1975, 459.

Narrative Information

Babcock in NFPA Quarterly: “Thirty-two patients and a nurse were trapped and killed by fire at the Littlefield’s Nursing Home near Largo, Florida that occurred in the early morning hours of March 29. In addition, one of a group of rescued patients being transported by car to a hospital suffered fatal injuries when the vehicle was involved in an accident. The driver of the car was killed.

“Those who have read the report of the Hillsboro Nursing Home fire in which twenty were killed will note a striking similarity between the factors responsible for the loss of life at the Missouri and Florida. Homes. There is no doubt from the experience at these two fires that the lives of elderly people with physical in¬firmities and declining mental faculties are seriously endangered by fire if housed in nursing homes having highly combusti¬ble interior finish, in homes where insuffi¬cient personnel are available to aid the patients in an emergency, and where no automatic protection is provided to assure prompt detection and extinguishment of fire.

“Location and Description of the Home

“Littlefield’s Nursing Home was located in Pinellas County, Florida, approximately four miles south of the town of Largo, seven miles south of the city limits of Clearwater and fifteen miles north of St. Petersburg. Situated by the side of a lightly traveled road and in the midst of grapefruit and orange groves, the attrac¬tively painted, rambling, 1-story nursing home, at least from outward appearance and location, would seem to assure a pleas¬ant and peaceful existence for its elderly occupants.

“…two 1-story buildings were the principal structures at the Home. The main building, where the fire originated and in which thirty-three deaths occurred, was 7,200 sq. ft. in area. This building housed 45 elderly patients, Mr. and Mrs. William L. Littlefield, and a nurse. When originally built it had been occupied as a fruit store… For twenty-odd years, however, the building had been used as a nursing home and from time to time, as money permitted, additions had been made. Since no archi¬tect’s plans were made and no construction permits were required, and since most of the work had been done piecemeal by Mr. Littlefield, it was impossible to obtain accu-rate information on all phases of the inte¬rior layout of the building. However, it was stated by Mr. Littlefield that the north and east portions of the main building (where most of the lives were lost) had been added about three years before the fire and that framing and exterior siding were wood while the ceiling, as well as room and corridor partitions, were constructed of highly combustible fiberboard which he did not recognize as involving any partic¬ular fire hazard. Generous amounts of com¬bustible fiberboard had also been used in older parts of the wholly combustible struc¬ture. A shallow concealed space formed by the combustible fiberboard ceiling and the wood roof extended over most of the building. Most of the patients’ rooms were bounded by an exterior wall and all such rooms were said to have had at least one outside window…

“Thirteen old men were housed in the 1,000 sq. ft. 1-story building located eleven feet south of the main building. This “men’s building,” also built about three years before the fire, was constructed of wood framing and exterior siding with fiberboard ceilings and interior wall finish.

“A middle-aged man and his invalid wife occupied the 1-story, 4-room cottage (wood framing and exterior siding, plasterboard walls and ceilings) located six feet from the northeast corner of the main building.

“Three house trailers were parked in a row parallel to and approximately twenty feet north of the north wall of the main building. One was occupied by a mainten¬ance man for the nursing home, another by a nurse. The third was apparently un¬occupied.

Fire Protection

“Located outside the limits of any organ¬ized community, the Littlefield’s Nursing Home (as were, and are, the several others in the vicinity) did not have the protection of a local fire department. The Largo, Clearwater and Florida Forest Service De¬partments had no hesitancy about sending equipment to a fire at any of the Homes but the effectiveness of apparatus from these departments was extremely limited because of long running distances and lack of an adequate water supply for fire fight¬ing when apparatus finally reached the scene.

“Automatic detection or sprinkler systems were not installed, no attendant was assigned to stay awake to discover any fire that might start during the night, and in fact the only semblance of fire protection at the Home consisted of three or four soda-acid extinguishers.

“Here then was a nursing home pregnant with conditions that could have been readi¬ly diagnosed by a qualified fire inspector as pointing inevitably to a loss of life disaster should fire occur at night. But, as far as could be determined, no fire inspector had ever made an official investigation of the home during its twenty-odd years of exist¬ence — so, when the night fire eventually did occur, thirty-three lives were lost.

The Fire

“Before retiring for the night at 11:00 P.M., March 28, the Littlefields had checked the premises and found everything in order. No evidence of fire was apparent at 2:30 when Mrs. Littlefield got up briefly to quiet a patient. It was about 3:15 A.M. when a patient knocked on their door and told them the Home was on fire. Smoke was then spreading throughout the main building and when a light switch was operated it was found that all lights in the building were out of order (apparently put out of service by the fire). The supply room was found to be heavily charged with smoke, with flames extending up a wall from the 15-inch space between the rear of a deep freeze unit and a wooden wall. Since smoke and heat were so intense that the supply room could not be entered, Mr. Littlefield carried a 2½ gallon soda-acid extinguisher outside and discharged it into the supply room through a ventilating fan opening. A second extinguisher was ob¬tained and discharged through a window broken by the heat, but, in the words of Mr. Littlefield, he soon “saw that it was folly” to attempt to control the fire with extinguishers, and went inside to see about getting the patients out.

“Mr. and Mrs. Littlefield, assisted by two attendants who had been aroused by the commotion rushed through the main building, opening doors and shouting to the patients to get out. But the occupants of the nursing home were old people, feeble, and in many instances without their full mental faculties. Consequently, when being awakened from a sound sleep, they reacted in a stunned and uncomprehending manner, and instead of proceeding into the smoke-filled dark corridors or climbing out ground floor windows, they stayed in their beds.

“The few bedridden were carried out but very little assistance could be offered to the others before flames, fanned by a 15 mph west wind, raced through the highly com¬bustible building.

“About this time it was discovered that fire was spreading over the exterior of the men’s building and entering windows broken by the heat. The thirteen old men in this building were herded to safety by Mr. Littlefield just before the building became completely enveloped.

“Typical of the reaction of some of the patients to rescue attempts was one old woman who was twice pulled from her room through a window but each time re¬turned. The heroic efforts of the handful of rescuers during the five or so minutes when rescue operations were possible are deserving of high praise. A nurse who made two or three trips into the main building was finally trapped and killed.

Fire Fighting

“Futile attempts to control the fire with soda-acid extinguishers have been de¬scribed. There were no further attempts at fire fighting until about 3:51 A.M., or when the first apparatus arrived. The Clearwater Fire Department had been telephoned at 3:36 A.M. by the proprietor of a nursing home across the street from the fire. A 235-gal. tank truck, accompanied by Chief Peter Treola, arrived at the scene about 15 minutes later but, by then, both the main building and the adjacent men’s building were a mass of flames and fire was extend¬ing to the cottage and trailers. Heat was so intense that siding on Wright’s Nursing Home, across the street, was blistering and had not water been used to cool this 1-story building, it too would undoubtedly have ignited.

“Immediately after the Clearwater Fire Department was called an attempt was made to telephone the Largo Department. However, in the brief interval between the two calls the telephone wires had burned and response of the Largo firemen was de¬layed until someone drove the three miles to the station to give the alarm. In all, five tank trucks eventually arrived at the scene, two from Clearwater, one from Largo and two small Florida Forest Service trucks. Considering the long distances apparatus had to travel to reach the scene, the limited amounts of water available and the time re¬quired to refill tanks at a Largo hydrant, the work done by fire fighters was com¬mendable. Damage at the exposed nursing home was confined to blistered paint, and half the cottage adjacent to the main build¬ing was saved.
Cause of the Fire

“Cause of the fire is always of prime im¬portance to the local citizenry in any disas¬ter causing large loss of life and, of course, there is no denying the axiom that if all causes of fire are removed, no fire can occur. The NFPA recognizes the impor¬tance of learning the cause of a fire, but in disasters of this nature, considers of even greater importance those factors respon-sible for the loss of life — factors which may often be totally unrelated to the cause.

“In this instance the cause of the fire at the time of this writing had been narrowed to the two possibilities (1) set by some pa¬tient who may have had pyromaniacal ten¬dencies, or (2) a fault in the electric motor of the deep freeze unit where the fire ap¬peared to have originated. Whichever the cause, however, it was not so much respon¬sible for the terrible loss of life as were the various fire protection weaknesses noted — highly combustible interior finish, absence of automatic protection, insufficient atten¬dants and remote public fire protection. These are the factors primarily responsible for the loss of life and these are the factors that if eliminated from nursing homes across the country will reduce the possibil¬ity of heavy loss of life in fires, whatever the cause.

Who Is to Blame!

“Following the pattern of all fires involv¬ing large loss of life, a rudely awakened public has demanded that responsibility be placed and that those guilty of permitting the conditions responsible for this disaster be called to account — little realizing that a large measure of responsibility for these thirty-five deaths rests on the public itself.

“From all information that could be ob¬tained no state, county or other public agency was specifically responsible for the fire safety of nursing homes in Florida, a condition condoned by the public. And what about Mr. and Mrs. Littlefield, pro¬prietors of the home? They were people with a deep affection and sympathy for the old people in their care but their concep¬tion of fire safety apparently had not prog¬ressed beyond the soda-acid extinguisher stage. True, the Littlefields assumed re¬sponsibility for the safety of these people when they took them in, but was it not the responsibility of the public to see that the Littlefields knew and were meeting their responsibilities? Surely the Littlefields might to some degree be excused if they assumed that their nursing home met mini¬mum safety standards; for had not public welfare agencies placed patients in their home!

“Without attempting to relieve any in¬dividual or agency of its share of blame for the lives lost at this fire, it seems clear that prime responsibility rests with the public, in this case, the citizens of Florida. Similar nursing home fires will continue to occur throughout the country until the public de¬mands adequate safety standards for nurs¬ing homes.

“The argument was voiced repeatedly at Largo that the cost of providing fire-safe nursing homes would put most of the homes out of business. Certainly safety costs money! So does food, but both are necessary for life on earth. There are two possible solutions: more money for nursing home operation or more efficient use of available money. If it is actually true that the cost of providing adequate fire safety will force nursing homes to close then the obvious conclusion is that nursing home operators must receive a larger fee for their service. In most cases, however, inadequate funds as the excuse for the ex¬istence of life-hazardous conditions can be proved to be groundless and it can be readily shown that a more enlightened use of the money and facilities at hand will af¬ford the old people in these homes the pro¬tection from fire they have a right to expect.

“At Largo, for example, it is a safe assumption that no one would have been trapped had a noncombustible rather than combustible interior finish been used, had the working time of attendants been ar¬ranged so that at least one person was on duty and awake at all times, and had a de¬pendable automatic fire alarm system been installed. Sprinkler protection, although perhaps involving more money than was immediately available, certainly could have been financed, and would have provided ideal protection.” (Babcock, Chester I. “Florida Nursing Home Fire.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 46, No. 4, April 1953, pp. 293-300.)

U.S. Senate: “Converted from a one-story roadside fruit store, Littlefield’s Nurs¬ing Home was the scene of the death of 33 of 45 residents. The fire started at 3 :15 a.m. in this rural, wood-frame structure with no fire protection system other than three fire extinguishers. The cause of the fire was undetermined. Adding to the death toll was the fact that not one attendant was on duty and the fire department did not reach the home for more than 30 minutes after the fire began.” (U.S. Senate.)

Newspaper

March 29: “Largo, Fla., March 29 (UP)–Fire, driven by a gusty wind crackled through a one-story old peoples home in a few disastrous minutes early today and 33 persons perished, most of them dying in their beds. Flames ‘higher than a telephone pole’ drove back rescuers. But 25 other aged and infirm residents got out or were helped out before the fire engulfed the rambling frame structure. Most of the survivors suffered burns. One…was in critical condition.

“Those burned to death were 32 men and women–all over 65–and a heroic nurse who saved one old woman and died trying to save another….

“Don Ferlita, deputy state fire marshal, said an investigation would start tomorrow. It was theorized that one of the residents obtained matches and accidentally started the fire which was first discovered in a store room. It was against the rules for the old people, some of them senile and most of them doddering, to have matches….” (UP. “33 Dead as Flames Destroy Florida Old Peoples Home.” Panama City News, FL. 3-30-1953, p. 1.)

March 30: “Largo, Fla., March 30 (UP)–Florida Gov. Dan McCarty today called for a crack-down on privately owned homes for the aged while investigators still searched the charred ruins of the Littlefield Nursing Home for the cause of a fire that killed 33 persons. McCarty announced from his office in Tallahassee that he would support a bill placing private nursing homes under the regulation of the State Board of Health. A similar measure was defeated by the Florida Legislature in 1951….

“In a report to the fire marshal, W. L. Littlefield, owner of the home, said several of the aged patients were led to safety but then dashed back into the flaming building during the confusion. Littlefield said he had the fire nearly under control before a gust of wind carried it unto the hallway. The blaze then flashed through the rambling one-story wooden building in 15 minutes. Littlefield’s report said there were six fire extinguishers in the home and eight outside exits.” (UP. “Governor Urges Tighter Nursing Homes Control.” Panama City News, FL. 3-31-1953, 1.)

April 1: “St. Petersburg, Fla., April 1 (UP)–Another persons died today from causes indirectly related to the fire at the Littlefield nursing home in Largo which killed 33 persons last Sunday. Mrs. Minnie Goethe, 70, fled the Littlefield fire and was enroute to the Pinellas County home in a car driven by county welfare Director Angus Smith. The car and an automobile driven by Felton Bennett of Largo collided, killing Smith instantly. Mrs. Goethe, who lived in Clearwater, died today from injuries suffered in the accident….

“Saunders [Sheriff] said indications now are that the fire was started by a short circuit in the wiring of a refrigeration unit in the nursing home supply room.” (UP. “Largo Fire Kills Indirectly.” Panama City News, FL. 4-2-1953, p. 7.)

April 27: “Clearwater, April 27 (AP)–A coroner’s jury today decided that the fire which took 33 lives at a Largo nursing home March 29 was of ‘undetermined origin.’ The jury said it was not prepared to charge anyone with culpable negligence.

“The six blue ribbon jurors found that provisions for inspection and control of such nursing homes were ‘utterly inadequate for the safety’ of patients and recommended utmost speed in taking protective measures to prevent a recurrence of the tragedy.

“The jury met five and one-half hours today considering its verdict and preparing its report. In a two-day session two weeks ago, it heard 23 witnesses discuss all phases of the fire.

“At the outset of the two day session, Sheriff Sid Saunders told the jury he was still working on his investigation and could not say when it might end. Previously, the sheriff said he was still checking arson angles of the blaze that swept the one-story frame home operated by W. L. Littlefield. The state fire marshal’s office also has not released a report of its investigation.

“Apparently mindful of these continuing investigations, the jury reported it ‘does not represent its findings in this case to be all conclusive.’

“Its request for urgent protective measures was directed ‘to all proper authorities, municipal county and state, including the Florida State Legislature presently in session’ The jury recommended that any regulatory measures adopted should be applied both to present facilities and those constructed later.” (AP. “Nursing Home Inspection is Scored by Jury.” Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL. 4-28-1953, p. 2.)

July 30, 1954: “Clearwater, July 30 (AP)–Bert Williams, Pinellas county sanitarian, said today he had banned a move to resume operation of the Littlefield Nursing Home, where 33 elderly persons died in a fire in March, 1953. Williams said the home opened several days ago in a location near the one destroyed by fire — about 10 miles from here, near Largo. He said the new place was well below standards, but did not specify in what ways it was substandard. Mrs. William Littlefield said she would comply with Williams’ order and already has begun moving the patients to other homes.” (AP. “Littlefield Nursing Home, Where 33 Died, Ordered Inoperative.” Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL. 7-31-1954, p. 10.)

Sources

Associated Press. “Littlefield Nursing Home, Where 33 Died, Ordered Inoperative.” Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL. 7-31-1954, p. 10. Accessed 10-4-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sarasota-herald-tribune-jul-31-1954-p-10/?tag

Associated Press. “Nursing Home Inspection is Scored by Jury.” Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL. 4-28-1953, p. 2. Accessed 10-4-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sarasota-herald-tribune-apr-28-1953-p-2/?tag

Babcock, Chester I. “A Place for Old Folks to Live.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 51, No. 1, July 1957, pp. 35-49.

Babcock, Chester I. “Florida Nursing Home Fire.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 46, No. 4, April 1953, pp. 293-300.

Barlay, Stephen. Fire: An International Report. Brattleboro, VT: Stephen Greene Press, 1973.

Bugbee, Percy. “Fire Protection Developments in 1953.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 47, No. 3, January 1954, pp. 213-217.

National Fire Protection Association. Deadliest Fires in Facilities for Older Adults Since 1950. Accessed 1-22-2009 at: http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=795&itemID=20732&URL=Research%20&%20Reports/Fact%20sheets/Nursing%20homes/Deadliest%20fires%20in%20facilities%20for%20older%20adults

National Fire Protection Association. “Multiple Death Fires, Nursing Homes and Homes for the Aged, United States., 1951-1974.” In U.S. Senate, Nursing Home Care in the United States. August 1975, pp. 535-546.

National Fire Sprinkler Association, Inc. F.Y.I. – Fire Sprinkler Facts. Patterson, NY: NFSA, November 1999, 8 pages. Accessed at: http://www.firemarshals.org/data/File/docs/College%20Dorm/Administrators/F1%20-%20FIRE%20SPRINKLER%20FACTS.pdf

United Press. “33 Dead as Flames Destroy Florida Old Peoples Home.” Panama City News, FL. 3-30-1953, p. 1. Accessed 10-4-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/panama-city-news-mar-30-1953-p-1/?tag

United Press. “Governor Urges Tighter Nursing Homes Control.” Panama City News, FL. 3-31-1953, p. 1. Accessed 10-4-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/panama-city-news-mar-31-1953-p-1/?tag

United Press. “Largo Fire Kills Indirectly.” Panama City News, FL. 4-2-1953, p. 7. Accessed 10-4-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/panama-city-news-apr-02-1953-p-7/?tag

United States Congress. Senate. Nursing Home Care in the United States (Senate Report 94-00). Washington, DC: Special Committee on Aging , Subcommittee on Long-Term Care, Aug, 1975.