1962 — Dec 20, St. Jude Nursing Home Fire, Hudson, MA — 9

–9 Hanson. “Hudson, Mass. Nursing Home Fire Takes Nine Lives.” Fire Engineering, 5-1-1963
–9 NFPA. “Multiple-Death Fires in Nursing Homes & Homes for the Aged, 1921-1978 (list).”
–9 US Senate. Nursing Home Care in the United States: Failure in Public Policy. Aug 1975, p. 534.

Narrative Information

Hanson: TRAGEDY struck the town of Hudson, Mass., (population 8,500) on December 20, with the horror of an early morning fire in the St. Jude Nursing Home. Privately operated for aged and invalid patients, it was located on Church Street just outside the mercantile district and about a two minute run from fire headquarters.

“The building involved was typical of many of these occupancies. Originally a large 10-room, single-family, frame dwelling, it had been converted for use as a nursing home in 1951. In 1955 a six-room addition was built onto the rear and at the time of the fire a major remodeling project was in progress, which included another addition to the rear east side….” (Hanson, Henry T. “Hudson, Mass. Nursing Home Fire Takes Nine Lives.” Fire Engineering, 5-1-1963.)

Sources

Hanson, Henry T. “Hudson, Mass. Nursing Home Fire Takes Nine Lives.” Fire Engineering, 5-1-1963. Accessed 9-29-2022 at: https://www.fireengineering.com/leadership/hudson-mass-nursing-home-fire-takes-nine-lives/#gref

National Fire Protection Association. “Multiple-Death Fires in Nursing Homes & Homes for the Aged, 1921-1978 (list).” In: United States United States Congress, House of Representatives. Boarding Home Fires: The Tip of the Iceberg (Hearing before the Subcommittee on Health and Long Term Care, Select Committee on Aging, 96th Congress, First Session, April 25, 1979). Washington, DC, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1979, pp. 312-314.

United States Senate. “Multiple death fires, nursing homes and homes for the aged, United States 1951-74, as reported to the NFPA Fire Analysis Department.” Pp. 533-534 in: US Senate, Subcommittee on Long-Term Care of the Special Committee on Aging, Nursing Home Care in the United States: Failure in Public Policy. Supporting Paper No. 5. The Continuing Chronicle of Nursing Home Fires. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, Aug 1975. Accessed 9-29-2022 at: https://www.aging.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/reports/rpt475.pdf