1977 — Dec 10, Wenonah Park Apt. Bldg. fire (light fixture short-circuit), Bay City, MI– 10

–10 Jones, Jon C. “A Brief Look at the Hotel Fire Record.” Fire Journal (NFPA), May 1981, 41.
–10 National Fire Protection Association. The 1984 Fire Almanac. 1983, p. 138.
–10 Rogers, David L. “Blaze in Bay City,” Firehouse, March 1978, p. 68.
–09 Record-Eagle, Traverse City, MI. “Bay City Fire Started by Electric Short,” 12-17-1977, 4.

Narrative Information

Rogers: “In Bay City, Michigan, the Wenonah Park Building, 1 96-year-old landmark hotel which had been converted to 103 apartments caught fire December 10, 1977. The final death toll was 10, and more than 40 were injured….

“There were 24 men on duty with Fire Chief Donald J. Besaw’s department when the first call on the Wenonah fire came at 7:44 A.M., December 10. The temperature stood at just a few degrees above zero, and there was a light covering of snow and ice on streets and buildings in the east-central Michigan town. There were 141 tenants and perhaps 20 guest in the four-story brick structure…

“The fire had about a half-hour start when the first call came in from a woman tenant on the second floor of the building. She was not aware of the blaze and called the police to complain of ‘a disturbance in the hall.’ Although lights on the third floor had flickered about 7:00 A.M. and the fire was discovered by tenants about 7:15 A.M., no one called the fire department. One man had even remarked about the hall smoke to early-morning patrons at the Red Lion restaurant across the street from the apartment building. It was a Saturday morning and the building’s residents were slow in waking up.

“Several persons on the third floor were trying to alert those in other apartments by banging on doors. A man who was driving by spotted flames and rushed inside to help. But still nobody called the fire department. By the time police arrive in response to the trouble call, there was chaos. Screaming residents, some naked in the freezing air, were hanging from windows, pleading for help from passersby….

“The Wenonah, built in 1908 and proclaimed ‘as nearly fireproof as it is possible,’ had no fire alarm boxes, automatic sprinkler system, or even smoke detectors. It had 13 standpipe hose storage closets – one on the ground floor and four on each of the other three floors. There were four fire escapes, accessible only to a few units on each corner.

“When police entered the building, the standpipe hoses were stretched for use on the second floor. One gate valve couldn’t be turned on and another could not be charged. Use of one hose by a civilian allowed some residents time to get out. That was the only fire-suppression effort undertaken in almost the first hour after the fire was reported.

“The Bay City Fire Department’s first response…was estimated to be within a minute after the 7:44 A.M. call, since fire headquarters is only 12 blocks from the old hotel….

“Fire inspectors later determined that the fir was started by a short-circuit in a light fixture on the third floor, about midway down the nearly 200-foot long hall. The fire spread under a dropped ceiling, and by 7:15 A.M. was producing billowing black smoke and flames. The fire quickly spread before the alarm was given, trapping residents who had not escaped immediately. It raced the 155 feet on the L-shaped part of the building on Saginaw Street and turned the corner to a 400-foot stretch on Water Street after engulfing the 200-foot section on Center Avenue.

“The building, which took up three-quarters of a block, included the lobby of the old hotel, a ballroom which had been a center of civic and social activity, a bar, offices, a radio station, and 10 stores and shops on the first floor. The 103 apartments on the other three floors had been converted from 306 former hotel rooms.

“Fueled by non-fire-resistant wood paneling and carpeting in the halls, installed when the apartments were constructed in 1970, the fire moved swiftly up and down the open stairwells….As firefighters arrived, they were immediately caught-up in the rescue efforts. ‘There was no fire suppression; it was all rescue’….

“Many residents of the upper floors were aged pensioners and retarded persons, housed under a state contract that paid rent subsidies. Other residents included a number of divorced women and small families. There were 32 children in the building.

“As flames poured from virtually every window on the upper floors, fire-fighters began to rescue the frantic residents on sills, ledges, and roofs. Firefighters accomplished most of the rescues using the 24-foot extension ladders on the three pumpers and the three 100-foot aerial trucks… A number of persons jumped or fell while hanging on and waiting for rescue. One woman called, ‘Catch my baby!’ to a civilian below. He refused, apparently afraid he would drop the child, and told her to wait for firemen to rescue her. A mother jumped from the roof, leaving three small children to be rescued. She broke both her legs when she hit the ground. A patrolman tried to catch an elderly woman who jumped from a third-floor window but couldn’t reach her in time…The woman survived.

“Fortunately, firefighters were soon assisted by three bucket trucks from Michigan Bell Telephone Co., three city light-department bucket trucks, and even a snorkel unit owned by a tree-service firm….

“Two persons who had jumped were dead and three more bodies were soon found inside the building….

“In addition to…[a] frozen hydrant, the cold weather caused other fire-fighting problems. Water from the hoses froze on the streets and Assistant Chief Ayotte had to call for a salt truck to alleviate the problem. Fire-fighters had to sit on the icy streets to control the hoses. Pump gauges froze and gave false readings. The teams using air packs while searching inside the hotel, came out and could not be sent back in because moisture in the packs froze, rendering them inoperable….

“At 10:15 A.M. the roof collapsed [firefighters were pulled out earlier for fear of a collapse]. About six hours after the fire began, it finally was brought under control….

“The search for bodies resumed with daylight on Sunday and four more victims were found, making a total (at that point) of nine fatalities. The tenth victim died in a hospital burn-unit one month later. One 79-year-old woman had been found lying across her doorway into the hall, A man was found with his hand on the telephone. Others discovered were in their apartment, some still in bed….most of the victims died of smoke inhalation….” (Rogers, David L. “Blaze in Bay City,” Firehouse, March 1978, pp. 68-73.)

Newspapers

Dec 11, United Press International: “Bay City, Mich. (UPI) – A flash fire roared through an aging downtown landmark hotel Saturday, sending flames from every window and forcing scores of screaming residents to leap for their lives in zero-degree temperatures. At least six were killed and 11 others were missing. Authorities said they would wait until Sunday morning before searching for more possible victims beneath the partially collapsed ruins of the four-story Wenonah Park building, a combination apartment building and hotel that housed numerous welfare recipients….

“Sixty others were injured in the blaze, which spread so quickly that numerous barefoot residents clad only in night clothes could not reach the two fire escapes. They clung to window ledges screaming for help before dropping to the ground that was covered with snow and ice. ‘People were jumping from everywhere,’ a police dispatcher said….” (The Salina Journal, KS. “Michigan Hotel Blaze Kills Six; 11 Missing,” Dec 11 1977, p. 1.)

Dec 17, United Press International: “Bay City (UPI) – An electrical short, not arson, was the most likely cause of a flash fire that killed nine residents and injured 60 others at the Wenonah Park Hotel, authorities said Friday. Det. Sgt. Richard Hofmann, a state fire investigator, told a news conference that studies of debris from the 70-year-old downtown landmark revealed evidence of a wiring failure. ‘There was very severe shorting inside a conduit where copper wire melted,’ Hofmann said. ‘This would indicate heat of 2,000 degrees needed to melt the copper, and it appears this could have caused the fire’.” (Record-Eagle (Traverse City, MI). “Bay City Fire Started by Electric Short,” Dec 17, 1977, p. 4.)

Sources

Jones, Jon C. “A Brief Look at the Hotel Fire Record.” Fire Journal (NFPA), May 1981, pp. 38-41.

National Fire Protection Association. The 1984 Fire Almanac. Quincy, MA: NFPA, 1983.

Record-Eagle, Traverse City, MI. “Bay City Fire Started by Electric Short,” 12-17-1977, p. 4. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=64069317

Rogers, David L. “Blaze in Bay City,” Firehouse, March 1978, pp. 68-73.