1982 — March 6, Westchase Hilton Hotel Fire/Smoke Inhalation, Houston, TX — 12
— 12 Associated Press. “Hotel fire claims its 12th life.” Galveston Daily News, 4-16-1982, 14B.
— 12 NFPA. Investigation Report: Westchase Hilton Hotel Fire, Houston, Texas… 11-9-1982.
— 12 National Fire Sprinkler Association. F.Y.I. 1999, 6.
Narrative Information
National Fire Protection Association: “On March 6, 1982, an early morning fire in the Westchase Hilton Hotel in Houston, Texas, resulted in the death of 12 hotel guests and serious injury to three others. The fire, which was reported to the Houston Fire Department at 2:25 a.m., occurred in a guest room located on the fourth floor of the hotel’s 13-story high-rise tower. The fire involved mainly the contents of one guest room, and exposed the fourth-floor corridor to severe heat and smoke conditions. Due to the building configuration, the fire was also able to extend horizontally to two adjoining rooms on the fourth floor. In addition, there was minor vertical exterior fire extension to three guest rooms on the fifth floor. Smoke was able to spread throughout the fire floor and, to varying degrees, to all levels of the building.
“All of the fatalities were occupants of the fourth floor, the floor of origin. Nine persons from two separate families occupying three fourth-floor rooms were among the 12 fatalities. Another occupant of the fourth floor died while attempting to escape and was found in the smoke-filled fourth-floor exit corridor. Two other fourth-floor occupants, rescued from the building by fire department personnel, died after hospitalization.
“The following are considered to be major factors contributing to the loss of life in this fire:
- Lack of detection and extinguishment of the fire in the incipient stage.
- The guest room door of the room of origin did not close completely contributing to the severe heat and smoke exposure to the fourth-floor corridor and other guest rooms.
- The lack of an evacuation alarm in the early stages of the fire to alert guests on the fire floor.”
(NFPA. Investigation Report: Westchase Hilton Hotel Fire, Houston, Texas… 11-9-1982, 1-2.)
Newspapers
March 7: “Houston (UPI) — A pre-dawn fire sent thick smoke through the Westchase Hilton Hotel Saturday [March 6] killing 10 people and injuring 30, five of them seriously. Officials said a clerk cut off the hotel’s alarm because its buzzing ‘annoyed’ him. Several of the 178 guests at the 13-story hotel, completed in November 1980, said no fire alarms sounded. One said he heard about 10 seconds of alarm. The hotel had no sprinkler system.
“The fire itself was confined to one room on the fourth room registered to Scott Peterson, a cook at the Hilton Hotel in Santa Fe, N.M. He was not injured. Fire officials were investigating the possibility a cigarette started the blaze.
“Eight of the dead were in fourth floor rooms and two more bodies were found in a stairwell. All died of smoke inhalation. The dead were a Louisiana family of four and a Dallas woman who all were in town to attend a wedding. Also dead were five members of a Gulf Oil Corp. family awaiting transfer to Venezuela. The dead were identified as Ronald Pabst Sr., 36 of Metairie, La.; his wife, Cecile Marie, 30; their sons Jonathan, 3, and Ronald Jr., 5, and Susan K. Ilvento, 26, of Dallas. Also killed were Gulf researcher Dr. Hernando Espanol, who medical examiners said was about 46; wife, Isabell, about 35; daughters Sonia, about 21, and Luz Adriana, about 13, and Espanolo’s mother-in-law, Isabelle Hernandez, about 70….
“The fire was reported at 2:28 a.m. and was extinguished 80 minutes later. Four occupants of the Westchase’s fourth floor, unable to get through the corridor thick with black smoke, had to break windows and crawl down fire department ladders. Other guests managed to escape down stairs.
“Deputy Fire Chief Leonard Mikeska said Clerk James Harvey, who had not been briefed on the fire alarm system, aborted the alarm several times over a period of several minutes because he did not know what the buzzer ringing on the switchboard was…Mikeska said the cutoff caused the alarm to reset and after three minutes it went off again. He said the worker told him he cut off the alarm the second time and possibly even a third time before he realized there was a fire. The alarm system was checked by the manufacturer several hours after the fire. Mikeska said it worked perfectly.
“Arson Investigator Richard Benson said that when Harvey repeatedly silenced the buzzer, it also restarted the hotel ventilation system, sucking smoke throughout the hotel. ‘The main conclusion that we drew from the interview with Mr. Harvey was that the training that he’d gone through, that was conducted by the hotel, was not thorough enough,’ Benson said….” (UPI/Bruce Nichols. “Houston fire claims 10.” Brownsville Herald, TX, 3-7-1982, p. 1.)
March 9: “Houston (AP)….Deputy Fire Chief Leonard Mikeska said the fire probable started in an overstuffed chair in Room of the Westchase Hilton and that a cigarette was a possible cause.” (Associated Press. “Houston hotel fire believed accident.” Port Arthur News, TX, 3-9-1982, 5A.)
March 17: “Houston (AP) — A desk clerk and the manager of the Westchase Hilton face misdemeanor charges stemming from fire code violations connected to a March 6 blaze that killed 11 people. The charges, filed in municipal court by the Fire Marshal’s office Tuesday [March 16] allege that clerk James Harvey failed to report the fire immediately and that manager Erich Huemer did not submit an evacuation plan to the city office.
“Marion Leach, Houston’s chief prosecutor, said each charge carries maximum penalties of $200 fines. Trial was set for March 31. Hotel officials declined comment.
“Fire Marshal Eddie Corral said his office had asked officials five times to file an evacuation plan since the hotel opened in 1980. He said that of 543 high-rise buildings in Houston, 267 have submitted such plans and 101 have been approved…” (Associated Press. “Hotel fire charges filed.” The Paris News, 3-17-1982, 5A.)
March 17: “Houston (AP)….The latest victim [or the Westchase fire] 35-year-old Patrick Belmon of Paris France — died last weekend….[date of article is Wednesday March 17].” (Associated Press. “Clerk faces fire charges.” Odessa American, TX, 3-17-1982, p. 2A.)
March 18: “Houston (AP) — A medical examiner says some of the 11 victims in the Westchase Hilton Hotel fire had high levels of cyanide in the blood. In his formal ruling issued Wednesday, Dr. Joseph Jachimcyzk said the victims probably inhaled the toxic fumes given off by burning textiles. He said further lab tests were planned.” (Associated Press. “Victims breathed cyanide.” Port Arthur News, 3-18-1982, p. 7.)
April 16: “Houston (AP) — The twelfth victim of a fire that raged through a hotel while a desk clerk repeatedly turned off an alarm had died of her injuries, hospital officials said Thursday. Pearl Drakert, 66, had been in critical condition in Rosewood General Hospital’s intensive care unit since she was admitted after the blaze March 6, a spokeswoman said. Mrs. Drakert died Wednesday [April 14] at 11:35 a.m. The spokeswoman said her injuries stemmed from smoke inhalation.
“Misdemeanor charges were filed but dropped against Harvey [hotel desk clerk] and hotel manager Erich Hueme.” (Associated Press. “Hotel fire claims its 12th life.” Galveston Daily News, 4-16-1982, 14B.)
Sources
Associated Press. “Clerk faces fire charges.” Odessa American, TX, 3-17-1982, p. 2A. Accessed 5-18-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/odessa-american-mar-17-1982-p-2/?tag
Associated Press. “Hotel fire charges filed.” The Paris News, 3-17-1982, 5A. Accessed 5-18-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/paris-news-mar-17-1982-p-8/?tag
Associated Press. “Hotel fire claims its 12th life.” Galveston Daily News, 4-16-1982, 14B. Accessed 5-18-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/galveston-daily-news-apr-16-1982-p-28/?tag
Associated Press. “Houston hotel fire believed accident.” Port Arthur News, TX, 3-9-1982, 5A. Accessed 5-18-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/port-arthur-news-mar-09-1982-p-5/?tag
Associated Press. “Victims breathed cyanide.” Port Arthur News, 3-18-1982, p. 7. Accessed 5-18-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/port-arthur-news-mar-18-1982-p-7/?tag
National Fire Protection Association. Investigation Report: Westchase Hilton Hotel Fire, Houston, Texas, March 6, 1982, 23 Fatalities. Quincy, MA: NFPA, Nov 9, 1982 revision.
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 International/Bruce Nichols. “Houston fire claims 10.” Brownsville Herald, TX, 3-7-1982, p. 1. Accessed 5-18-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/brownsville-herald-mar-07-1982-p-1/?tag