1956 — Dec 23, Fire, Xmas tree wiring short circuit, Doctors’ Hospital, Minneapolis, MN–7

–7 Fergus Falls Daily Journal, MN. “Smoke Kills 7 in Hospital Fire.” 12-24-1956, p. 1.
–7 Wilson. “Institutional Fire Protection Is Different.” Quarterly, V55, N1, July 1961, 35-36.

Narrative Information

Wilson: “The need for care in all phases of protection, and particularly in selection and use of interior finish, is emphasized by this December 1956 case. A Christmas tree in the lobby of the fire-resistive Doctors’ Hospital in Minneapolis, Minn., ignited from a short circuit in electrical wiring during the evening. The rush of heat from the burning tree ignited wood paneling in the lobby, and fire rushed toward a stair tower that had been designed to be completely enclosed. However, at the time of this fire, the door at the bottom of the stairs was blocked open as were doors at each upper floor level. Flames poured into the stairway, and a wave of hot searing gases rushed upward. Nurses on each floor sped to close the life-saving doors. Those on the second, fourth, and fifth floors succeeded. The nurse on the third floor tripped and fractured her skull. Heat and the products of combustion pushed into this floor and into the rooms of seven patients who ere killed. Fire fighters were forced to use ladders to evacuate twelve other patients during the sleet storm which was in progress.

“What happened here? There was part of the built-in protection in fire-resistive construction and enclosure of stairways, but the safety of the occupants had been jeopardized by the combustible paneling in the lobby, by inadequate staff training, as evidenced by the blocked open doors, and by the absence of automatic sprinkler protection which would have had the capability of extinguishing the fire before it spread.” (Wilson, Rexford. “Institutional Fire Protection Is Different.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 55, No. 1, July 1961, pp. 28-36.)

Dec 24: “Minneapolis (AP) – Smoke inhalation took a seventh life today as Fire Chief Reynold Malmquist said ‘possible violations’ of fire regulations occurred at Doctors Memorial Hospital, Minneapolis, where a Christmas tree touched off a flash fire early Sunday. The latest victim was Mary Stein, 81, Minneapolis, a patient. Six other patients died in the fire. David Rasmussen, 13-days-old, an incubator baby died a few hours after the fire in another hospital. Doctors there listed his death as due to a congenital heart condition.

“Six other survivors are still in critical condition. More than 50 were driven from the building. Malmquist said a check of ‘possible violations’ would include why fire doors in the 44-year-old 125-bed capacity hospital were not closed when, the fire started. ‘If those fire doors had not been open,’ Malmquist said, the smoke and fire would have been confined to the lobby and would not have affected any of the patients.’

“City and state fire authorities met today. Malmquist said the meeting would consider what action the hospital had taken regarding previously issued orders on fire prevention, including installation of a new fire escape. A fire door leading to a wooden tower enclosing a fire escape on one side of the building was propped open, said Robert T. Palmer, Minneapolis fire prevention chief. Malmquist said fire doors on the third and fourth floors also were propped open, permitting smoke to travel.

“The fire, set off by defective wiring in Christmas tree lights, roared up through a funnel-like stairway off the lobby of the hospital….

“Firemen talked numerous patients from leaping from windows in the five-story structure. Some of the patients were knotting bedsheets and dropping them out of windows, said Miss Aagot Ramberg, an X-ray technician. More than half a hundred – the holiday load at the hospital – were distributed among other institutions, the great majority to Minneapolis General Hospital, where 44 were being cared for today. Only one suffered burns.

“The fire, which broke out about 3 a. m., was first noticed by Miss Frances Menefee, about 65, the night telephone switchboard operator. She summoned aid. Nurses got most of the doors on second floor closed, saving many patients from suffocating. The deaths occurred on the third floor.

“On the top floor a dramatic fight was waged by two nurses, Mrs. Cecilia Janick and Mrs. Barbara Brassil, for the lives of half a dozen babies. Water-soaked diapers were put over the infants faces to keep them from inhaling the deadly smoke. Occasionally the women would hang their heads out the window to gasp some fresh air themselves.

“Three of the fatalities occurred at the scene, the others died of smoke inhalation, on arrival at General. Former Fergus resident Green, a major in the Salvation Army, was one of those who suffocated in his bed. He was held captive there by raised traction splints fitted for his broken legs….” (Fergus Falls Daily Journal, MN. “Smoke Kills 7 in Hospital Fire.” 12-24-1956, 1, 4.)

Sources

Fergus Falls Daily Journal, MN. “Smoke Kills 7 in Hospital Fire.” 12-24-1956, p. 1. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=71813185&sterm

Wilson, Rexford. “Institutional Fire Protection Is Different.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 55, No. 1, July 1961, pp. 28-36.