1945 — Jan 31, Fire, Lacoste Babies’ Boarding Home/Nursery (16 babies), Auburn, ME–17

Compiled Nov 21, 2023 by Wayne Blanchard for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–17  Auburn Firefighters Local 797. “A Brief Historical Outline of the Auburn Fire Department”

–17  Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME. “Home Unlicensed Where 17 Died.” 2-1-1945, p.1.

–17  Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME. “May Prosecute in Nursery Tragedy.” 2-2-1945, 1.

–17  Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME. “Says Inspectors Visited Nursery.” 2-2-1945, p. 1.

–17  NFPA. “Auburn, Maine, Baby Home Fire.” Quarterly of, Vol. 38, No. 4, Apr 145, p. 258.

–17  National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History.  1996. 

–17  NFPA.  U.S. Unintentional Fire Death Rates by State.  December 2008, p. 23.

Narrative Information

Auburn Firefighters Local 797:  “January 31, 1945 an alarm came in for a fire on South Main Street. As the fire department responded they arrived at the Lacoste Nursery. The fire department was met with heavy fire showing and multiple reports of children and adults missing in the one and a half story building. Three women and five children escaped the fire that apparently started in the kitchen. However the fire took the lives of sixteen babies and one adult. This was the single highest fire fatality of children in the State of Maine. The cause of the fire was never determined.”  (Auburn Firefighters Local 797. “A Brief Historical Outline of the Auburn Fire Department.” 2-24-2012 update.)

National Fire Protection Association (Auburn, Maine, Baby Home Fire):

“This picture [not shown here] shows the Lacoste Baby Home in Auburn, Maine, where 16 children, from 3 months to 5 years in age, and one nurse lost their lives in an early morning fire, January 31. Fires of this nature may surprise some authorities who have always thought of institutional fire safety in terms of protecting large establishments rather than small, individual dwellings. However, this disaster makes clear that fire and health officials must think of providing fire safety in the smaller homes and nurseries, regardless of height or area.

“According to Fire Chief Ralph H. Harnden of Auburn, the fire started from a stovepipe passing through a wall between the kitchen and bathroom. Due to lack of fire stops, the fire traveled through channels between the floor timbers and walls to the attic and other portions of the house. A metal ceiling in the room adjoining the bathroom kept the fire from showing until sufficient heat and developed to cause smoke explosion, which immediately involved the entire house in flames.

“In the excitement of trying to get the babies from the building, the attendants failed to call the fire department until it was too late to use the telephone.

“It is reported that representatives of the State Welfare Department had told the proprietor of the Lacost Baby Home that renewal of the license for 1945 would be held up until a certificate of approval was obtained in indicate that the house was not a fire hazard. The fire department had received no request for such certificate prior to the fire.”

Time: “Casualties…These little bundles were babies – children of families disorganized by war…they and others (aged from three months to five years) were boarded out in the Lacoste Babies’ Home in Auburn, Me…soundly sleeping in their cribs, fire stared in the kitchen of the nursery, roared swiftly upwards through the…white frame house…” (Time. “Bundle of Responsibility” Vol. 45, 2-12-1945, p. 15.)

Newspapers

Jan 31: “Auburn, Maine, Jan. 31 (AP) – The privately-owned boarding home that became a funeral pyre for 16 babies and a nurse today was being operated without a legally-required license from the Bureau of Social Welfare, Harry O. Page, State Commissioner of Health and Welfare, disclosed tonight. Page arrived in Auburn from the State Capital to launch an investigation into the tragedy even as stunned relatives who had filed silently through the morgue all day long, were identifying the last of the victims. Only one corpse remained unclaimed. Authorities said it was not the body of Little Diane Savard. However, none of the bodies removed from the wreckage had been so identified, leading to speculation by authorities that some of the badly-charred babies might have been mis-identified.

“Three women and five children escaped the flames, which originated in the kitchen above a coal stove.^[1]  Mrs. Rosa Cote, 50, a nurse, was among the victims.

“The commissioner said technical violations had prevented issuance of a permit for the home operated by Mrs. Eva Lacoste for the benefit of mothers engaged in war work or other daily jobs.  A violation cited by the commissioner was the fact Mrs. Lacoste was boarding more than the maximum of 16 babies prescribed under the state code. No action had been taken to force compliance with regulations because of a belief Mrs. Lacoste was willing to cooperate, Page said, even though she had delayed in doing so. ‘Our mistake was that a deadline should have been prescribed at some point,’ he said. ‘She would either have had to make the corrections or be closed up.’ The commissioner emphasized that there had been no indication of a fire hazard in the house, located about two miles from the center of town in the New Auburn district. ‘There were rear and front exits, a number of windows, children were all quartered on the ground floor and could have been easily removed,’ he said.

“Two theories were advanced by city officials as to the fire’s origin after the still hysterical Mrs. LaCoste denied an earlier statement that the coal heating stove in the kitchen had exploded. Noting that a three-burner oil cookstove had been located close to the heater, Police Chief Robert W. Herrick hazarded a guess that heat from the coal stove might have been sufficient to shatter the glass oil bottle, permitting the contents to flare up. Fire Chief Ralph Barnden expressed belief that a gas explosion might have occurred in the pipes running from the basement hot water heater. He said they were badly seared….

“Mrs. LaCoste said she was awakened in time to see flames catching the kitchen walls of the flimsy story-and-half frame structure. She seized two cribs, the babies still in them, and started for the door. ‘Then I fell down,’ Mrs. LaCoste related hysterically, ‘I had them in my arms.  I lost them when I fell down.’ The woman was treated by a physician as she kept moaning: ‘The poor little things. They were so young, so small.’

“Fire Chief Ralph Harnden, tears in his eyes, told of the frustrated attempts of his men to reach the screaming victims, only to be stopped dead by sheets of flames. With help from nearby Lewiston, firemen finally were able to fight their way into the bedrooms, both on the first floor. ‘It was a terrifying sight,’ the chief added. ‘We found many of them (the children) with their heads through the slats of their cribs where they apparently had tried to escape. I carried out six myself in blankets.’….

“First to identify her baby was Mrs. Arnold Widerman, 23, a shoe factory worker whose husband is in the Navy. She was near collapse as she said: ‘That’s my little Arnold, Jr.’ Seaman Widerman, stationed in Chicago, visited his baby not long ago.

“Private Rupert Sirots [unclear] of the Army, home on furlough, aided his wife in finding their six-months-old Carmen. Sirots saw the child for the first time last week. He saw her for the last time last night.

“Mrs. Christine Thibodeau located her six months old Diane at the morgue. Her husband…is in the Navy and had never seen the child. Mrs. Thibodeau works in a restaurant.

“Commissioner Page ordered an immediate investigation. It will open tomorrow morning at the office of County Attorney Armand Dufresne. Likewise, the State Insurance Department will investigate the blaze, as a routine matter.

“Throughout the day, relatives of the dead children claimed their kin. As quickly as they were identified, the bodies were released by Medical Examiner Robert H. Randall. Dr. Randall said a majority of the children died of suffocation but that all but three bodies were charred almost beyond recognition.

“Mrs. Cote, the nurse, died in attempting to save her five year old son, Robert. She was seen at the top of the stairs by Mrs. Blanche Tanguay, another nurse and sister of Mrs. Lacoste, but answered an appeal to ‘come down’ by shouting she wanted to dress. Both bodies were found together….

“The flames left the one-and-a-half story wooden building, a former farmhouse, a mere shell. They had charred the outside wall near the kitchen and had burned through the roof above that room.

“Ronald and Gerald, 8 months old twin sons of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Landerville of Lewiston, who had been placed in the home only last night, were among those who died.

Was Warming Bottle

“It was when she attended four-months old Diane Savard, who perished in the blaze, that Miss Tanguay discovered the fire. She was about to warm a bottle of milk for the child. ‘When I went into the kitchen,’ Miss Tanguay said, ‘the ceiling was in flame. I couldn’t even get around the stove to the room where the telephone was. I ran back through the house calling ‘fire’ to awaken everyone, ran out the front door and around the house. I started in the back door to get to the room with the telephone, but it was full of flames. I ran over to Stewart’s (Guy L. Stewart, next door neighbor). I hollered to Mrs. Stewart. Then ran back to the house. I saw my sister (Mrs. Lacoste coming through the front room. She had two babies but she couldn’t hold them and dropped them.  I ran in and grabbed her. Then I started back to Stewart’s.’

“Miss Tanguay said the kitchen stove burned coal, that as far as she knew it had never given any trouble. ‘The flames just roared through the house,’ she said, describing the fire. ‘The rooms were full of fire.’ 

“Mrs. Stewart, awakened by Miss Tanguay’s screams, roused her husband, an Auburn Fire Department Lieutenant, who telephoned fire headquarters with the alarm.

“Miss Lorraine Thibault saw flames from her nearby porch and ran to the blazing building. ‘I talked with some friends,’ she related. ‘Everyone’s out,’ they told me. I happened to see two women standing across the street, near the house. They were dressed in night clothes. I recognized Mrs. Loretta Fournier ( a home employe) and Mrs. Eva Lacoste. When I crossed over to them I noticed that Mrs. Lacoste had on a bathrobe, but that Mrs. Fournier was just in a nightdress and slippers.’ ‘Anybody in there?’ I asked, and they turned to me slowly. ‘Babies,’ they said. ‘I couldn’t say anything. I started to feel sick. For the first time I noticed that those two women were completely dazed.’ ‘Babies?’ I repeated, and one of the women answered: ‘Fourteen of them.’ ‘A woman came running up to me. It was Mrs. (Lucien) Foisy. ‘What happened?’ she shouted.  ‘Fourteen babies have been burned,’ I said. Mrs. Foisy screamed, ‘My baby was in that house.’  Mrs. Foisy’s one-year-old daughter, Joanne, was among those saved….” (Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME. “Home Unlicensed Where 17 Died.” 2-1-1945, pp. 1 & 9.)

Feb 2: “Auburn, Me. Feb 1 – (AP)– Tiny white caskets, bearing the bodies of nine of 17 victims of the tragic Lacoste baby home fire were lowered gently into graves today while state and local authorities probed, behind closed doors, for possible criminal responsibility. 

“Groups of tearful mourners gathered in Lewiston and Auburn churches, chapels and funeral homes for the simple services. In some instances, services for a second victim were held in a church within a half hour after those for another. 

“Official investigation of the fire by County Attorney Aloysius F. Martin, and State Insurance Department Inspector Joseph A. P. Flynn which started behind closed doors was interrupted while they went to Augusta to confer with Gov Horace A. Hildreth who pressed for an open investigation.

To Continue Private Hearing

“After hearing Martin’s contention that public hearings would handicap him in possible future criminal prosecution Gov. Hildreth concurred that the inquiry would proceed in private but that if no grounds for criminal action were determined the stenographic testimony would be made public.  At the conclusion of the conference with Hildreth, Flynn said there were ‘certain circumstances that indicate criminal responsibility,’ and based his conclusion on testimony given by two witnesses.

“Called to testify before Flynn, Martin and other officials, were employes of the home who fled the blazing building; the parents of several victims, state and city health officials and firemen. Fire Chief Ralph B. Harnden, Medical Examiner R. N. Randall and Mrs. Shirley Davis, R.N. of the Auburn City Health Department were among those who testified before the inquiry adjourned at mid-afternoon until tomorrow….

“At Augusta, where legislation to revise the state’s entire fire law code was being prepared for introduction next week, a legislative order was introduced by Sen. Leland Currier of Lewiston asking creation of a committee to investigate specifically the Auburn fire and to study conditions in similar homes throughout the state. It was tabled by Sen. George V. Brown of Caribou because he said such a ‘sweeping move’ required legislation rather than an order and merited studied consideration.

Governor Orders Fire Certificate of all Nurseries

“Gov. Hildreth ordered State Health and Welfare Commissioner Harry O. Page to place on his desk ‘at the earliest possible moment evidence that every private children’s boarding home in the state, which comes under your jurisdiction, has a certificate from the local fire department that the home is not a fire hazard.’

“Mrs. Eva Lacoste, operator of the home, who suffered burns and shock in the fire that killed 17 babies and an attendant, was under a physician’s care and unable to attend the inquiry which proceeded at Auburn police headquarters. In an interview, however, she said the baby home, which she operated for three years, had never been inspected by fire inspectors nor had Health and Welfare investigators suggested such an inspection. ‘They didn’t tell me to get in touch with the firemen to have an inspection made,’ she said. ‘If they had, I would have done it. I’ve always done just as they (the investigators) said because it was my living.’ In reply to Page’s assertion that Mrs. Lacoste was operating without a state license, she said her 1944 license was ‘good until January but I hadn’t received my new one for 1945. You see, we don’t call for it, they mail it.’  She said she had a city license effective until next May….

“The cause of the fire has not been definitely determined but Police Chief Robert W. Herrick conjectured heat from a coal stove might have shattered a two-gallon oil bottle on a nearby cookstove.” (Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME. “May Prosecute in Nursery Tragedy.” 2-2-1945, pp. 1 & 9.)

Feb 2: “Harry O. Page, State Commissioner of Health and Welfare, said Thursday night, he had

“requested an opportunity to appear before the joint Legislative Welfare Committee to discuss with its members the registration of boarding houses.” Sen. Lee C. Good (R-Monticello) told Pace the committee would be “happy” to have him appear early next week. Page also revealed Thursday evening that two inspectors from his department on Jan. 17 inspected the Auburn baby nursery home where 17 perished in a fire Wednesday and told Mrs. Eva LaCoste, the proprietor, what it was necessary to do for her to obtain a license.

“A day before the fire he wrote Mrs. LaCoste a letter advising her to have the Auburn fire chief inspect her premises and if they were found safe to give her a certificate to that effect, Page revealed.” (Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta. “Says Inspectors Visited Nursery.” 2-2-1945, p. 1.)

Feb 2: “Auburn, Me., Feb 2 – (AP) – Official inquiry into the Lacoste baby home fire that killed 16 babies and one adult attendant continued today while fire department and county officials searched the ruins for evidence of its cause.

Inspect Wiring.

“As the searchers inspected the building’s wiring system and ripped up floors, County Attorney Aloysius F. Martin continued to hear evidence at the City Hall from witnesses called before his private inquiry. Simultaneously, three more of the little tots who died in the flash blaze were given burial.

“Seven witnesses, among them Miss Blanche Tanguay, sister of Mrs. Eva Lacoste, operator of the home, went before Martin. At the close of the day, Martin continued his silence on information obtained. Miss Blanche Tanguay, who discovered the blaze Wednesday at the Lacoste nursery emerged in tears late this afternoon from the Auburn city council chamber after facing a row in inquisitors over an hour and a half. Sister of the baby home proprietor, Mrs. Eva Lacoste, she said her weeping was due to a highly nervous condition induced by the tragedy and not from what transpired at the hearing which will continue into tomorrow….” (Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME. “Suspect Wiring as Auburn Tragedy Probe Continues.” 2-3-1945, p. 1.)

Sources

Auburn Firefighters Local 797. “A Brief Historical Outline of the Auburn Fire Department.” 2-24-2012 update: http://iaff797.org/?zone=/unionactive/view_article.cfm&HomeID=227245&page=About20Us

Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME. “Home Unlicensed Where 17 Died.” 2-1-1945, p. 1. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=30648658&sterm=lacoste

Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME. “May Prosecute in Nursery Tragedy.” 2-2-1945, pp. 1 & 9. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=30648670&sterm=lacoste

Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME. “Says Inspectors Visited Nursery.” 2-2-1945, p. 1. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=30648670&sterm=lacoste

Daily Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME. “Suspect Wiring as Auburn Tragedy Probe Continues.” 2-3-1945, p. 1. http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=30648682&sterm=lacoste

National Fire Protection Association. “Auburn, Maine, Baby Home Fire.” Quarterly, 38/4, Apr 145, p. 258.

National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996. Accessed 2010 at:  http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=1352&itemID=30955&URL=Research%20&%20Reports/Fire%20statistics/Key%20dates%20in%20fire%20history&cookie%5Ftest=1

National Fire Protection Association (John Hall, Jr.). U.S. Unintentional Fire Death Rates by State. Quincy, MA: NFPA, 31 pages, December 2008.

Time Magazine. “Bundle of Responsibility,” Vol. 45, 2-12-1945, p. 15.

[1] Accompanying photo notes that a flash fire apparently was result of kitchen stove explosion at the nursery.