1926 — Jan 23, Fire, Lafayette Hotel, North Seventh Street, Allentown, PA — 13
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 1-27-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
— 13 Chapin. “Lafayette Hotel Fire, Allentown, Pa.” Quarterly of the NFPA, V19/N4, Apr 1926
— 13 NFPA. “Loss of Life in Hotel Fires.” Quarterly of the NFPA, V23, N3, Jan 1930, p. 313.
— 13 The Morning Call, Allentown, PA. “Other Valley-area…Disasters…” 3-26-1992.
Narrative Information
Chapin/National Fire Protection Association Quarterly: “Thirteen people lost their lives and five were seriously injured when fire broke out about 2:30 A. M., Saturday, January 23, 1926, on the fourth floor of the Lafayette Hotel, 133-37 North Seventh Street, Allentown, Pa.
“The building was erected in 1809 and was originally three stories in height, but was remodeled in 1890 by the addition of two more stories and a rear four-story addition, separated from the main five-story part by a three-story wing. When the two additional floors were added, the old tin roof was left in place; this helped to check the downward spread of the fire. The older portion was of stone and the additions were brick.
“Means of egress consisted of an open stairway at the center of the main section, another in the four story rear section, an open elevator adjacent to the main stairway, a fire escape of the usual open iron type with counter-balanced bottom swinging section on the south end of the main building and another on the rear of the four-story section.
“For years this hotel was frequented by farmers bringing produce to market, and a stable in the rear provided nest material such as hay, straw, feathers, horsehair, etc., for hundreds of sparrows which lived in the roof and walls of the building.
“While it was heated from an external community steam heating plant, soft coal was being used for cooking purposes. It is thought that a defective flue caused this flammable stuff in the walls and old roof to ignite and that the flames…communicated through the upper walls and floors and had been burning for a considerable time before discovery. This would account for the fact that the two upper floors were so thoroughly involved from the first. Minute and that internal telephone and light wires were burned off. Other possible causes were crossed electric wiring, which might also have ignited the birds’ nests, or smoking in bed by a drowsy lodger.
“Most of the patrons were permanent guests who made this hotel their home. The night clerk was talking with one of the lodgers…when they heard outcries above and noticed smoke. They attempted to arouse the 45 guests by using the house telephone switchboard, but could not get in touch with the two upper floors. The clerk started up in the elevator but was driven back when the car caught fire and he had hardly returned to the third floor when the supports holding the elevators burned away and the car fell to the bottom of the shaft. Brands carried down with it caused the fire to start anew below the fourth floor.
“Meanwhile an alarm had been turned in by a taxicab driver and the companies on duty responded. The ladder truck of the Rescue Company, driven by a man 63 years old weighing 265 pounds and with a man 65 years old at the tiller wheel, became stuck in the car tracks in front of the building when the front wheels were locked crosswise of the body. The only other ladder truck in the city, that of the Hibernia Company, was off night duty for that week. A telephone call to the Hibernians was not explicit and they responded with a hose wagon only. It was then necessary for one of the drivers to call his wife and have her arouse the driver and tillerman of the ladder truck which finally reached the fire thirty minutes later. This company removed eight lodgers who were hanging from front window ledges on the fourth and fifth floors. Two men jumped, one being killed and the other injured when his fall was broken by the body of the first. Nets were not available and would have been of little use as there was a one-story porch balcony all along the front of the building.
“All accounts agree that the flames had gained such headway before they were discovered that the hallways on the fourth and fifth floors were impassable, so that the windows afforded the only means of escape, Smoke alone caused the death of five of the lodgers who were later found in their rooms unmarked by the flames. Only one man reached a fire escape, while a domestic lost her life within a few feet of it.
“With the thermometer at 9° F. the firemen were greatly hampered by ice which formed on the sidewalk, hose, clothing, ladders and walls. Some lodgers reached safety by knotting bed clothes down which they slid to the balcony roof, whence they were removed by ladders, while others were brought out by hand ladders held at the bottom by firemen and volunteers who had to raise them on their hands in order to reach the upper floor windows….
“Whatever the cause, the spread of the flames was aided by flimsy interior wall construction, open stairways and the open elevator shaft. A good sprinkler system might have materially reduced the loss of life. One of the seriously injured was a representative of a well know sprinkler manufacturer.
“The Allentown fire department is a volunteer organization consisting of thirteen companies, six being on duty during the day and seven at night. Each week they change shifts so that they alternate on day and night work. At night the only men at the quarters are those necessary to drive the apparatus and pipemen, other members being called and responding directly from their homes….” (Chapin. “Lafayette Hotel Fire, Allentown, Pa.” Quarterly of the NFPA, V19/N4, Apr 1926, pp. 364-366.)
Sources
Chapin, E.S. “Lafayette Hotel Fire, Allentown, Pa.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 19, No. 4, April 1926, pp. 364-366.
National Fire Protection Association. “Famous Hotel Fires.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 23, No. 3, January 1930, pp. 297-308.
The Morning Call, Allentown, PA. “Other Valley-area Mishaps and Disasters Have Taken Lives.” 3-26-1992. At: http://articles.mcall.com/1992-03-26/features/2835266_1_quarry-disaster-explosion