1902 — Feb 22, Fire, Park Avenue Hotel, (Armory fire sparks), New York City, NY — 21
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 1-26-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
— 21 NYT. “Park Avenue Hotel Fire. Coroner’s Jury Decides Building…” 3-11-1902, p. 16.
— 20 NFPA. “Famous Hotel Fires.” Quarterly of the NFPA, Vol. 23, No. 3, Jan 1930, p. 300.
— 16 Firefighter Close Calls. “Firefighter History 2/22.” (Blanchard: this in incorrect.)
—>14 Wikipedia. “List of hotel fires in the United States…Park Avenue Hotel.” Incorrect.[1]
Narrative Information
National Fire Protection Association: “In a raging snow storm at 1:30 A.M. a fire broke out in the supposedly fire-resistive armory of the 71st Regiment at Thirty-fourth Street and Park Avenue. Evidently the fire had been burning for some time, and when the fire department entered the building the whole interior burst into flame.
“According to the generally accepted theory, burning brands were carried by the stiff gale to the roof of the Park Avenue Hotel at Park Avenue and Thirty-third Street, entered an uncovered shaft, and apparently started two fires at about the same time—one in the upper stories of the hotel and the other at the bottom of the elevator shaft.
“The armory had been burning a long time and the guests were watching the conflagration from their bedrooms or gathered in the lower below, little realizing the danger that menaced them. The proprietor persistently and repeatedly assured those of his guests who were awake of their absolute safety. The others were not aroused until it was too late.
“The first intimation of the spread of the fire to the hotel was given when firemen entered the hotel. Revolving doors hampered the stretching of hose lines, making the task more difficult and taking up valuable time. Meanwhile, the flames were racing through the structure and the upper floors were all ablaze. The rooms and corridors filled with flame and smoke, and it is probable that many victims were suffocated while seeking to escape. Twenty persons thus lost their lives, while many others were rescued by firemen….
“The hotel was alleged to be ‘fireproof,’ and why a thirty-year-old structure having lath and plaster partitions and elevator shafts sheathed with yellow pine should be so advertised was the subject of an investigation by the District Attorney. It is said that it was even without fire-fighting equipment.
“The firemen were badly handicapped by the location of the building at the entrance to a new subway and by deep snow, but rendered splendid service in rescuing guests of the hotel by means of ladders when escape by the stairways was cut off.” (NFPA. “Famous Hotel Fires.” Quarterly of the NFPA, Vol. 23, No. 3, Jan 1930, p. 300.)
Newspaper
March 11, New York Times: “After deliberating more than three hours yesterday the Coroner’s jury empaneled to investigate the fire in the Park Avenue Hotel on the morning of Feb. 22, in which twenty-one persons lost their lives, brought in a verdict that the fire was caused by sparks from the burning Seventy-first Regiment Armory, across Park Avenue from the hotel, and that the hotel was not properly equipped for the safety of the guests.
“That the said Charles Underwood O’Connell came to his death Feb. 22, 1902, at the New York Hospital by shock and burns of the face and arms caused at the Park Avenue Hotel, Fourth Avenue and Thirty-second and Thirty-third Streets, on the day aforesaid, by fire which was communicated to the said hotel by sparks blown by a strong northeast wind from the conflagration at the armory of the Seventy-first Regiment, N.G.S. N.Y. We further find that the said Park Avenue Hotel was not properly equipped for the safety of the guests and occupants in the fact that there were no stand pipes provided for the use of the Fire Department and no ropes and fire escapes.
“Assistant District Attorney Sandford, who has been representing the people in bringing out the evidence at the hearings, said that he was satisfied with this verdict, and Lawyers Crandall and Lindsay, who represented the owners of the building and Proprietor Reed of the hotel, smilingly expressed themselves as more than pleased at the result of the Coroner’s jury’s deliberations. The failure of the jury to name any person who may be proceeded against for the failure to provide proper appliances for the safety of the guests in case of fire leaves the question of who is really guilty undetermined.
“That part of the verdict deciding that the hotel fire was caused by sparks from the fire in the Seventy-first Regiment Armory was due to the testimony given yesterday by Fire Marshall Freel [unclear], who stated positively that the fire was caused by sparks falling down through two flues and into the elevator shaft, where it ignited and spread to the various hallways of the hotel.” (New York Times. “Park Avenue Hotel Fire. Coroner’s Jury Decides Building Was Not Equipped Properly…Places Blame on No One.” 3-11-1902, p. 16.)
Sources
Firefighter Close Calls. “Firefighter History 2/22.” Accessed 1-26-2025 at: https://www.firefighterclosecalls.com/firefighter-history-2-22-6/
National Fire Protection Association. “Famous Hotel Fires.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 23, No. 3, January 1930, pp. 297-308.
New York Times. “Park Avenue Hotel Fire. Coroner’s Jury Decides Building Was Not Equipped Properly…Places Blame on No One.” 3-11-1902, p. 16. Accessed 1-26-2025 at: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1902/03/11/101941463.html?pageNumber=16
[1] The reason this is incorrect is that it is based on a single source – the Chicago Tribune, “Gotham hotel burns; at least 14 are killed.” 2-22-1902, p. 1. This is day-of-event early reporting which, for the purposes of posting on Wikipedia, should have been better researched to determine from follow-up reporting if there were other deaths.