1943 — Feb 16, Fire, Rooming House, Augusta, ME — 8
— 8 AP. “Resume Inquiry into Augusta Fire Fatality.” Biddeford…Journal ME, 2-17-1943, p. 1.
— 7 AP. “Seven Die in Blaze at Augusta.” Biddeford Daily Journal, ME, 2-16-1943, p. 1.
— 7 NFPA. “Multiple-Death Fires in Nursing Homes & Homes for the Aged, 1921-1978 (list).”
Narrative Information
Feb 16: “Augusta, Feb. 16. — (AP) — Death toll in a midnight rooming-house fire rose to seven today with the death of an 18-year-old youth in an Augusta hospital. An elderly woman also was believed likely to succumb to burns. The bodies of five persons taken from the ruins of the house at Grove and Swan streets near Maine’s State House were identified as those of Mrs. Vivian Ricker, Roland Ricker, 6, son of Mrs. Ricker; John Pierce, who would have been 76 today; Thomas Bishop, 84, blind; Simon Clark, (Age unavailable). Succumbing later to burns were Jack Ricker, 22, and his brother, Walter, 18. Mrs. Carrie Stackhouse, 70, was in a critical condition. Six other persons suffered injuries….
“Alfred W. Perkins, state insurance commissioner, summoned 22 persons to a hearing on the fire this afternoon in the Augusta municipal building.
“Fire Chief George R. McCurdy declared he was ‘convinced that the fire started from an over-heated furnace, caught on a wooden old air vent.’
“Dr. Roland L. McKay, medical examiner, called on William H. Niehoff, Kennebec county attorney, to investigate the swiftly-spreading fire that broke out in the rooming-house cellar….” (AP. “Seven Die in Blaze at Augusta.” Biddeford Daily Journal, ME, 2-16-1943, p. 1.)
Feb 17: “Augusta, Feb. 17 — (AP) — Maine’s Insurance Department resumed today a formal inquiry into an Augusta rooming-house fire that claimed its eighth life last night. Mrs. Carrie Stackhouse, 70 succumbed to burns 18 hours after the midnight blaze, the worst in loss of life in the State Capitol’s history. Five other persons were injured….” (Associated Press. “Resume Inquiry into Augusta Fire Fatality.” Biddeford Daily Journal ME, 2-17-1943, p. 1.)
Sources
Associated Press. “Resume Inquiry into Augusta Fire Fatality.” Biddeford Daily Journal ME, 2-17-1943, p. 1. Accessed 7-1-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/biddeford-daily-journal-feb-17-1943-p-1/?tag
Associated Press. “Seven Die in Blaze at Augusta. Rooming House Burns in Night.” Biddeford Daily Journal, ME, 2-16-1943, p. 1. Accessed 7-1-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/biddeford-daily-journal-feb-16-1943-p-1/?tag
National Fire Protection Association. “Multiple-Death Fires in Nursing Homes & Homes for the Aged, 1921-1978 (list).” In: United States United States Congress, House of Representatives. Boarding Home Fires: The Tip of the Iceberg (Hearing before the Subcommittee on Health and Long Term Care, Select Committee on Aging, 96th Congress, First Session, April 25, 1979). Washington, DC, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1979, pp. 312-314.