1949 — Apr 4-5, St. Anthony’s Hospital Fire (including 13 newborns), Effingham, IL–75

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard Sep 13, 2023 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

—  75  Blanchard.*

—  77  Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 334.

—  77  New York Times. “The Century’s Worst Fires.” March 26, 1990. 

—  76  Ruholl. “They didn’t get away: Victims of 1949 St. Anthony Hospital Fire.” Effingham…News, 4-8-2019.

—  75  AP. “Bells Toll…as Effingham Has Memorial Services.” Centralia Sentinel. IL. 4-12-1949, p. 10.

—  75  AP. “Bury Last of Effingham Dead.” Mt. Vernon Register News, IL. 4-11-1949, p. 2.

—  75  Effingham Radio. “St. Anthony Hospital Fire Happened 74 Years Ago Today…” 4-4-2023.

—  74  AP. “Halt Search For Bodies In Hospital Ruins.” Mt. Vernon Register-News, IL. 4-8-1949, p.1.[1]

—  74  Groves, Adam. “St. Anthony’s Hospital Fire, Effingham:  4-4-1949.” Ideals, IFSI, 2006. 

—  74  Illinois State Fire Marshal. Report of…St. Anthony’s Hospital Fire…” 1949, p. 12.[2]

—>74  (> = at least) McElroy, James K. The Tragedy of St. Anthony Hospital.

—  74  NFPA. Deadliest Large-Loss Fires. “Deadliest Hospital Fires in the [U.S.].” 1984.

—  74  National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996.      

—  74  National Fire Protection Association. The 1984 Fire Almanac. 1983, p. 137. 

—  74  National Fire Sprinkler Association. F.Y.I.  1999, p. 6.

—  74  Ross 2008, Arundel Burning, p. 155.

* Most sources note either 74 or 75 deaths, though we show three sources noting 76 or 77 deaths. One of the reports noting 74 deaths indicated this did not include the birth of a still-born baby one hour after the mother escaped the fire. Perhaps this death is included in the 75 death toll. In that we have seen no explanation to support the notation of 77 deaths, we can only speculate that the three missing and presumed dead who were included in the death toll of 74, were mistakenly added to the 74 number. Ultimately, the provision of a listing of exactly 75 named fatalities by the Effingham County Courthouse Museum in an Effingham Radio article of 4-4-2023 convinced us to settle on 75 fatalities rather than 74, 76, or 77. None of these sources provide a listing of fatalities.

Narrative Information

Groves: “Like much of the United States, Effingham, Illinois, experienced rapid growth in the years after World War II. St. Anthony’s Hospital in Effingham had been the county’s only hospital since 1873, but in 1949 the region was quickly outgrowing the small facility. Operated by the Sisters of St. Francis, who lived in a convent next door, the hospital was sanitary and well-kept, but completely outdated. Constructed mainly out of wood and brick, the 100-bed hospital contained open corridors and staircases and many of the walls were covered with oilcloth fabrics and combustible soundproof tiles. The city was planning to build a larger, modern hospital in 1951, but tragedy struck on April 4, 1949.

“Shortly before midnight, a massive fire broke out at St. Anthony’s Hospital, spreading rapidly through the building. As the hospital had no architectural components that controlled fire, the flames easily burned through the wood and plaster interior. Many of the 116 patients were immediately trapped on the upper floors, including disabled elderly residents, injured patients stuck in casts, splints, and traction devices, and a nursery full of newborn babies. A few brave doctors and nurses helped some escape, returning to the burning building multiple times to rescue patients, but the fire was too strong. Ultimately, 74 people were killed, including patients, nurses, nuns, a priest, and a hospital superintendent who ran into the flames to try to rescue his wife.

“As the hospital had no fire alarm system, valuable time was lost before someone was able to set off the town’s fire siren. All but one of the 26-man Effingham Volunteer Fire Department arrived within ten minutes of hearing the siren, but by that time the fire had already burned through the hospital roof. Rescue efforts were further impeded as the small department had only three pumping engines. Until mutual aid departments arrived on scene hours after the blaze started, the firefighters had no ladder truck or other aerial apparatus to use to rescue victims from the otherwise inaccessible upper floors of the hospital. In the end, with the assistance of eleven mutual aid departments from as far away as 66 miles, firefighters were able to keep the fire from spreading elsewhere, but the hospital was virtually destroyed.

“Although the cause of the fire remains unknown, investigators had little trouble pinpointing the safety deficiencies at St. Anthony’s Hospital. The combination of the combustible building materials in the open corridors, stairwells, and vertical shafts, along with the lack of fire sprinklers, detectors, and alarms had essentially doomed the hospital as soon as the fire began. In response, Governor Adlai Stevenson ordered the State Fire Marshal to evaluate all of Illinois’ hospitals to pinpoint and correct any fire hazards. Many other hospitals throughout the country also improved their fire safety measures in an effort to avoid similar disasters. In fact, as a direct result of the fire at St. Anthony’s, modern hospitals now incorporate numerous fire safety features to protect patients who cannot be quickly evacuated, including fire barriers, smoke compartments, and stairway enclosures.” (Groves, Adam. “St. Anthony’s Hospital Fire, Effingham: 4-4-1949.”  Ideals, Illinois Fire Service Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 2006.)

McElroy. “The Tragedy of St. Anthony Hospital.” NFPA Quarterly July 1949:

“Fire at St. Anthony Hospital, Effingham, Illinois, on April 4, 1949, took at least 74 lives and caused many painful injuries. Those killed were patients, day-old babies, oldsters spending their last days in the shelter of St. Anthony’s, and hospital staff members. The fire of unknown cause, believed certain to have originated in a laundry chute extending to the top floor of the building, was first reported by telephone from the third floor at approximately 11:45 p.m., April 4, 1949.

“Listed as a 100-bed general hospital, it was the only hospital available to those needing its services within a radius of 25 miles of the…county seat town of 8000 in central Illinois….

“There in ‘nothing new’ in the Effingham disaster but a rebuttal in lives to those who have long argued that comparatively low fire insurance costs and the presence of staff personnel in a hospital 24 hours of the day and night was a guarantee of the safety of patients regardless of the fire vulnerability of the construction of a hospital building or the lack of safeguards against the perils of destructive fire….

“In the light of the fire at Effingham, it is impossible to escape the conclusion that arrangements were not sufficient for pre-fire evaluation and correction of the existing hazards of unprotected vertical openings, the use of combustible interior finish, provisions for the detection and extinguishment of fire in the incipient stage. Thus, to avoid a recurrence of the disaster, hospital authorities, insurance companies and their representatives, architects, building department officials and fire department officials (all of whom have a stake in the proper evaluation of the possible maximum loss of life and property existing in any hospital within their jurisdiction and interest, should jointly consider and satisfactorily answer six basic questions in the determination of prudent corrective measures. All are interrelated, and a careful examination of each should result in a common-sense agreement as to corrective measures required. They are:

  1. How combustible is the structure and interior finish?
  2. What are the provisions for the limitation of fire spread (enclosure of stair wells, etc.) from any point of origin within the structure?
  3. What provisions have been made for the discovery of fire in the incipient stage?
  4. What provisions have been made for the immediate notification of fire-fighting forces and for the prompt notification of hospital personnel that an emergency exists?
  5. What provision has been made for the prompt extinguishment of fire in the incipient stage?
  6. What provision has been made for the prompt evacuation of patients to safe locations in fire emergencies?

Combustibility

“As the investigation proceeded at Effingham, the inherent combustibility of the structure was obvious, but the reason for the rapid spread of fire throughout the building less so. Early reports (in effort) attributed the rapid fire spread to recent extensive painting and redecoration of the interior of the building.

“The first 2½ story and full basement section was built in  1876…Its half-story (third floor) is reported to have had room separations of cellulose fiberboard on wood stud partitions (built at a later date)…In the original structure, three open stairways of wood construction extended from the basement to the attic, without fire doors or other protection provided for them. One of the stairways was later torn down and floored over. At the time of the fire the second open stairway (surrounding a metal lath and plaster enclosure for an abandoned elevator) also contributed to the spread of fire in the building….The laundry chute…in which the fire originated is not shown on plans made by a consultant architect in 1922 or as later revised, but is believed to have had a wood interior over a type of exterior plaster over cellulosic material. The exact construction at the top of the chute is unknown.

“In 1912 or 1913 a three-story, full basement section was added…Included in the design was an open wood stairway, without fire doors or other protectives, opening directly to the outside of the building between the first floor and the basement…A combustible laundry chute (exact construction unknown), shown on the plans made in 1922, extended from the laundry at the basement level to the third floor….

Limitation of Fire Spread

“Except for a standard fire door installation in the opening between the non-combustible boiler room and the laundry there were no planned barriers to the spread of fire in the building. The usual special hazards found in hospitals – kitchen, laundry, storage room for general supplies, oxygen and ether storage, pharmacy and C-Ray laboratories, – were all located in the basement, not cut off in any manner from the balance of the building, but, like the LaSalle, Canfield and Winecoff hotel fires, none of the ‘special hazards’ likely to be found in them were initially involved in the fire at St. Anthony Hospital.

“The combustibility of one of the three laundry chutes which spread fir rapidly into the combustible attic (half-story) area, the open combustible stairways, and the use of combustible fiberboard in the attic and open corridor ceilings, all were major contributing factors in the large loss of life and the rapid and nearly total destruction of the property.

Discovery of the Fire

“In the absence of automatic means of watchmen to detect the fire (which can be placed with reasonable accuracy in the laundry chute…) dependence for discovery of the fire was placed on any one of 10 members of the hospital staff on night duty in the building. The exact time when Sister Eustasia first smelled smoke on the third floor of the east wing may never be known, but she is known to have telephoned Sister Anastasia, night superintendent, at the switchboard on the first floor. Sister Eustasia died in the fire and no one is alive who can trace her actions prior to or following her discovery of smoke at her duty station. Twenty-three patients in the third floor are…also perished in the holocaust.

Emergency Notification

“Organized fire drills had not been administrative practice at St. Anthony Hospital, which is not uncommon where a general feeling of security against fire exists. Sister Anastasia, at the switchboard…remembers having rapidly telephoned Chief Engineer Frank Reiss, who lived at the nurses’ home 100 yards west of the building, Sister Superior Ceceliana at the adjoining convent building and the Effingham Fire Department…

Extinguishment

“Reconstruction of the sequence of events in the attempt to extinguish tie fire until it was finally brought under control )approximately three hours later) is exceedingly difficult….

“The hospital chief engineer, Frank Reis, who died in the fire, raced from his home following Sister Anastasia’s call, entered the basement entrance and to the opening into the laundry chute. He was last seen fighting the fire in the chute with a fire extinguisher, though he may have died in an attempt to reach his wife, who had entered the hospital a day or so earlier as a patient. Mrs. Reis later escaped by jumping from a third floor window and at the last report was near death. [She survived – see listing of fatalities below.]….

“Assistant Chief Charley Chamberlain, driving the 500 GPM pumper, and one member of the fire department arrived at the front of the building in approximately two minutes following the receipt of the alarm. As he braked to a stop, flames were seen in the second and third floor windows in the vicinity of the laundry chute originally involved, and patients were already at the second floor front windows screaming for help….

“Chief Wilkins arrived two minutes later…He immediately checked the fire escape at the rear of the east wing, and was shocked to find that no one was using it. Smoke was pouring through the entrance to the fire escape from the window at the end of the third floor corridor. Eye-witnesses confirm the statements of members of the fire department that within a minute or two following the arrival of the first pumper flames burst through the roof in the vicinity of the open stair well at the intersection of the south and west corridors, and almost directly above the open stairway at the southwest corner near the nursery on the second floor. Later results confirm Chief Wilkins’ statement, ‘We didn’t have a chance!’….

Exit Facilities

“The emergency evacuation of all patients under conditions which existed in the midnight fire at St. Anthony Hospital was impossible. Forty-two persons on the third floor, 29 on the second floor, and 3 on the first floor died in the fire. The combustibility of the structure and the rapid spread of fire on the surface of the interior finish in the open corridors combined with the open stairways to defeat the possible use of two exterior fire escapes (one at the end of the south corridor reached at the second floor through the nursery, and the other at the end of the east corridor) as well as two slide escapes (one accessible only from the east corridor, and the other through a room off the west corridor as indicated on the planes) installed on the order of the State Fire Marshal in 1940….

“The death of 74 persons (49 women, 16 children and 9 men) of 128 now known to have been in the building at the time of the fire seems proof for all time that without adequate hospital personnel on duty trained to quickly move bed-ridden patients in their beds to areas of safe refuge or to adequate means of escape, loos of life is inevitable if areas subject to fire destruction are unlimited, there is delayed detection of fire and inadequate provision for the limitation and immediate extinguishment of it.

How Could It Have Been Prevented?

“Recommendations for fire and accident prevention and protection to be acceptable must also be practical, and demonstrated from the fire record to be necessary to life and property safety. Recommendations beyond those indicated below could be made, such as, ‘Replace the combustible structure with fire-resistive construction.’

“No doubt such a recommendation would be desirable, but not immediately feasible from an economic point of view. The Sisters of St. Francis decided in 1925 to employ modern fire-resistive construction in the building of additions or replacements of their hospital facilities, and demonstrated their acceptance of this type of construction at this and other hospitals operated by the Order. The basic assumption in the following recommendations is that replacement of the structure was not feasible prior to the fire, and that the building could be used safely for many years if the recommendations and suggestions were complied with.

“Quite the most distasteful and frustrating task in the preparation of reports of large loss of life disasters for the membership of the NFPA and the public at large is the necessity for inclusion of items of omission and commission which in the aftermath can be seen to have contributed to the over-all result of the disaster. Distasteful, because such reports appear to ‘second guess’ and frustrating for the reason that in each large loss of life fire in the past four years (273 lives in 4 fires) it has been obvious following each fire that there was over-confidence in the safety of the structure and occupancy which affected the attitudes of management, legal authorities, fire and casualty insurance interests, architects, building materials interests and others, prior to the fire. In all humility therefore, and in sequence insofar as the St. Anthony fire is believed to have progressed, the following recommendations for the limitation of fire spread in the building (and the estimated cost) might have been presented:

  1. Provide a sprinkler head to be supplied with water from the nearest domestic service piping at the top of each laundry chute, trash chute and dumb-waiter shaft. Estimated cost $500.00….
  2. Provide smoke barriers (as recommended by the American Hospital Association and the NFPA) in the east corridors at the locations indicted…on the plans. Doors to be arranged to be maintained in the open position unless closed by the operation of a heat-actuated device. Estimated cost $800.00….
  3. Provide smoke barriers in first, second and third floors in the east corridors at the locations indicated…on the plans, and a standard self-closing fire door at the entrance to the east stairway in the basement. Estimated cost $750.00….
  4. Remove and rebuild the old elevator shaft and stairway at the location indicated…on the plan, the stairs to be constructed of noncombustible materials, the stairway enclosed with a minimum 1 hour partition, and the entrance doors to stairways at each floor to be Class B as listed by the Underwriters’ Laboratories, Inc. Estimated cost $5,000.00…
  5. Provide sliding fire door assemblies at each entrance to the stairway at the location indicated…on the plan. Estimated cost $600.00
  6. Coat the fiberboard ceiling in all locations with fire-retardant paint equivalent to Albi-R (listed by the Underwriters’ Laboratories, Inc.). or F-Re-Sist (tested for effectiveness by the National Bureau of Standards for the Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army) in accordance with manufacturers directions. Estimated cost $1,200. It is furth recommended that future requirements for acoustical treatment be met through the use of noncombustible acoustical materials….

“Recommendations 2-5 above would limit the areas of the corridor subject to rapid spread of smoke and fire from the point of view of providing additional time for the removal of patients and would also enhance the effectiveness of the fire-retardant coating when applied to the acoustical material….Total [cost] $8,850.00.

“….On two earlier occasions, the Effingham Fire Department had handled fires (discovered by personnel and promptly reported while in the incipient stage) in laundry and maintenance shop areas without difficulty or unduly alarming the patients.

Ross:  “The fire’s spread was enhanced mainly by the fiberboard ceiling tile and resulted in seventy-four deaths, many of whom were infants in a nursery and the nurses and nuns who refused to leave them. After investigating the fire the NFPA reported the hazards of the combustible tile. Enraged manufacturers of fiberboard threatened the NFPA with legal action.”  (Ross 2008, p. 155)

Newspapers

 April 5: “Effingham, Ill., April 5. – Fire consumed St. Anthony’s Hospital today and the mayor of this south central Illinois community feared the death toll might reach 60. ‘It looks like now it will be near 60,’ said Mayor H. B. Rinehart as tired rescue crews dug through debris for bodies as smoldering embers burst into flame anew. ‘There were 108 patients, two sisters, one priest and two persons sitting up with relatives – or 113 persons in the hospital – when the fire started,’ the mayor said. Arch Jones of St. Louis American Red Cross, field representative in charge of relief operations, reported he had assembled a list of 53 persons who had been in the hospital and had escaped.

12 Babies Perish

“Before Rinehart’s prediction, the Red Cross said at least 47 persons, among them 12 newborn infants, were dead or missing. The relief agency said 61 survivors of the tragic blaze had been identified and 47 persons either had not been identified or were presumed dead. This report, however, was superseded by Jones’ announcement of the list of 53 names.

“Flames quickly enveloped the building at midnight and destroyed it within an hour, trapped patients screamed in agony. Some, including expectant mothers, leaped from flame-framed windows. ‘It was horrible,’ said one eyewitness, ‘all those poor people in there shrieking for help.’

Fire in Laundry Chute

“The fire was discovered shortly before midnight in a laundry chute. Eyewitnesses said the 60 year old, three and one half story brick structure quickly became a great mass of flames. ‘It burned so fast, it couldn’t be fought,’ said one rescuer.

“Many patients leaped from windows. Some died in their flaming rooms as nuns and towns-people tried to save them. The bodies of 8 infants, still in their flame-blackened metal cribs on the second floor, were the first to be removed. Uncounted bodies were strewn in the twisted wreckage of upper floors. There were abut 30 patients on the third floor, a nurse said, ‘and I don’t believe any of them got out.’

“Effingham is a community of 8,000 in south central Illinois, 100 miles northeast of St. Louis and 200 miles southeast of Chicago, on the Pennsylvania and Illinois Central railroads.

Townspeople to Rescue

“Hundreds of the city’s residents rushed to the aid of the 100 or more patients in the 125-bed hospital. But they were hampered by falling bricks and rubble, and the danger of falling walls.

“Inside, the Roman Catholic nuns who were on duty braved the flames to lead some patients to safety. Some nuns died in the attempt, and others perished in their rooms, where they were asleep. The hospital is operated by the Sisters of the Order of St. Francis. Among the identified dead were the hospital chaplain, a nurse in the infants ward, and at least one nun. The charred body of the chaplain, the Rev. Charles C. Sandon, was found in a room next to the hospital chapel.

“Only some walls still stood early today. The intense heat of the smoldering ruins and the tangled debris slowed removal of the bodies.

“Karl Alt, 66, who lives across the street from the hospital, said flames were shooting out of the hospital’s front entrance shortly after the alarm was sounded. He and a neighbor helped 12 to 15 persons to safety.

“Ben Biedenher, 66, a male nurse, was badly burned in helping 12 patients to safety down an elevator. He said the sister who found he fire in a laundry chute got him out of bed. ‘The whole place was a whole bath of flame,’ he said. Biedenher said there were at least eight new-born infants in the nursery and ‘they died along with the sister who stayed with them.’….” (Associated Press. “Fear 60 Dead in Hospital Disaster.” Mt. Vernon Register-News, IL. 4-5-1949, pp. 1-2.)

 

April 6: “Effingham, Ill., April 6. – The toll of known dead and reported missing in the tragic fire at St. Anthony’s hospital rose to 72 today. The estimate was made by hospital officials. ‘They said at 2 p.m. (CST) that 56 bodies have been recovered and identified, and there are 16 unidentified bodies or missing persons. Two hours earlier the officials reported 69 dead or missing. The latest estimate said at least 126 persons were in the hospital when fire destroyed it early Tuesday. Seven of the known dead were hospital staff members….

“More bodies were dug from the smoking rubble today as the heartsick city of 8,000 began burying some of the 13 newborn babies who perished….” (Associated Press. “Hospital Death Toll Mounts To 72.” Mt. Vernon Register-News, IL. 4-6-1949, p. 1.)

April 7: “By Associated Press. Effingham, Ill., April 7. – The list of known dead and reported missing rose to 75 today as grief-stricken Effingham buried more bodies from the St. Anthony’s Hospital fire. Seventy bodies have been recovered, but search of the ruins went on. The Catholic chancery office which governs the hospital said all but seven of the 70 bodies have been identified.

“Mrs. Elizabeth Schuette, 78, of Teutopolis, Ill., died today of burns and shock at an Effingham home. She had been a first floor patient at the hospital since 1945.

“The bodies of five others, still listed as missing, are believed buried in the blackened ruins….

“At least two patients who survived the fire were reported in critical condition today. They are Mrs. William Austin, at Effingham [survived], and Mrs. Frank Reis, at a hospital in Mattoon, Ill [survived].

“Thirteen babies who died in the flames which swept the building in about an hour were buried yesterday….” (Associated Press. “Effingham Death Toll Rises to 75….Thirteen Babies Buried Yesterday.” Mt. Vernon Register-News.” IL, 4-7-1949, p. 1.)

April 8: “By Associated Press. Effingham, Ill., April 8 – The search for bodies in the rubble of St. Anthony’s hospital was halted at noon today. The official death toll from the hospital fire was fixed at 74 by Msgr. Jesse L. Gatton, Diocesan superintendent of the 76-year-old institution. That figure did not include an infant still born an hour after the mother escaped….” (AP. “Halt Search For Bodies In Hospital Ruins. Official Effingham Death Toll is 74, Including 3 Missing.” Mt. Vernon Register-News.” IL. 4-8-1949, p.1.)

April 11: “Effingham, Ill., April 11 – Effingham buried the last of its dead today from the St. Anthony’s Hospital fire which claimed 75 lives. The last service was that for Evan Kabalzyk, who was believed to have been about 88, a resident on the third floor of the hospital for many years. He was widely known here as ‘Blind John.’ He was a former coal miner at Centralia and lost his sight in a mine accident there….” (Associated Press. “Bury Last of Effingham Dead.” Mt. Vernon Register News, IL. 4-11-1949, p. 2.)

April 12: “Effingham, AP – Effingham holds memorial services today for its greatest tragedy – the St. Anthony hospital fire. The bells are to toll while business will halt in memory of the 75 who died in a holocaust a week ago….” (Associated Press. “Bells Toll Today as Effingham Has Memorial Services.” Centralia Sentinel, IL. 4-12-1949, p. 10.)

 Fatalities

Effingham Radio. “ [from Effingham County Courthouse Museum Facebook page:

  1. Elizabeth Althoff
  2. Baby Bailey
  3. Arminda Baker
  4. Mary Batman
  5. Julia Bergbower
  6. Miss Frances Bersig
  7. Sister Bertina, O.S.F
  8. Ella Birch
  9. Mabel Broom
  10. Anna Brown
  11. Doris Brummer
  12. Baby Brummer
  13. Dessie Campbell
  14. Frank Carrell
  15. Baby Claar
  16. Shirley Clements
  17. Cora Colwell
  18. Sister Eustachia, O.S.F. [Also noted as Sister Eustasia, third floor nurse. McElroy. p.25.]
  19. Baby Fancher
  20. Harold Gentry
  21. Baby Harold Gentry
  22. Helen Gloyd
  23. Clara Gossman
  24. Caroline Grigg
  25. Mary Haley
  26. Margaret Hankins
  27. Baby Hartke
  28. Otillia Haumesser
  29. Chloe Helregel
  30. Theodosia Henderson
  31. Mina Hobson
  32. Rose Jenkins
  33. Ella Jones
  34. Evan Kabalzyk [About 88 and third-floor resident for many years.][3]
  35. Miss Mary Kessler
  36. Margaret Kinkelaar
  37. Blanche Klitzke
  38. Herbert Lee
  39. Theresa Lobmeir
  40. Dan Lovellette
  41. Samantha McKinnon
  42. Baby McManaway
  43. Mary Marten
  44. Floyd Mascher
  45. Mathilda Maxwell
  46. Baby Michl
  47. Delores Michl
  48. Baby Moore
  49. Miss Emma Mussman
  50. Ida Mae Nash
  51. Allie Niemeyer
  52. Lillie Nutt
  53. Norma Petty
  54. Edith Ramsey
  55. Frank Ries [Hospital engineer; died fighting the fire with extinguishers. McElroy, p.75.]
  56. Miss Fern Riley [2nd floor nursery nurse; could have escaped, but stayed with babies.][4]
  57. Laura Ruholl
  58. Baby Ruholl
  59. C. C. Sandon
  60. Edward Schmidt
  61. Elizabeth Schuette[5]
  62. Baby Sidener
  63. Baby Sigrist
  64. Baby Sigrist
  65. Flora Smith
  66. Baby Springer
  67. Henry Thoele
  68. Baby Clarence Ulhorn
  69. Kay Frances Van Sant
  70. Miss Gertrude Weis
  71. Teresa Will
  72. Mary Wohltman
  73. Baby Worthy
  74. Clyde Worthy
  75. Ella Wright

(Effingham Radio. “St. Anthony Hospital Fire Happened 74 Years Ago Today, Victims Remembered.” 4-4-2023.)

Sources

Associated Press. “Bells Toll Today as Effingham Has Memorial Services.” Centralia Sentinel, IL. 4-12-1949, p. 10. Accessed 6-4-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/centralia-evening-sentinel-apr-12-1949-p-10/

Associated Press. “Bury Last of Effingham Dead.” Mt. Vernon Register News, IL. 4-11-1949, p. 2. Accessed 6-4-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/mount-vernon-register-news-apr-11-1949-p-2/

Associated Press. “Effingham Death Toll Rises to 75.” Mt. Vernon Register-News.” IL, 4-7-1949, p. 1. Accessed 6-4-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/mount-vernon-register-news-apr-07-1949-p-1/

Associated Press. “Fear 60 Dead in Hospital Disaster.” Mt. Vernon Register-News, IL. 4-5-1949, p. 1. Accessed 6-4-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/mount-vernon-register-news-apr-05-1949-p-1/

 Associated Press. “Halt Search For Bodies In Hospital Ruins.” Mt. Vernon Register-News, IL. 4-8-1949, p. 1. Accessed 6-4-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/mount-vernon-register-news-apr-08-1949-p-1/

 Associated Press. “Hospital Death Toll Mounts To 72.” Mt. Vernon Register-News, IL. 4-6-1949, p. 1. Accessed 6-4-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/mount-vernon-register-news-apr-06-1949-p-1/

 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.

Effingham Radio. “St. Anthony Hospital Fire Happened 74 Years Ago Today, Victims Remembered.” 4-4-2023. Accessed 9-13-2023.

Groves, Adam. “St. Anthony’s Hospital Fire, Effingham:  4-4-1949.” Ideals, Illinois Fire Service Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 2006.  Accessed at:  https://www.ideals.uiuc.edu/bitstream/2142/89/2/St%20Anthony%27s%20Hospital%20Fire%2c%201949.pdf

 Illinois State Fire Marshal. Report of the Illinois State Fire Marshal on the St. Anthony’s Hospital Fire at Effingham, Illinois, April 4, 1949.” State of Illinois, Department of Public Safety, Division of Fire Prevention, 1949, 17 pages. Accessed 5-23-2013 at: http://www.idaillinois.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/isl/id/20913/rec/3

 McElroy, James K. “The Tragedy of St. Anthony Hospital.” Boston, MA: Quarterly  of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 43, No. 1, July 1949, 22 pages.

 

National Fire Protection Association. Deadliest Large-Loss Fires. “Deadliest Hospital Fires in the United States.” 1984.  Accessed at:  http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=954&itemID=41552&URL=Research%20&%20Reports/Fire%20statistics/Deadliest/large-loss%20fires

 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. The 1984 Fire Almanac. Quincy, MA: NFPA, 1983.

 National Fire Sprinkler Association, Inc. F.Y.I. – Fire Sprinkler Facts. Patterson, NY: NFSA, November 1999, 8 pages. Accessed at: http://www.firemarshals.org/data/File/docs/College%20Dorm/Administrators/F1%20-%20FIRE%20SPRINKLER%20FACTS.pdf

 New York Times. “The Century’s Worst Fires.” 3-26-1990. Accessed 9-28-2017 at:  http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE2D9113CF935A15750C0A966958260&n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FSubjects%2FF%2FFires%20and%20Firefighters

 Ross, Joseph B. Jr.  Arundel Burning: The Maryland Oyster Roast Fire of 1956.  Baltimore, MD:  Chesapeake Book Company, 2008.

Ruholl, Linda. “They didn’t get away: Victims of 1949 St. Anthony Hospital Fire.” Effingham Daily News, 4-8-2019. Accessed 9-13-2023 at: https://www.effinghamdailynews.com/news/history/they-didnt-get-away-victims-of-1949-st-anthony-hospital-fire/article_6678bb6b-81ef-57a6-9209-16e79327de75.html

[1] Includes three missing persons, believed to be in the remaining rubble, but does not include an infant who was still born an hour after the mother escaped the fire.

[2] Illinois State Fire Marshal. Report of the Illinois State Fire Marshal on the St. Anthony’s Hospital Fire at Effingham, Illinois, April 4, 1949. State of Illinois, Dept. of Public Safety, Division of Fire Prevention, 1949.

[3] Associated Press. “Bury Last of Effingham Dead.” Mt. Vernon Register News, IL. 4-11-1949, p. 2.

[4] McElroy, p. 25.

[5] Was 78 and had been a first floor patient since 1945. (Associated Press. “Effingham Death Toll Rises to 75….Thirteen Babies Buried Yesterday.” Mt. Vernon Register-News.” IL, 4-7-1949, p. 1.)

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