Photo: Denver Public Library
EDITOR'S NOTE: In the years following World War Two, the U.S. hotel industry suffered a spate of deadly fires, with three of the worst striking in 1946 -- Canfield Hotel in Dubuque, Iowa, 19 dead; LaSalle Hotel in Chicago, 61 dead; Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta, 119 dead.
Hotels of that era - including those in the West - were plagued by a lack of maintenance and investment owing to the Great Depression and shortages of building supplies and other material during the war.
Many hotels were serviced by open stairwells, allowing for the swift spread of smoke and flame. Buildings lacked sprinklers and adequate fire exits. Open transoms over guest room doors were common as were varnished hallways and lobbies.
...
Stella Bruce died in her sleep as flames raged at the Albany Hotel in downtown Denver on Sept. 2, 1962.
A four-alarm fire, which started in the basement, burned for more than four hours, killing Bruce, 35, a coffee shop waitress, and injuring 50 others, including firefighters.
Her body was found on a dressing room cot where she had been napping.
Deputy Fire Chief Cassio Frazini told the Rocky Mountain News:
"She had apparently just finished a hard day's work.
"Mrs. Bruce had unfastened the top button of her blouse and lay down on the cot with her glasses in her hand.
"There were no signs of the inborn fear of fire."
ADT Box 157 was received at fire alarm headquarters at 2:22 p.m. and
additional alarms followed at 2:34 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Off-duty firefighter were called to work.
Twenty-six Denver fire companies, including the civil defense fire reserve, were at the scene at 17th and Stout streets.
Skyline, Arvada, Aurora, Englewood, Littleton, Bancroft, Pleasant Valley, College View and Evergreen provided mutual aid.
Assistant Fire Chief Vernon Parrahm told the Rocky Mountain News:
"It seemed like we had it under control as we fought our way to the basement when suddenly the fire broke free an shot to the back of the building and up to the first floor.
"That's when we pulled the second alarm."
Another firefighter said:
"We just couldn't get to the damn thing."
The seven-story hotel had 300 rooms.
Part of the interior collapsed including the ballroom.
Firefighter Frank LaSasso rescued Capt. Jack Lynch who was overcome by smoke after his breathing apparatus failed.
Once revived Lynch went back to fighting the blaze.
Firefighters also rescued three people trapped in an elevator.
Police surgeon Harold Goldman and members of the rescue squad treated the injured.
Some people were brought down by ladders.
Hydrant water pressure was adequate and supplied 35 lines, Robert Millar, managed of the Denver Water Board, said.
Fire Engineering magazine said:
"The Albany is actually three separate buildings, all adjoining on Stout Street, and all built at separate times — 1939, 1912 and 1906.
"The buildings are similar in design and construction and are seven stories high.
"Incoming companies were split, some stretching lines and others making a search for the occupants Aerials and ground ladders were raised to the building and several people removed.
"Other fire fighters scurried up and down fire escapes leading guests to safety.
"The first companies to stretch, fought their way down the inside stairs to the basement of the middle (1906) section where the fire began, but they were soon driven out by the intense heat and smoke.
"The fire then worked its way back to the rear of the building and began to travel up vertical arteries including the elevator shaft."
...
Other major post-war hotel blazes:
DENVER HOTEL - Denver
On Aug. 26, 1950, fire killed four people and injured 13 others at the Denver Hotel on 17th at Market Street, The Denver Post reported.
Two firefighters were among the injured.
"Flames roared along the L-shaped hallway, curling into transoms and through panel doorways," the Post said.
Matt Mesteth, 24, of South Dakota, who escaped the fire, also survived the fire at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta in 1946 that killed 119 people, The Rocky Mountain News reported.
"Once is bad enough but twice is too much," Mesteth said.
Careless smoking was suspected as a smoldering mattress was rolled into a hallway, Fire Chief Allie Feldman said.
Stanley Snyder, 27, a bartender at a nearby tavern, caught two children, Linda Leyba, 10 months, and her brother Jerry, 4, dropped from window by their parents, Paul and Beatrice Leyba, the Post said.
The Associated Press reported:
"Two men found dead in the hotel have been identified by Denver detectives as SHORT GANZALES, about 35, of Broomfield, Colo., and HARRY SMITH, 60. SMITH'S home is not known, but he recently worked on a cattle ranch near Jefferson, Colo.
LEWISTON HOTEL - Denver
On April 10, 1974, fire killed three people at the three-story Lewiston Hotel, a refuge for transients in downtown Denver, and sent others scrambling out widows.
About a dozen other were injured; several firemen were also hurt.
Residents tried to escape on makeshift ropes of sheets and drapes; one snapped as a resident was descending, Assistant Fire Chief Jack Lynch told the Denver Post.
Jack Stewart, 48, latched onto the "Lewiston" sign outside a third-floor window until he was rescued. "It was getting a little warm on the backside," Stewart told The Rocky Mountain News.
Wendell Deringer, 34, broke his ribs jumping from a second-story window. "We opened the door and smoke from the hallway filled the room and that left just the window," Deringer told the News.
The hotel was located at 731 18th Street.
Fire doors were propped open and fire raced up the stairwell, Fire Chief Myrle Wise said.
The fire code exempted older hotels from modern standards, i.e., transoms, panel doors, wire mesh over windows.
Assistant Fire Chief Kenneth Neville told the News:
"It couldn't be considered a firetrap in the traditional sense of the word but there were a number of features in the hotel that made it less than safe."
MILLER HOTEL - Denver
On Feb. 8, 1969, fire destroyed the Miller Hotel in Denver.
The Denver Fire Department contended with three simultaneous three-alarm fires that day.
The others were at Carney Lumber Co. and Empire Roofing Co.
JOHNSON HOTEL - Laramie
On March 15, 1955, a fire at the Johnson Hotel in Laramie, Wyoming, killed six men - including a retired rodeo rider who performed in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show.
"The stairs were a sheet of flame," survivor Alfred Warner said. "I climbed out the window and hung onto the hotel sign."
The blaze - blamed on a cigarette - started behind the lobby on the main floor of the building at 103 Grand St.
Guest rooms occupied the top floor of the two-story brick structure, built in the early 1900s.
The Laramie Fire Department received the call for help at 3 a.m.
Fire Chief Blake Fanning told the Boomerang newspaper:
"When we arrived smokes was pouring out all the front windows of the building and men were leaning from the windows, hanging from the two signs at the front and shouting from the roof of the adjoining building.
"The heat was so terrific we couldn't get in the upstairs and we couldn't reach the inside rooms where we could hear men yelling."
Among the dead was retired rodeo rider Ed "Boots" Smith, who toured Europe in the early 1900s as a member of the Buffalo Bill Cody and Gandy Brothers Wild West shows, according to a wire service report. Three others were injured and 12 escaped.
Hotels of that era - including those in the West - were plagued by a lack of maintenance and investment owing to the Great Depression and shortages of building supplies and other material during the war.
Many hotels were serviced by open stairwells, allowing for the swift spread of smoke and flame. Buildings lacked sprinklers and adequate fire exits. Open transoms over guest room doors were common as were varnished hallways and lobbies.
...
Stella Bruce died in her sleep as flames raged at the Albany Hotel in downtown Denver on Sept. 2, 1962.
A four-alarm fire, which started in the basement, burned for more than four hours, killing Bruce, 35, a coffee shop waitress, and injuring 50 others, including firefighters.
Her body was found on a dressing room cot where she had been napping.
Deputy Fire Chief Cassio Frazini told the Rocky Mountain News:
"She had apparently just finished a hard day's work.
"Mrs. Bruce had unfastened the top button of her blouse and lay down on the cot with her glasses in her hand.
"There were no signs of the inborn fear of fire."
ADT Box 157 was received at fire alarm headquarters at 2:22 p.m. and
additional alarms followed at 2:34 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Off-duty firefighter were called to work.
Twenty-six Denver fire companies, including the civil defense fire reserve, were at the scene at 17th and Stout streets.
Skyline, Arvada, Aurora, Englewood, Littleton, Bancroft, Pleasant Valley, College View and Evergreen provided mutual aid.
Assistant Fire Chief Vernon Parrahm told the Rocky Mountain News:
"It seemed like we had it under control as we fought our way to the basement when suddenly the fire broke free an shot to the back of the building and up to the first floor.
"That's when we pulled the second alarm."
Another firefighter said:
"We just couldn't get to the damn thing."
The seven-story hotel had 300 rooms.
Part of the interior collapsed including the ballroom.
Firefighter Frank LaSasso rescued Capt. Jack Lynch who was overcome by smoke after his breathing apparatus failed.
Once revived Lynch went back to fighting the blaze.
Firefighters also rescued three people trapped in an elevator.
Police surgeon Harold Goldman and members of the rescue squad treated the injured.
Some people were brought down by ladders.
Hydrant water pressure was adequate and supplied 35 lines, Robert Millar, managed of the Denver Water Board, said.
Fire Engineering magazine said:
"The Albany is actually three separate buildings, all adjoining on Stout Street, and all built at separate times — 1939, 1912 and 1906.
"The buildings are similar in design and construction and are seven stories high.
"Incoming companies were split, some stretching lines and others making a search for the occupants Aerials and ground ladders were raised to the building and several people removed.
"Other fire fighters scurried up and down fire escapes leading guests to safety.
"The first companies to stretch, fought their way down the inside stairs to the basement of the middle (1906) section where the fire began, but they were soon driven out by the intense heat and smoke.
"The fire then worked its way back to the rear of the building and began to travel up vertical arteries including the elevator shaft."
...
Other major post-war hotel blazes:
DENVER HOTEL - Denver
On Aug. 26, 1950, fire killed four people and injured 13 others at the Denver Hotel on 17th at Market Street, The Denver Post reported.
Two firefighters were among the injured.
"Flames roared along the L-shaped hallway, curling into transoms and through panel doorways," the Post said.
Matt Mesteth, 24, of South Dakota, who escaped the fire, also survived the fire at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta in 1946 that killed 119 people, The Rocky Mountain News reported.
"Once is bad enough but twice is too much," Mesteth said.
Careless smoking was suspected as a smoldering mattress was rolled into a hallway, Fire Chief Allie Feldman said.
Stanley Snyder, 27, a bartender at a nearby tavern, caught two children, Linda Leyba, 10 months, and her brother Jerry, 4, dropped from window by their parents, Paul and Beatrice Leyba, the Post said.
The Associated Press reported:
"Two men found dead in the hotel have been identified by Denver detectives as SHORT GANZALES, about 35, of Broomfield, Colo., and HARRY SMITH, 60. SMITH'S home is not known, but he recently worked on a cattle ranch near Jefferson, Colo.
"VERA GREGORY of Denver died this afternoon in Denver General hospital of second and third degree burns suffered in the fire.
"The medical examiner said she had burns all over her body.
"The medical examiner said she had burns all over her body.
"... NORMAN COMBS of Denver, is reported "critical" by the hospital."
Combs died Aug. 29, the Post said.
Combs died Aug. 29, the Post said.
LEWISTON HOTEL - Denver
On April 10, 1974, fire killed three people at the three-story Lewiston Hotel, a refuge for transients in downtown Denver, and sent others scrambling out widows.
About a dozen other were injured; several firemen were also hurt.
Residents tried to escape on makeshift ropes of sheets and drapes; one snapped as a resident was descending, Assistant Fire Chief Jack Lynch told the Denver Post.
Jack Stewart, 48, latched onto the "Lewiston" sign outside a third-floor window until he was rescued. "It was getting a little warm on the backside," Stewart told The Rocky Mountain News.
Wendell Deringer, 34, broke his ribs jumping from a second-story window. "We opened the door and smoke from the hallway filled the room and that left just the window," Deringer told the News.
The hotel was located at 731 18th Street.
Fire doors were propped open and fire raced up the stairwell, Fire Chief Myrle Wise said.
The fire code exempted older hotels from modern standards, i.e., transoms, panel doors, wire mesh over windows.
Assistant Fire Chief Kenneth Neville told the News:
"It couldn't be considered a firetrap in the traditional sense of the word but there were a number of features in the hotel that made it less than safe."
MILLER HOTEL - Denver
On Feb. 8, 1969, fire destroyed the Miller Hotel in Denver.
The Denver Fire Department contended with three simultaneous three-alarm fires that day.
The others were at Carney Lumber Co. and Empire Roofing Co.
JOHNSON HOTEL - Laramie
On March 15, 1955, a fire at the Johnson Hotel in Laramie, Wyoming, killed six men - including a retired rodeo rider who performed in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show.
"The stairs were a sheet of flame," survivor Alfred Warner said. "I climbed out the window and hung onto the hotel sign."
The blaze - blamed on a cigarette - started behind the lobby on the main floor of the building at 103 Grand St.
Guest rooms occupied the top floor of the two-story brick structure, built in the early 1900s.
The Laramie Fire Department received the call for help at 3 a.m.
Fire Chief Blake Fanning told the Boomerang newspaper:
"When we arrived smokes was pouring out all the front windows of the building and men were leaning from the windows, hanging from the two signs at the front and shouting from the roof of the adjoining building.
"The heat was so terrific we couldn't get in the upstairs and we couldn't reach the inside rooms where we could hear men yelling."
Among the dead was retired rodeo rider Ed "Boots" Smith, who toured Europe in the early 1900s as a member of the Buffalo Bill Cody and Gandy Brothers Wild West shows, according to a wire service report. Three others were injured and 12 escaped.
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