1972 fire in Boston, Massachusetts
The Hotel Vendome fire in the United States was the worst firefighting tragedy in Boston history. Nine firefighters were killed during the final stages of extinguishing a fire on June 17, 1972. The Hotel Vendome was on the southwest corner of the intersection of Commonwealth Avenue and Dartmouth Street, in the Back Bay area of Boston.
Background.
The Vendome was a luxury hotel built in 1871 in Back Bay, just north of Copley Square. A massive expansion was undertaken in 1881 according to plans by architect J. F. Ober and completed in 1882.
During the 1960s, the Vendome suffered four small fires. In 1971, the year of the original building's centennial, the Vendome was sold. The new owners opened a restaurant called Cafe Vendome on the first floor and began renovating the remaining hotel into apartments and a shopping mall.
Fire and collapse.
The building was largely empty the afternoon of Saturday June 17, 1972, except for a few people performing renovations. Approximately 100 patrons were in the Cafe Vendome and were evacuated shortly after the fire broke out. One of the workers discovered that a fire had begun in an enclosed space between the third and fourth floors, and at 2:35 p.m. rang Fire alarm call box 1571 at the intersection of Newbury and Dartmouth streets. A working fire was called in at 2:44 p.m., and subsequent alarms were rung at 2:46 p.m., 3:02 p.m., and 3:06 p.m. A total of 16 engine companies, five ladder companies, two aerial towers, and a heavy rescue company responded. Approximately 200 firefighters were at the scene.
The fire was largely under control by 4:30 p.m.. Several crews, including Boston Fire Department Ladder 13 and Engines 22 and 32, remained on scene performing overhaul and cleanup. At 5:28 p.m., without warning, all five floors of a section at the southeast corner of the building collapsed, burying Ladder 15 and 17 firefighters beneath a two-story pile of debris. Ladder 15 was wiped out completely. Nine of the firefighters died, making this the worst firefighting disaster in Boston history in terms of loss of life. The men who were killed were:
Aftermath.
District Fire Chief John P. Vahey wrote a comprehensive report on the Vendome fire. Although the cause of the original fire was not known, the subsequent collapse was attributed to the failure of an overloaded steel column whose support had been weakened when a new duct had been cut beneath it, triggered by the weight of the firefighters and their equipment on the upper floors.
On June 17, 1997—the 25th anniversary of the Vendome fire—the Hotel Vendome Fire Memorial was dedicated on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, a few yards from the site of the fire. The monument, designed by Cambridge sculptor Ted Clausen, features a fireman's helmet and coat cast in bronze draped over a low arc of dark granite. An inscription bears the timeline of the fire, the names of the men who died, and quotations from firefighters about firefighting. One faces the site of the fire when reading the names.
After the fire, the Vendome was successfully renovated and re-opened in 1975, hosting 110 residential condominium units and 27 commercial units, including a restaurant.
References.
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