TIMOTHY R. SZYMANSKI
Firehouse.Com Contributor
Was it an accident or was it arson? 54 years the question is still
not answered. The Winecoff Hotel fire, a fire that killed 119 of 280 people
who were staying in the hotel at the time of the fire, is still listed as
the deadliest hotel fire in North America.
The fire occurred at approximately 3:00AM on December 7, 1946. The
Winecoff Hotel is located on the corner of Peachtree Street and Ellis Street
in the heart of downtown Atlanta. At fifteen stories, the Winecoff was
Atlanta's tallest hotel. It was advertised as a "fireproof" hotel, which
was constructed of brick. It had a central-spiral staircase and an elevator
that was under the control of an operator.
Photo By Timothy Szymanski
A marker stands as a reminder of the devastating fire that tore through the
Winecoof Hotel killing 119 people.
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Many of the guests in the hotel that night were teenagers who went
to Atlanta for the Youth Assembly at the Capitol. They were from high
schools and other organizations from all across Georgia to take part in a
mock legislature, and the "delegates" were staying in many of Atlanta's
downtown hotels.
The fire is believed to have started on the third floor. At first,
it was believed to be an accidental fire, possibly due to careless smoking.
But in 1995, the sons of two reporters who were covering the fire for an
Atlanta newspaper, published a book, which has a different theory about the
fire.
In the book, The Winecoff Fire - The Untold Story of America's
Deadliest Hotel Fire by Sam Heys and Allen B. Goodwin, the possibility of
arson is introduced. After extensive research by the two men, a suspected
is named. Both of the men researched the fire for over ten years. It makes
for excellent reading about one of the most historic fires in the United
States.
For over two and a half hours, fire departments from all across
northern Georgia fought the blaze. A number of people died in the fire, as
well as many people who jumped to their deaths. At the time of the fire,
the building lacked fire escapes, fire doors or automatic fire sprinklers.
Photo By Timothy Szymanski
A postcard from the dedication ceremony of the historical marker placed at the corner
Peachtree and Ellis Streets on December 4, 1994.
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One of the teenagers that survived the Winecoff fire was Dorothy
Cox, who jumped to Peachtree Street and broke a significant number of bones
and suffered serious injuries. Nearly 47 years later, her daughter Janet
Cox set out on a mission to place a State Historical Marker at the site,
next to the building, which still stands today. After the Marker was
approved a committee of consisting of the authors, Sam Hayes and Allen
Goodwin, Janet Cox, the Atlanta Fire Department along with the Metropolitan
Fire Association, set up a special dedication ceremony on December 4, 1994
at the Marker site. What made the ceremony significant was a number of the
survivors and firefighters that were there on December 7, 1946, attended the
ceremony. It was the first time in 48 years that some of the survivors got
to meet the firefighters that responded to the fire. One of the engines
that actually responded to the incident was also parked in front of the
building during the ceremony. It was the first time since the fire, that
the city officially thanked the firefighters for responding to the blaze.
If you visit Atlanta, the marker is located on a small patch of
grass next to the Winecoff Hotel building on the corner of Peachtree Street
and Ellis Street, just two blocks north of Fire Station 4, one of the
busiest fire stations in Atlanta.
As a result of the fire, within days fire codes were upgraded across
the country. In Georgia alone, the 1948 Building Exits Code was adopted by
the Georgia State Legislature to ensure that people could escape buildings
in the event of a fire.
The Winecoff Hotel Fire Marker is dedicated to the victims, the
survivors and the firefighters who fought the Winecoff Hotel fire.
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