Hotel Vendome fire

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Coordinates: 42°21′4.55″N 71°4′43.09″W / 42.3512639°N 71.0786361°W / 42.3512639; -71.0786361
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Hotel Vendome, Boston as it appeared circa 1880
Hotel Vendome, Boston, Massachusetts. 1921 July 19. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. Resource: det.4a27841

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[edit]

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.[1]

During the 1960s, the Vendome suffered four small fires.[2] 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[3] and began renovating the remaining hotel into condominiums and a shopping mall.[4]

Fire and collapse[edit]

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.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7]

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 40-by-45-foot (12 m × 14 m) section at the southeast corner of the building collapsed, burying Ladder 15 and 17 firefighters beneath a two-story pile of debris. 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:

  • Firefighter Thomas W. Beckwith
  • Firefighter Joseph F. Boucher
  • Lieutenant Thomas J. Carroll
  • Firefighter Charles E. Dolan
  • Lieutenant John E. Hanbury Jr.
  • Firefighter John E. Jameson
  • Firefighter Richard B. Magee
  • Firefighter Paul J. Murphy
  • Firefighter Joseph P. Saniuk

Aftermath[edit]

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 7-inch (18 cm) 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.[6]

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. [8] 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.[9]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Kuntz, Andrew (2005). "Ryan's Mammoth Collection Part II". www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/Ryan'sII.htm.
  2. ^ Juda, D. (1969), Fire Forces 120 Out at Vendome, p. 8, retrieved 15 May 2024
  3. ^ Spinazzola, A. (1972), Let’s Eat Out / the Cafe Vendome, p. 19, retrieved 15 May 2024
  4. ^ Yudis, A. Y. (1972), Somerset another feather in “Pat” Franchi’s cap, pp. B1–B2, retrieved 15 May 2024
  5. ^ Abbott, J., Kindleberger, R. (1972), 7 firemen killed in Vendome blaze, p. 2, retrieved 15 May 2024
  6. ^ a b Vahey, John P. (1973). "Without Warning- A Report on the Vendome Hotel Fire" (PDF). bostonfirehistory.org.
  7. ^ Robinson, W. V. (1972), Soot, smoke, fear shroud rescuers, retrieved 15 May 2024
  8. ^ Leung, S. (1997), “We the living...remembering always”, p. 20, retrieved 15 May 2024
  9. ^ Barkan Management Adds The Vendome to its Portfolio of High-Profile Luxury Condominiums in Boston – Barkan Companies, 2020, archived from the original on 24 Oct 2020, retrieved 15 May 2024

Additional sources[edit]

  • Bunting, Bainbridge, Houses of Boston's Back Bay: An Architectural History, 1840-1917, 1967, ISBN 0-674-40901-9
  • Moore, Barbara W. and Weesner, Gail, Back Bay: A Living Portrait, 1995, ISBN 0-9632077-3-3
  • Sammarco, Anthony Mitchell, Images of America: Boston's Back Bay, 1997, ISBN 0-7524-0828-3
  • Schorow, Stephanie, Boston on Fire: A history of Fires and Firefighting in Boston, 2003, ISBN 1-889833-44-4
  • Shand-Tucci, Douglass, Built in Boston: City and Suburb 1800-1950, 1988, ISBN 0-87023-649-0
  • Southworth, Susan & Michael. The Boston Society of Architects' AIA Guide to Boston, 1992, ISBN 0-87106-188-0

External links[edit]

42°21′4.55″N 71°4′43.09″W / 42.3512639°N 71.0786361°W / 42.3512639; -71.0786361

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