Inside the Cocoanut Grove disaster, America's deadliest nightclub fire that killed 492 people in 15 minutes
The fire moved so fast it's still described as a mystery. Casey Grant, executive director emeritus of the Fire Protection Research Foundation, said the shape of the foyer ceiling sent the fire onward, "almost like out of a shotgun." As flames and smoke filled the club, panic ensued.
Source: Boston Globe
Then the club went dark. Joyce Mekelburg told the Boston Globe, "Everybody around me was screaming and crawling. Nobody knew where to go or how to go and everybody was crawling in a different direction."
Then the club went dark. Joyce Mekelburg told the Boston Globe, "Everybody around me was screaming and crawling. Nobody knew where to go or how to go and everybody was crawling in a different direction."
Dead, dying and injured lie in street outside Cocoanut Grove while civilians and doctors administer aid. A girl walks in horror through the prone victims, seeking a loved one. This tragic scene was the aftermath of a fire which broke out in the Boston Night Club last night. Bettmann/ Corbis / Getty
Source: Boston Globe
People were losing consciousness due to the thick fumes. Bodies began to pile up, blocking the exits. One doctor told the Boston Globe, "They never had a chance. They never knew what happened."
Source: Boston Globe
People were losing consciousness due to the thick fumes. Bodies began to pile up, blocking the exits. One doctor told the Boston Globe, "They never had a chance. They never knew what happened."
Boston City firefighters and policemen and emergency service workers jam the street outside the Cocoanut Grove Night Club during sudden fire that swept the club before patrons had a chance to escape, Nov. 28, 1942. AP
Sources: Boston.com, Baltimore Sun
So many people died because management had locked doors to ensure people didn't leave without paying. Other doors only opened inwards, which made them unusable in the dark. The club's main entrance had a revolving door, which jammed due to the volume of people trying to get out.
Sources: Boston.com, Baltimore Sun
So many people died because management had locked doors to ensure people didn't leave without paying. Other doors only opened inwards, which made them unusable in the dark. The club's main entrance had a revolving door, which jammed due to the volume of people trying to get out.
This is what remains of the revolving door of the Cocoanut Grove night club where scores of patrons died trying to get out during a fire in the Back Bay section of Boston last night, seen Nov. 29, 1942 AP Sources: Harvard Crimson, National Archives
Outside, fireman arrived quickly. A rare stroke of good luck meant some firefighters were in the area after responding to a car fire. Those on hand grabbed axes to break windows.
Outside, fireman arrived quickly. A rare stroke of good luck meant some firefighters were in the area after responding to a car fire. Those on hand grabbed axes to break windows.
Smoke pours from the Cocoanut Grove nightclub, right, during a fire in the Back Bay section of Boston, where 492 people died and hundreds more were injured. AP
Source: Boston Globe, National Fire Protection Association
But it was chaotic. The street was also filled with police, servicemen, and civilians. US Naval reserveman Nick Pagonis said in a police interview, which was publicly released in 2012, "It seemed to me that all those rescue workers were in the way. They held back those who wanted to help. The whole picture was very disgusting."
Source: Boston Globe, National Fire Protection Association
But it was chaotic. The street was also filled with police, servicemen, and civilians. US Naval reserveman Nick Pagonis said in a police interview, which was publicly released in 2012, "It seemed to me that all those rescue workers were in the way. They held back those who wanted to help. The whole picture was very disgusting."
Police remove the burned body of a victim of a sudden fire that swept the Cocoanut Grove Night Club in Boston, Ma., the night of November 28, 1942. AP
Sources: Boston Globe, National Fire Protection Association, National Archives
Some did get out. But in the panic, people were separated from loved ones. A 21-year-old man named Clifford Johnson lost sight of his date as he was pushed into the open. He went back inside four times to try and save her, before he collapsed, covered in horrific burns.
Sources: Boston Globe, National Fire Protection Association, National Archives
Some did get out. But in the panic, people were separated from loved ones. A 21-year-old man named Clifford Johnson lost sight of his date as he was pushed into the open. He went back inside four times to try and save her, before he collapsed, covered in horrific burns.
This tragic scene outside of the fire-ravaged ruins which once were the swank Coconut Grove, shows dead or injured victims lying on the street waiting to be taken to hospitals or morgues. Bettmann / Getty Source: Herald Tribune
Some escaped through side doors, or climbed to the roof. According to the Baltimore Sun, two chorus girls jumped from the roof and were caught by two male dancers
Some escaped through side doors, or climbed to the roof. According to the Baltimore Sun, two chorus girls jumped from the roof and were caught by two male dancers
Some of the Cocoanut Grove Night Club's luckier guests and employees escaped from the burning building through this side door. Others, who climbed to the roof, were brought to safety by this ladder, placed against the wall. Bettmann / Getty Source: Baltimore Sun
Others survived by wetting handkerchiefs and covering their mouths. Daniel Weiss, one of the cashiers, covered his mouth with a soaked bar towel, and stayed close the ground. "The closer I was to the floor, the easier it was to breathe," he said.
Others survived by wetting handkerchiefs and covering their mouths. Daniel Weiss, one of the cashiers, covered his mouth with a soaked bar towel, and stayed close the ground. "The closer I was to the floor, the easier it was to breathe," he said.
Prokopos Spedalis, cook’s helper in the Cocoanut Grove night club in Boston, testifies at an inquest into the cause of the fire which took the lives of 450 guests, said, “I put a towel over my face like this,” as he told of leaving the kitchen to aid in smashing down a door to free a number of trapped guests, Dec. 1, 1942. Peter J. Carroll / AP Source: National Fire Protection Association
In little over an hour, the fire was out. Bodies were passed through the charred windows to waiting soldiers and sailors. It was so cold outside, below freezing, that puddles from the fire hoses froze over.
In little over an hour, the fire was out. Bodies were passed through the charred windows to waiting soldiers and sailors. It was so cold outside, below freezing, that puddles from the fire hoses froze over.
With stretchers and blankets for the burned victims, soldiers and sailors stand ready at the charred windows of the Cocoanut Grove Night Club. Bettmann / Getty
Sources: CBS News, National Fire Protection Association
An AP correspondent wrote, "When the last body was reported out I looked around the room of the ground floor. It was a shambles. Chairs and tables were upended, crockery and glassware was strewn everywhere, it was as if a tornado had whistled through the room."
Sources: CBS News, National Fire Protection Association
An AP correspondent wrote, "When the last body was reported out I looked around the room of the ground floor. It was a shambles. Chairs and tables were upended, crockery and glassware was strewn everywhere, it was as if a tornado had whistled through the room."
A fireman surveys the ruins of the Cocoanut Grove Night Club, destroyed by fire last night (November 28). He stands beside a pole which was decorated to look like a coconut tree. Bettmann / Getty Source: Baltimore Sun
By midnight, the Cocoanut Grove was a charred, empty building. Despite what had happened within, the structure survived. The Sun called it a "huge brick oven," with little obvious damage to its walls and roof.
By midnight, the Cocoanut Grove was a charred, empty building. Despite what had happened within, the structure survived. The Sun called it a "huge brick oven," with little obvious damage to its walls and roof.
Firemen (rear) view the remains of Boston's Cocoanut Grove night club through the revolving doors leading to the tiny 10-foot-wide vestibule where stampeding guests were crushed and smothered as they tried to leave the burning club. Bettmann / Getty Sources: Baltimore Sun, National Fire Protection Association
A priest administered last rites.
A priest administered last rites.
A priest is administering last rites to one of the victims of the tragic fire which claimed the lives of 399 persons. Bettmann / Getty
At least 400 persons were burned to death and more than 200 were injured when a fire swept through the Cocoanut Grove, the night of football celebration. Bettmann / Getty
Those still alive were sent to two nearby hospitals, Boston City and Massachusetts General. BCH got over 300 casualties, of which 132 lived longer than two hours. MGH got 114, of which 39 survived longer than two hours. Later calculations worked out that BCH's victims came in at an astonishing rate of one victim every 11 seconds over a 75 minute period.
Because of the scope of the misfortune,
neither hospitals charged any of the patients.
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