Pioneer Hotel Fire Re-Examined

Photo: gendisasters.com

60 Minutes, the popular CBS Television News magazine, has re-examined the 1970 Pioneer Hotel fire. The facts and circumstances of the Tuscon, Arizona tragedy are eerily similar to those of Atlanta's Winecoff Hotel fire twenty-four years earlier. More here.

Firefighter Jim Smith Passes

Jim Smith

Winecoff Hotel firefighter James Smith passed away today.

Smith was born in Atlanta in 1920. In the early hours of December 7, 1946 he was on duty at Atlanta's fire station number twelve, on DeKalb Avenue on the city's east side when the first alarm was sounded.

Station twelve's engine company was first dispatched to station six and immediately from there to the Winecoff fire scene. "You could see it when you came across Edgewood Bridge. Coming up Edgewood you could see the fire, it was coming out the windows then," Smith said in 2011.

Upon arrival, Smith was ordered to evacuate the hotel's guests from the lower floors, down a darkened stairway which was partially obstructed by fire hoses and cascading water. "They were scared," he remembered. Once the guests who could be evacuated were downstairs, Smith joined the fire fight on the Peachtree Street side.

Additional equipment was needed there. Smith did the heavy lifting. "We'd had to park down there at the Lowes Grand Theater," said Smith. "I mostly remember running back and forth."

James Smith's brother, Charlie Smith from fire station four also fought the fire. In 2011, on the fire's sixty-fifth anniversary, James Smith returned to the scene of the fire. There he was honored by Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran.

Jim Smith, may he rest in peace.

Legend of Devotion Revealed

Cliff Burtz Carried a Secret Burden

Now it can be told. Cliff Burtz died in 2011. He was eighty-eight. He never married though he was considered a good catch. He had lovers. Kind and thoughtful women who would surely have considered making a life with Cliff -- one with wedding vows. But Cliff's willingness to give his heart in full had been shattered by the Winecoff fire and the searing, lifelong memory of a girl, Frances Thompson, age 17.


Frances Thompson's Senior
Photo Remained on Burtz's Dresser 
For The Rest of His Life 

   Cliff was older than Frances. He'd been to war in Europe. She was a senior at Gainesville High. They were engaged to be married. He was head-over-heels in love. In Atlanta attending the Youth Assembly, she planned to shop for her trousseau. Then came the Winecoff fire. She perished before the sun rose but remained Cliff Burtz's sweetheart forever. It wasn't the first, or even the worst, emotional jolt Cliff had ever suffered. In 1936 he'd lost his mother and three sisters in the infamous F4 tornado that struck Gainesville, Georgia. Hundreds were killed. By 1946, Frances Thompson had become the most significant woman in his life. Losing her was the final blow. Cliff Burtz lost his trust in love. But his love for Frances never left him.


Cliff Burtz in Europe 1945

He visited her grave-site regularly, sometimes lengthy stays accented by tears, until his final years in life. Her high school photo, in its original embossed cardboard frame, remained on Cliff's dresser until he died. Cliff Burtz led a normal life. He acquired real estate and wealth. He had friends and a brother, but never a wife and no children. He rarely spoke of Frances as he carried his secret burden. But a few times it was revealed. Sara Jo Hill shared an office with Cliff at the B & W Gas Company in Commerce, Ga. "He was a nice fellow, well thought of,” said Hill. "Some days when it was cloudy and rainy and dreary and nobody was coming in the office that much he'd sort of get down and out and get to talking about when the storm come and took his mama and them. 

Frances Thompson, 17

"He'd get to talking about the girl he was going to marry. The way he would talk, I think that he truly loved that girl and I don't think he had that same feeling for anybody else". Cliff was left to wonder how life might have been had Francis Thompson lived. He was left with a vacancy that couldn't be filled. To let go of Frances' memory and move on in the pursuit of love and happiness represented a risk he couldn't bear to take. His heart was hopelessly guarded by the harsh results of the Gainesville tornado and the Winecoff fire. Georgia's two most tragic and devastating events of the twentieth century combined to ice a good man's heart.

Women of Achievement

Winecoff Fire reader Mary Marsh has documented new details about the lives of some of the high achieving women who perished in the Winecoff fire. In a trilogy of articles, Marsh delves into their sorority and civic club connections. Marsh writes with authority about the sororities and reveals her appreciation for the active women, who's lives were in full stride, in the vivacious post World War II era. Her articles are here.

Anniversary Newspaper Articles

The sixty-sixth Winecoff fire anniversary was marked by newspaper articles in Rome, Albany and Thomaston, Georgia. Read them here: Rome News Tribune here Albany Herald here Thomaston Times here.

Dot Tyner Remembered On Fire's Anniversary

Dorothy Tyner perished on this day in 1946. She and the 118 other victims of the Winecoff Hotel fire inspired the fire safety codes the world relies on.

Betty Huguley's Escape Remembered

Betty Huguley On Her Wedding Day In 1953

Sixty-six years ago today Betty Huguley escaped the Winecoff fire. She showed poise, calm and courage as she edged along a tiny eight inch ledge, four floors above Ellis Street, then descended an aerial ladder to safety. Then sixteen years old, she was a Youth Assembly delegate from Griffin, Georgia. Today she lives in Newark, Delaware.

Ninety-Nine-Years Ago Today

Winecoff Hotel construction began in 1912
Photo by Starbuck Jones April 17, 1913

Ninety-nine years ago today, on October 13, 1913, the Winecoff Hotel opened for business. But construction began one hundred years ago, in 1912. An article by Dick Funderburke in the October issue of The Ponce Press makes note of that anniversary. The article is here.

Passing Ships

On December 6, 1946, just hours before the Winecoff fire, this photo was taken in Georgia's state capitol building as the Youth Assembly Conference was gaveled to order.

The bobby-soxed girl in the center is Sue Broome, 16, a Youth Assembly member from Bainbridge, Georgia. Hours later she and 31 other Youth Assembly participants perished in the Winecoff fire, America's deadliest hotel fire.

The man on the left is Melvin E. Thompson, the Lt. Governor-elect of Georgia. He addressed the Youth Assembly delegates that night. Fifteen days later, upon the death of Georgia's Governor-elect Eugene Talmadge, Thompson was thrust into the state's biggest political controversy ever: Georgia's Three-Governors Controversy, wherein three men claimed to be the rightful governor of Georgia. Thompson eventually prevailed.

If you can help identify the other Youth Assembly members in the photo please contact Winecoff Fire co-author Allen B. Goodwin: allenbgoodwin@yahoo.com

Meet Ace Research Assistant Chet Wallace

Chet Wallace

The Winecoff Fire co-authors, Sam Heys and Allen B. Goodwin are pleased to recognize the good work of Chet Wallace. Said Sam Heys, "Two years ago Chet had never heard of the Winecoff Hotel fire. Then he read our book. He contacted Allen and me and has pumped new energy into our study of the fire."

"Sam and Allen's book had a big effect on me," said Wallace. "It made me curious about the fire's 119 victims. Who were they? What kind of lives had they led?"

"Chet's located dozens of new photos for the Remembrance Page. He's also compiled a long overdue index for our book," said Allen Goodwin, "he's been a huge help."

Goodwin added, "he's brought us so much new material a second book may soon be in the works."

Virginia Torbert Treasures

This photo of Winecoff fire victim Virginia Torbert is surrounded by three of her simple treasures: a decorative tea set, a bracelet (recovered from the fire scene) and a bottle of cologne, given to her by a suitor, Charles Greene. Today the items are kept safe and held dear by her sister Barbara.

Virginia Torbert's story is told on pages 88, 169, 175 and 233 of The Winecoff Fire: The Untold Story of America's Deadliest Hotel Fire.