New-York tribune., 1920-02-28
Firen1en Save Many
Trapped on Roof
In Apartment Fire
|Burning Rubbish Starts
! Dangerous Blaze i'm z
' Story Windemere: Wind
Helps to Spread Flames

Some one set fire to heap of rub
A,sh yesterday in the yard of the Wind
more Apartments, 4o6 West Fifty-sev-
nth Street. A strong. freezing wind
drove the flames into a broken cellar
rindow Of the eeven-story red brick
building and tongues Of fire scuttled
beneath cob webbed rafters into the
] ,flumh waiter. where. encouraged by an
uprigh: draft, they expanded and burst
ont into various apartments. The oc-
cupsuts fed in disorder.
On the fifth floor in the apartment
af Mrs. jeanette Maroni was visitor.
Miss Marie Gilmore. stenographer in
As Ninth Avenue contractors office.
Later In the afternoon Miss Gilmore,
while trying to quiet her nerves with
A cup Of tea and ward off headache
with handkerchief bound about her
forehead. told how many of the women
escaped.
Mrs. Maroni is French. and wish
you could have heard her." explained
Miss Gilmore. "She was yelling and
50 was her niece, who was dashing
around In bathrobe. They have a
roomer, and he too appeared in a bath
robe. told them to put on some warm
clothes, but do you think they paid any
attention?
Climbs to Roof
u went back to the fire escape and
climbed out past an ash barrel, gar
bsge can and a fat man who was trying
70 decide whether he had time to move
out his furniture.
"'Will you please get out Of my
vay? | said to him, and he wanted to
give me an argument, but | climbed
fight past him. Smoke so thick you
could cut 1t with q knife was coming
up the rear wall so you couldn't see
the lower platforms of the fire escape
Everybody was climbing up toward The
roof At the sixth foor found a
woman half dressed carrying a baby
lightly clad. l helped them up the
perpendicular iron ladder from the top
floor to the roof and when we stepped
over the coping there were about
Nthirteen women there. One of these
Cling to jump while two others held
onto her arms.
Then the firemen appeared and
guided everybody down through the
skyight of the apartment on the eor-
rer Of Ninth Avenue. When I reached
the street my knees got weak and two
policemen helped me nome"
An aerial ladder was raised to
smoke shrouded sixth floor window
from which was leaning a screaming
woman Fireman Goldstein, of Hook
and Ladder Company 35. ran up the ice
coated rungs with all the agility pos
able in a heavy rubber coat and hel.
met.
Mrs. Blanche Du Bois, the woman,
toId Goldstein she was i'll and that #
.bere was TO great danger she pre-
ierred to remain in the apartment
rather than risk trip down the ladder.
While the fire was in progress the
cast of q film drama now in prepara-
ton at the Fox studio, Fifty sixth
Street and Tenth Avenue, was hurried
{. the Windemere, which looks much
ike an apartment hotel used in the
notion picture. Miss Estele Taylor,
sho cnacts the role of the wife If q
eoue, ran to third-story windQ and
camera nan on the street below re-
corded on the screen her frantic fear
and her rescue by her husband, por-
trayed by Mark Macdermott. The fire
viii! save the Fox company the neces-
sity of building set.
Every kitchen in the house was
damaged, and the lower floors were
almost wrecked. It was said it would
cost $50 900 to repair the damage. No
one wss injured.