The Daily Alaska empire., 1946-12-07
114pERISH IN ATLANTA
 HOTEL FIRE
Another Hundred Report ed Injured : Guests
 Trapped in Rooms

ATLANTA. Dec. "A mysterious pre-dawn fire which started in the upper floors today turned the l5- story Winecoff Hotel in downtown Atlanta into roaring inferno killing at least IA persons and injuring another 100.
 Several hours after the fire was brought under control at am. firemen said they believed all bod ies had been removed from the l94-room building located on At lantas famed Peachtree Street in the heart of the theater district.
 There were indications the death toll among the 285 guests might mount with a complete check of the emergency mortuaries estab- lished in various parts of the city Already the toll was the worst in hotel disaster in the nations history
 Leap To Death
 Many of the guests leaped tc their deaths from the flaming structure. Others were burned fa- tally or suffocated A check of the building showed manp raoms untouched by the flames, put oth- CTS were charred Bremen ex- pressed belief many lives would have been saved had guests re- mained in these untouched rooms The walls and floors of the building stood, but much of the woodwork and doors was charred. Some par titions were destroyed The build ing had recently been painted on the inside, and ffremen expressed belief this might have aided the rapid spread of the flames
 Guests TralDed
 Most of the guests were trapped above the third floor where the fire was believed to have started about 3l5 am. The brick and concrete building was constructed in 1913. It had no outside fire escapes It was classed as fire resistant.
 Actual fire damage was confined to the southwest side from the third floor to the roof The build ing faces north. Bodies were found On every floor above the third. Those not in the direct path of the flames suffccated in their rooms
 There was no estimate of mone- tary less to the building which was scld ill 1943 for approximately S650,000 Mrs. Annie Lee Irwin of Atlanta, the present owner, had it under lease to Arthur F. Geele, ST
 Investigation
 The hotel though not one of the largest in the city, was classed as enc of the citys leading hostelries
 Mayor William B Hartsficld an-
 
 determine the cause oI the fire, the most costly in lives in the city's history, would hegin immediately w. H. Rogers. fireman. told of finding l6 bodies on one upper floor. The rooms in which they were found were undamaged by the flames, and all apparently had died of suffocation In one room were the bodies of five young girls. in another a woman and three children
 Emergency Mortuaries
 Emergency mortuaries were set up in various parts of the city, and a count oi the dead was diff ficult. The municipal morgue at Grady Hospital reported it had 34 bodies and could take no more.
 With the flames under control, firemen kept up a steady process sion bringing the dead and injured from the building. Bodies from the upper floors were removed via bridge which was built across an alley-way to an adjoining build h,g.
 The Red Cross set up special disaster staff headquarters for Identification of the dead, but a! official said obtaining names would be difficult because most of the bodies were in night clothes and
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