page_title: Winecoff Hotel fire
section_title: Casualties
hierarchical_section_title: Winecoff Hotel fire / Casualties
caption_attribution_description: English: Daisy McCumber falls after leaping from a window to escape the Winecoff Hotel fire. This photograph won the 1947 Pulitzer Prize for Photography.
context_page_description: The Winecoff Hotel fire of December 7, 1946, was the deadliest hotel fire in United States history, killing 119 hotel occupants, including the hotel's original owners. Located at 176 Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States, the Winecoff Hotel was advertised as "absolutely fireproof". While the hotel's steel structure was indeed protected against the effects of fire, the hotel's interior finishes were combustible, and the building's exit arrangements consisted of a single stairway serving all fifteen floors. All of the hotel's occupants above the fire's origin on the third floor were trapped, and the fire's survivors either were rescued from upper-story windows or jumped into nets held by firemen. The fire was notable for the number of victims who jumped to their deaths. A photograph of one survivor's fall won the 1947 Pulitzer Prize for Photography.
context_section_description: Of the 304 guests in the hotel that night, 119 died, about 65 were injured and about 120 were rescued uninjured. The hotel's original owners, the Winecoffs, who lived in an apartment in the hotel, died in the apartment. Thirty-two deaths were among those who jumped, or who fell while trying to descend ropes made of sheets tied together to reach the ground or too short fire ladders. Among the hotel guests were forty high school students on a State YMCA of Georgia ("Y" Clubs) sponsored trip to Atlanta for a state youth-in-government legislative program, thirty of whom died. The students had mostly been placed two to a room at the back of the hotel next to the alley, where many of the windows had been covered by louvered shutters for privacy. The occupants of the shuttered rooms were killed on every floor above the fifth floor.
  Between $3 million and $4 million in claims were brought against the hotel's owners, but insurance awards totaled only about $350,000.
  Among the casualties were:
  William Fleming Winecoff (age 76), the hotel's builder and namesake. He lived with his wife for 31 years in suite 1011–1012. He was found dead in a nearby hall.
  Grace Smith Winecoff (age 76), the builder's wife. She died on the sidewalk of Peachtree Street.
  Patricia Ann Griffin (age 14), daughter of Marvin Griffin and one of 40 delegates of the second Youth Assembly at the Georgia State Capitol who were staying at the Winecoff. She suffocated with another delegate and their chaperone in room 926.
  Ernest Benedict Weatherly (age 63), former chairman of a federally appointed committee on the beef industry. He jumped to his death from room 1024.
  Margaret Wilson Nichols (age 30). A onetime Miss Atlanta runner-up and a well-known former box-office girl at the Fox and Paramount in Atlanta, Georgia, she died falling from room 720 to the alley behind the hotel.
  Elmer Andrew Conzett (age 32), Navy Lieutenant Commander, bomber pilot in World War II
  Ashley John Burns (age 26), grandson of William J. Burns. He suffocated in room 1416.
  Borgia McCoy (age 58), mother-in-law of British vice-consul Thomas Bolton. In town to help with her grandchild, she suffocated in room 724.
  Florance Allen Baggett (age 43), a well-known auctioneer. He was staying in suite 1108-1110-1112 with his first cousins Sarah Baggett Miller (died) and Catherine Baggett McLaughlin (survived). Catherine made it down safely, Sarah fell, and Florance suffocated in the room.
  Nell Zorn Sims (age 33), president of the Business and Professional Women's Club of Barnesville, Georgia. She climbed out of room 1504, slipped from the cornice and fell 15 stories, landing on the hood of a fire truck and breaking her neck.
caption: One of the fire's victims, Daisy McCumber, falls after jumping from a window. She survived, with serious injuries. This photograph by Arnold Hardy won a 1947 Pulitzer Prize.
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