603:"14 DEAD, 40 HURT, 50 MISSING IN LANSING, MICH., HOTEL FIRE; MANY LEGISLATORS VICTIMS; HIGH WIND WHIPS FLAMES Many Leap to Icy River With Escape Blocked and Perish There. 15 GO DOWN WITH THE ROOF Destruction of Hotel Register Makes Difficult the Accounting for Those Missing. ONLY STAIRWAY CUT OFF President Sends Condolences to Families of Victims -- Investigations Started. SCENES AT FATAL HOTEL FIRE IN MICHIGAN AND TWO OF VICTIMS. 14 DEAD, 50 MISSING IN HOTEL FIRE"
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sounded at 5:30 am in the 211-room four-story brick hotel. Many of the hotel's 215 guests escaped by utilizing one of the four fire ladders or utilized the life nets, but due to the wooden interior many guests were trapped in their rooms, and eight people leapt out of the hotel onto nets. Others fell into the Grand River trying to escape the flames and many spectators claim to have not seen them resurface.
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By 1934, the total number of rooms had been increased to 211. State legislators and community groups often stayed at the hotel because of its location and amenities, including a popular bar and restaurant. On the north end of the building there was a fire escape, but not on the south side, as the
164:, and according to the Lansing Fire Department, was the worst fire disaster in the history of Lansing. The fire occurred around 5:30 am and spread rapidly through the building's wooden interior, trapping many of the hotel's 215 guests in their rooms and forcing them to escape via fire ladders or
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On
December 11, 1934, a fire broke out in the Kerns Hotel killing 32 people and injuring 44, including 14 firemen. A night janitor from the newspaper across the street reportedly noticed the fire on a second floor window curtain and reported the fire to the Central fire station. The alarm bell
184:. It was built in 1909 by William G. Kerns as a four-story, 162-room hotel, constructed of brick with a wooden interior. The hotel cost $ 50,000 to build and was the first hotel in the state of Michigan to have running ice water in all of its rooms.
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Thirty-two people were initially killed by the fire with at least five bodies never identified. Forty-four people were injured including fourteen firefighters, two of the injured people died later, bringing the death toll to thirty-four.
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168:. In addition to the fatalities, 42 more people, including fourteen firemen, were injured in the fire, which was thought to have been caused by a carelessly discarded
318:. The surrounding area and surviving buildings connected to the hotel, are rumored to be haunted with the sites included in ghost stories and tours of the area.
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Kerns Hotel in its early days, shown at left in the background. The three-story Hotel
Wentworth shown in the foreground survived the fire.
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At least one fireman was injured by a guest who jumped from the hotel, and the fire was contained by about 7:30 am.
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hotel was connected to the Hotel
Wentworth there. The east side of the building was bordered by the
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314:. A memorial song, "The Lansing Hotel Fire", was written and published in 1935 by Walter Coon of
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The fire was widely covered by media, including appearing as the front page lead story in
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and provided citizens with clothing and food, as well as monetary support. There are two
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The Kerns Hotel was located in the 100 block of N. Grand Ave. in
476:
Traveling
Through Time: A Guide to Michigan's Historical Markers
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Firefighters and evacuated guests were aided by the
Lansing and
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574:"Lansing, MI Hotel Kerns Fire Disaster, Dec 1934 (page 2)"
549:"Lansing, MI Hotel Kerns Fire Disaster, Dec 1934 (page 1)"
478:. Michigan: University of Michigan Regional. p. 167.
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in
Michigan dedicated to the event and the responders.
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A plaque in downtown
Lansing commemorating the fire
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515:"National Affairs: Legislators at Lansing"
503:. University of Michigan: Stratford House.
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931:December 1934 events in the United States
875:List of hotel fires in the United States
501:City in the Forest; The Story of Lansing
446:MacLean, James; Whitford, Craig (2003).
808:Childers Palace Backpackers Hostel fire
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523:. Time.com. 1934-12-24. Archived from
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787:Pension de Vogel homeless hostel fire
448:Lansing; City on the Grand, 1836-1939
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823:Kamień Pomorski homeless hostel fire
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757:1980 Saskatoon Queen's Hotel fire
926:Hotel fires in the United States
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572:Beitler, Stu, ed. (2007-11-02).
547:Beitler, Stu, ed. (2007-11-02).
921:1909 establishments in Michigan
901:1934 fires in the United States
727:Hotel 't Silveren Seepaerd fire
702:Knights of Columbus Hostel fire
584:from the original on 2015-01-10
349:Fire Department. Archived from
1:
818:Taj Mahal Palace Hotel attack
383:Capital Area District Library
833:Resorts World Manila attack
752:Hotel Corona de Aragón fire
474:Ashlee, Laura Rose (2005).
37:December 11, 1934
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916:Hotels established in 1909
772:Beverly rooming house fire
223:Among the dead were seven
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722:Paramount Hotel explosion
153:of December 11, 1934, in
21:
777:Dupont Plaza Hotel arson
450:. Arcadia. p. 117.
414:Carpenter, Jenn (2015).
312:Illustrated London News
848:2023 Makkah hotel fire
838:2017 Batumi hotel fire
828:2014 Medina hotel fire
499:Darling, Birt (1950).
375:"The Hotel Kerns Fire"
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782:Downunder Hostel fire
747:1978 Holiday Inn fire
295:Volunteers of America
283:Michigan State Police
236:state representatives
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115:Carelessly discarded
86:42.73444°N 84.55028°W
717:Hotel Roosevelt fire
529:on November 25, 2010
712:Winecoff Hotel fire
316:Royal Oak, Michigan
227:state legislators,
91:42.73444; -84.55028
82: /
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762:Central Hotel fire
732:Worsley Hotel fire
692:Arcadia Hotel fire
676:Windsor Hotel fire
607:The New York Times
307:The New York Times
299:historical markers
267:Charles T. Kimball
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131:Non-fatal injuries
911:Lansing, Michigan
906:Fires in Michigan
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869:Hotels portal
843:Harbin hotel fire
792:Switel Hotel fire
243:Charles D. Parker
182:Lansing, Michigan
162:state legislators
155:Lansing, Michigan
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896:1934 in Michigan
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742:Hotel Polen fire
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385:. Archived from
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618:. Retrieved
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355:. Retrieved
351:the original
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271:John Dykstra
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190:Grand River.
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137:28 civilians
662:Hotel fires
418:. Arcadia.
310:and in the
255:Don E. Sias
89: /
64:Coordinates
890:Categories
620:2024-06-21
588:2016-01-08
558:2016-01-08
533:2016-01-08
393:2016-01-08
357:2016-01-08
322:References
176:Background
77:84°33′01″W
74:42°44′04″N
41:1934-12-11
615:0362-4331
287:Red Cross
277:Aftermath
170:cigarette
166:life nets
117:cigarette
582:Archived
379:cadl.org
343:"Box 23"
225:Michigan
159:Michigan
57:Michigan
49:Location
347:Lansing
215:Victims
53:Lansing
39: (
613:
482:
454:
422:
293:, the
289:, the
285:, the
269:, and
257:, and
123:Deaths
112:Cause
611:ISSN
520:Time
480:ISBN
452:ISBN
420:ISBN
234:and
195:Fire
149:The
106:Fire
102:Type
34:Date
892::
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126:34
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43:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
