Last Dance at the Cocoanut Grove
o those unfamiliar with the Cocoanut Grove, the name itself brings to mind palm trees, laughing The Cocoanut Grove was crowds, coconuts, dancing and just a good place to go and enjoy oneself with friends. The Grove had one of the most popular T all of this. But, this is not how it’s remembered. In Boston, the Cocoanut Grove is etched forever in history as a city’s worst nightmare, with piercing nightspots in Boston, screams, wild-eyed panic, and terrible heartbreak. On the chilly New England Saturday evening of Massachusetts before November 28, 1942, the Cocoanut Grove was packed beyond capacity with upwards of 1,000 people. Just after 10 p.m. in the Melody Lounge located in and during World War II. Today, the basement, a small fire broke out in a fake palm tree, and then quickly spread across the ceiling the Grove still exists, though only as a decorations. In the official Boston Fire Department report released after the fire, Fire Commissioner William piece of history—a poignant niche Arthur Reilly estimated that the fire took only two to four minutes to develop momentum and cross approximately 40 feet of the Melody Lounge to the carved into the edifice of time. only public stairway out of the room. In seconds it had flashed passed the first floor foyer and the main by Casey C. Grant, P.E. entrance, and into the main dining room. From the first appearance of flame until it had explosively traversed the main dining room and passed, almost 225 feet away, to the entrance of the Broadway Lounge, the commissioner estimated at total time of an incredible five minutes at most. At this point in time, all exits normally open to the public, of which each had something functionally wrong, were useless for a safe escape. In minutes, the Cocoanut Grove was an inferno from one end to the other. Some escaped untouched
14 DOORS & HARDWARE £ JULY 2008 but most did not. Rescuers pulled In addition, of the five individu- were involved in some other way, out trapped survivors and victims als who were interviewed for this are now gone. But some remain, as quickly as possible, so that article in 1991, I am aware that and nobody knows the Cocoanut by midnight, the once bustling Messrs. Graney, Collins, and Moore Grove’s final moments better. Here Cocoanut Grove was a blackened, have passed away. On this basis I’ve are their stories. soaking, but now empty hulk of a revised the conclusion of each of building. Just like the fire itself, the their personal accounts to be inde- The Patron entire incident was but an instan- pendent of time. taneous flash in its history, but the While interviewing the people “We went to watch Boston College ramifications of this inferno are felt included in this article, they at times beat Holy Cross, and instead it was to this day. referred back to earlier testimony one of the greatest upsets in college This story is an update of my and interviews. Any similarity to football history,” says Hewson Gray original story that appeared in other published material on this of Waltham, Massachusetts. That the NFPA Journal in 1991. I have subject is based on the interviewee’s afternoon’s big football game was included additional information own reflections on such material. the first in a series of events that that relates to our codes and stan- Sixty-five years have passed since would lead Gray, along with his dards that was not available when that fateful evening. Many who wife and their companions, face to the story first ran. were in the Grove and escaped, or face with destiny.
JULY 2008 £ DOORS & HARDWARE 15 Hewson Gray and his wife, Hilda, obligated to meet up with the other With their table in the corner, went to the game at Fenway Park two couples. Hilda Gray had her back to one that afternoon with Hilda’s sister Their reservation at the Grove was wall and remarked at one point Josephine Driscoll, and her husband, for late evening, and in the mean- that “the wall felt hot.” To satisfy Francis. Later that evening, they time, they journeyed to several other their own curiosity, they each took would meet two other couples at the clubs in the South End and Back Bay a turn touching the wall and found Cocoanut Grove for dinner. districts of Boston. About 8:30 p.m., it warm to the touch. This novelty The Boston College Eagles were Gray parked his car on Berkeley provided an item of discussion, and better than six to one favorites over Street so that the group could cap the since the outside temperature was Holy Cross. They were undefeated evening off with dinner and a show near freezing, the men joked that if with a very tough schedule, and at the Cocoanut Grove. the women felt cold they should just they looked forward to pounding The other two couples met them lean against the walls. Holy Cross in the traditional end- at the Cocoanut Grove. They were “We can’t imagine why the walls of-the-season football rivalry. In friends of Josephine Driscoll, one were noticeably warm like they contrast to the BC strength, Holy couple being from Dorchester were” adds Gray, “But after the fire Cross had a balance of wins and and the other from Newton. The we had to wonder if this somehow losses in accordance with a rather Grays had never met those other contributed to its violent spread. It mediocre schedule. Sugar Bowl two couples, but they fondly noted was so fast.” representatives were in attendance that the wife from Dorchester was The nightclub’s show was sched- on behalf of Boston College, and the eight months pregnant. Hewson uled to begin about 10 p.m. Gray only question before game time was and Hilda Gray had been married went to the men’s room located at by what margin BC would win. almost ten years, and despite the opposite corner of the dining “I was, and still am, a Boston trying to have children, it would be room, just off the lobby at the top of College fan, but what a sad after- another two years before their first the stairway that led down to the noon it was for the Eagles. We were child was born. Melody Lounge. Because he had to stunned,” says Gray. After leaving their hats and coats push through the crowd, this jour- The final score was an incredible at the coat room, the party of eight ney was more arduous than usual. 55-12 upset, which remarkably were waited momentarily in the lobby Just as Gray had returned to his the same numbers of the two BC while their table was located. table and had sat down, they heard co-captains shown on the cover of “It was so crowded that you had a commotion from over by the the game program. Yet, even more to turn sideways to get through lobby where Gray had just come remarkable is how delicate the the tables in the dining room,” back from. Initially it sounded like balance of fate really is, since BC explains Gray. “They were having people were shouting, “fight,” with planned to hold the team’s victory trouble getting us a table despite some of the people bumping each party that evening at the Cocoanut our reservation. We had to go all the other in an attempt to clear out of Grove. Major Tobin himself would way across to the far corner of the the lobby area. Then they saw a blue have led the revelry. Of course, all dining room, over to the other side and yellow sliver of flame flash up thoughts of a formal party were of the stage. O’Brien was the name to the ceiling. cancelled because of the magnitude reservation on the table that they With the realization that a fire of the defeat, but that loss kept them finally gave us.” was the cause of the activity over from an event in which the odds Even though this excursion to on the far side of the dining hall, were a mere one to one between life the far corner was not a big deal, it the instantaneous reaction of those and death. was somewhat annoying. Yet here on the other side of the room was— But some of the BC contingent fate was kind, since there were four nothing. They weren’t sure the fire would carry on with the evening’s O’Briens killed in the fire. was bad and it was far across the plans despite that afternoon’s “We always wondered where the other side of a very crowded room. debacle. Among these were the O’Brien’s sat; that is, where we should One of the waiters immediately Grays and the Driscolls, who were have been. We were lucky,” he said. rushed across the dance floor
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DHI_Better.indd 1 3/25/08 11:34:58 AM and began fumbling through the Hewson and Hilda Gray and the soot around their faces. They were drapery on the Shawmut Street others were still all together, but a lying everywhere.” Gray says. wall of the dining room, and it minute or two had passed and the In almost no time at all Shawmut became evident that there was a smoke was starting to build in the Street had become a seething mass door behind these drapes and he little back rooms now jammed solid of humanity. In addition to the was trying to open it. Then almost with people. Being at the corner people coming out of the Grove, as quickly as the commotion had table allowed them to be at the front firefighters and police officers were started, the small flame became a of the tide of humanity, and they arriving on the scene in growing fireball, racing toward the center could feel in the darkness that they numbers as well as volunteers from of the dining room, igniting table- had come to still another door. But many other facets of the community. cloths and anything else it could it was locked. Several men near the People were also coming from the touch, and a solid wave of humanity front teamed up to try and break other nearby clubs and hotels. In all jumped and started running away it down. Just when this seemed the commotion, the four men did from it, toward Hewson Gray and hopeless, with a loud crash, the door what they could to help the people his party of eight. flung open and there were firemen get out of the club. It was now read- The Grays, the Driscolls and the with axes. Outside the club became ily apparent to Gray and the other other two couples in their group just as chaotic as the people in the three with him that many people jumped to their feet and were small service rooms poured out into had not escaped and the smoke and pushed toward a service door behind the street into the strikingly cold flames within the building were them leading to rooms behind the air. This was one of the first doors now unbearable. stage. A mass of people was coming opened by the fire department, After helping all they could, the toward them and there was nowhere which by tremendous good fortune four men returned to find that to go but through the service door happened upon the scene after the four women were gone from and beyond. As they were being responding to a nearby car fire. the other side of Shawmut Street. swept towards this service door, the “Once out of the building, we all The men knew they were out but waiter and the others with him got stumbled in the night air across they still worried. They searched the Shawmut Street door open, and Shawmut Street,” says Gray. “Then the outside crowds for almost people in the dining room started we realized the lady from Newton three-quarters of an hour, then to flood out this open door with fire wasn’t with us.” finally came across them sitting in a over their heads. Although Gray and The four men started to fight their restaurant at the corner of Shawmut his party were relatively close to this way back through the outpouring and Broadway having coffee. It now-opened door, they were being crowd when all of a sudden the turns out that a lady had come by swept away from it and toward missing woman was swept into and taken them to her home to give the service door in the corner by their midst. She quickly explained them warm clothes as their coats the crowd of terrified dining room that she somehow got separated and had been left inside the Grove. patrons. And then, just as Gray found herself going “down a stair- The temperature had dropped and entered the service room off of the case.” Without hesitation, she had was now below freezing, causing dining room, the lights went out. turned around and now, was out. numerous ice patches to appear In the darkness, they followed the All eight in their group were safe from the water being put on the fire. person in front of them, not sure and reunited on Shawmut Street , To control the crowds, the police where they were going. allowing the four men to return to started blocking off the streets. “We took a couple of corners the service door entrance as people The four women went to the lady’s and went up some stairs. There stumbled out of the burning club. house, got the warm overcoats were some more stairs that went “Now, people were collapsing they now wore, and then snuck down, but we didn’t take them. as they came out, having had been back through the police lines. They We followed a wall, and took some exposed to the smoke and flames. finally ended up in the restaurant in more turns—it was very confusing They were dropping all around, even a further attempt to stay warm. The in the darkness,” says Gray. some that looked okay, but some had party of eight, now reunited, was
18 DOORS & HARDWARE £ JULY 2008 directed to a nearby hotel that was this evening, people were four deep flame jumping up and down on the set up as a base for the Red Cross. around the bar bringing the total imitation bamboo. “As we walked up to the hotel in the basement lounge to probably “Get water quick. There’s a fire!” a cop in the front was talking to a twice that number. someone shouted. civilian and said to him ‘They were Daniel Weiss was 24 years old The anxious pause that followed all drunk—that’s why they died.’ We at the time. In his fourth year was as if the hearts of those who were furious, all of us, and we gave as a medical student at Boston could see what was happening him hell!” says Gray. University he had worked weekends skipped a beat. Their hats and coats weren’t the at the Grove for the past three years Weiss guarded his register as was only possessions lost in the fire. for his uncle Barney Welansky, expected of him during any type They also lost their car keys. The owner of the Cocoanut Grove. He of commotion while John Bradley Red Cross arranged for rides, and was just a few months away from and several other employees made Hewson and Hilda Gray were driven beginning his career in medicine. a frantic but feeble attack on the home about an hour after they About 10:15 p.m., some of the flames. Water from a pitcher and a had left the scene at the Cocoanut crowd started to sing along with siphon bottle of seltzer were inef- Grove. The next day Gray got a the lounge piano player as she fective. A bar boy swiped at the ride down to pick his car up on hammered out a popular wartime flames with a towel, but the orange Berkeley Street using a spare set of tune. Despite the overcrowding and blue flames continued their keys. A number of cars were still and the difficulty keeping track ever-widening circle across the ceil- there, and he paused for a moment of patrons, there was a stir in the ing decorations. Another employee and thought about their owners if corner to the right of the stairs returned from the kitchen with an they had survived. About one week that caught Weiss’s attention. He extinguisher, but the flames had after the fire, while at home, Gray had noticed moments earlier that advanced to a point beyond any received a call from the Boston Police one of the white-jacketed bar boys appreciable service that the device Department. His keys, which had an had been conferring with the head could offer. The music had stopped, ID tag on them, had been found. bartender, John Bradley, about turn- but even so, the noise of the crowd ing a light back on in the corner. continued and many seemed to be The Employee Apparently, a patron had unscrewed unaware of the growing concern. the light to place himself and his Few people made any effort to On the evening of November 28, girlfriend in a veil of solitude in the leave, as if hypnotized with fascina- 1942, Daniel Weiss was working the already dimly lit lounge. tion and disbelief. John Bradley, cash register on one side of the bar After the bar boy had turned the and a busboy struggled to yank the in the Melody Lounge. corner light back on and returned to palm tree, now ablaze like a torch, “The evening started, at least, just the bar, a sudden flurry of movement down off of its wall mooring. With like any other Saturday at work in occurred in the corner. While some a mighty yank and a shower of the Grove, “ says Weiss. who were only a few seats away sparks, the tree finally came down, The Melody Lounge was directly concentrated on the singing and glancing off the howling Bradley below the main lobby of the were oblivious to the commotion, and dragging a piece of flaming Cocoanut Grove. A single stairway several in the immediate vicinity satin ceiling decorations onto the descended into the lounge, which had jumped to their feet, some back- arms of the busboy. Unfortunately, was comprised entirely of a bar ing off and peering up. And there their efforts were to no avail. The in the center with seating around it was—a small flicker of blue light fire was now well involved in the the bar and throughout the room. dancing about the top of the palm ceiling fabric, and as if signaled by With a tropical motif of palm trees, tree where it met the lowered ceiling. the falling tree, it suddenly flashed greenery and cocoanut husks, In the next instant, the blue spurt across the satin ceiling decorations the dimly lit lounge could accom- of energy became a ring of orange with terrifying speed. modate up to about one hundred outlining an ever-widening black At that moment the spellbound customers without discomfort, but hole in the fabric, with little jets of crowd panicked. Screaming and
JuLY 2008 £ DOORS & HARDWARE 19 shouting, the mob rushed madly “The closer I was to the floor, the remained huddled and were not to the stairs, the only obvious exit. easier it was to breathe,” Weiss says. making an effort to leave. Weiss took Fortunately for some, John Bradley The smoke was thick and chok- the initiative and headed for the had flung open the camouflaged ing, but for the moment this quick- kitchen stairs that served the main service door and a small group was thinking tactic was working. Weiss dining room, wondering if the people shepherded into the kitchen. But then realized that the screaming up in the club had any idea what had most were unaware and scrambled and crying that filled the lounge happened in the Melody Lounge. towards the stairway, which had had subsided into only moaning “I got halfway up the stairs, and now become a chimney. A few lucky and scratching, and this in turn was then it hit me like an inferno—the ones made it out before the flames, followed by an eerie foreboding heat upstairs was unbearable,” but without hesitation a wall of silence. What was happening? Even Weiss says. bodies appeared as quickly as the the fire seemed to be gone. It had never occurred to him that panic, blocking the only exit and In the darkness and in the silence, the rest of the Cocoanut Grove was trapping the mob in the now-searing Weiss did the only thing he could now experiencing on a much greater inferno. do—he waited. As the seconds slowly scale the same disaster suffered in During the panic, “I hesitated, ticked away, he desperately wanted to the Melody Lounge. Before retreat- staying at my post despite being get out, and crawled to the bar gate, ing, he recalled once again hearing terrified,” Weiss says. but again it wouldn’t budge. Terrified screaming, crashing of furniture, By instinct, the cashiers were at the thought of dying with the rest, and the crescendo of the fire itself. entrusted with safeguarding the Weiss took a deep breath, rose, and Remembering the service stairs bank during a disturbance, which lunged over the counter. But instead beyond the furnace room on the normally would include such of the floor, he landed on bodies. other side of the kitchen, Weiss comparatively mundane occur- Scrambling in horror and convinced the fearful and hesitating rences like a fight. But this situa- somehow still holding his breath, group to follow him through the tion was very different. The other he fumbled through the service darkened passageways. These stairs cashier had already scrambled into door into the welcomed chill of led to the service rooms behind the the kitchen, and as Daniel Weiss the smokeless passageway to the main dining room stage, and then watched in horror as people were kitchen. Weiss believes he was directly out to Shawmut Street. But being burned alive on the stairs probably the last person to leave the as the group apprehensively came and were falling victim to the ever- Melody Lounge alive. through the storage room, they thickening smoke and fumes fed by Feeling his way through the dark opened the door to the furnace the blowtorch over their heads, he passageway, Weiss found his way room and were hit by the warm air knew he had to get out. Just as he into the spacious basement kitchen. and soft light from the club’s boiler sprang for the gate underneath the Under the light of a single bulb plant. As one woman screamed, bar, the lights went out. he was astonished to find several another yelled, “He’s leading us into Dropping to his hands and knees, dozen people, most of them patrons, the fire!” and the group broke ranks he scrambled in the darkness to huddled around in an anxious daze. in a panic, retreating to the kitchen. the bar gate and pushed, but it was Some of the kitchen help were there, Once again they were all in the blocked. Remembering the sight of including the club’s food cashier, an kitchen and he pleaded with the those being asphyxiated, he stayed older lady named Katherine Swett. group. Smoke was now curling low. It was becoming difficult to “I always thought of her as ‘the around the light bulb. This time, breath, so he maintained his crouch, Irish lady,’” Weiss says. Dutifully, clinging to the security of the reaching into one of the sinks and she had no intention of leaving her kitchen, none would follow him and soaked a bar towel in the dishwater. register and later would become a Weiss could only promise that he With a seething maelstrom all victim to the intensifying fumes in would send help. around him, he placed the cloth the basement. As he came to the top of the service over his mouth and nose and lay In a flurry of anxious talk, it was stairs, he found himself exiting face down on the floor. unclear as to why these people among gasping survivors who were
20 DOORS & HARDWARE £ JULY 2008 49120 Mohawk 5/22/08 3:48 PM Page 1
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The scene inside of the building again, except individual. on Shawmut Street was chaotic. for the few public officials who were “I could hardly keep track of People were running everywhere: in the Grove when the fire broke myself!” says Weiss. “The only person firemen, policemen, servicemen out, like Civil Defense Director John I ever kept in touch with through the and civilians. There was shouting, Walsh who escaped out the Shawmut years was a fellow nicknamed ‘tar screaming and sirens. Singed survi- Street exit—and Daniel Weiss. baby’. He was the other bartender vors stumbled around in a daze, On Sunday afternoon, Weiss was working in the Melody Lounge.” and everywhere there were bodies, allowed to pass through police lines A report by Dr. John W. Powell, tossed about like rag dolls. with an escort to assist in securing a Maryland psychiatrist, studied Once outside, Weiss cried out that the money located in Cocoanut many aspects of the Grove fire others were trapped in the base- Grove’s cash registers. The build- and classed it as one of the rare ment. Firefighters were now enter- ing was gutted, with everything instances of true panic in this ing the building in numbers and for black and broken and sad, Weiss century. him try and re-enter the club was says. Furniture was upended and “I’m not directly familiar with clearly impossible. He drifted about scattered everywhere. Below, the Powell’s report on the Grove fire, on Shawmut Street in a stunned Melody Lounge was eerie and water but it indeed was one of the rare daze, becoming oblivious to the logged. instances of true panic in the twen- maddening scene. Not sure what to “I was only doing my duty, it was tieth century,” says Weiss. do, he realized his family would be not necessarily strange. The magni- “Certainly, at the time I had no worried so he wandered over to the tude of the event was not fully idea that it would be such a promi- nearby Rio Casino, owned by his known, I’m not sure I fully realized nent historical event,” he says. Uncle Jimmy. He was happy to find the extent of what had happened at that some of the Grove’s help and the time,” Weiss says, who recalls The Firefighter entertainers had also ventured over the moment with a multitude of to the Rio Casino. emotions. George “Red” Graney reported As expected, Weiss’s frantic parents While the building was heavily to work on Saturday evening, were greatly relieved to receive his damaged and first assaulted his November 28, 1942. Graney had phone call. Immediately, they rushed senses as a blackened hulk, he been on the Boston Fire Department to meet him. Daniel’s father was noticed how the fire damage in for five years and at the time was himself a doctor, and upon seeing many places was strangely limited assigned to Engine Company 35. blood on Daniel’s neck insisted on to the upper portions of the facil- This company was located in the going to Boston City Hospital. ity. In the Melody Lounge much of old firehouse on Broadway by The scene at City Hospital, which the bar appeared to be untouched. Warrenton Street, near the Don had received the majority of the Even in the main dining room the Bosco High School along with victims, was like a war zone. People fire damage seemed to be confined Engine 26, Rescue 1, Water Tower 2 were everywhere. Over 300 casual- to the upper reaches. A hole was and District Chief 5. ties were received over a period of in the dining room ceiling and the In many ways, Saturday night a little more than one hour. It was wall and plate glass windows on began like any other, but the mood calculated that one Grove victim both sides of the room had been was still somber in the firehouses arrived at Boston City Hospital every smashed through, letting in the throughout Boston. Just two weeks 11 seconds over a 75 minute period, day’s sunlight. prior, six firefighters were killed ranking this as one of the highest Dr. Daniel Weiss became a at a major fire in Maverick Square hospital admittance rates ever. well-known psychiatrist. Highly in East Boston. Graney had also On Sunday, the day after the fire, respected in his field, he often worked on that Saturday evening the police secured the area around served as an expert witness in major and Engine 35 had responded to the Cocoanut Grove. None of the court cases. Occasionally, he still the fire on the fourth alarm. Just people who were in the Grove gets calls from people asking if he after they had arrived at the scene
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BLACK YELLOW MAGENTA CYAN 61897xl_TLK_doors.pgs 04.04.2008 10:40 The booster hose from “Haddock-Ears” Cronin. The Engine 35 was then apparatus was able to pull up on used to quickly extin- Broadway Street right in front of guish the small fire. the building. Rescue 1 followed Once the fire was them, but had trouble maneuvering extinguished, Graney between parked cars. and fellow firefighter Graney went to grab the hose Arnie Snell were from the pumper as Paul Rodd loading the booster yelled to bring a hose-line to the hose back on the reel. nearby high-pressure fire hydrant. Hearing a commotion This section of Boston has high- the firefighters turned pressure fire hydrants that can be around at which point used directly and don’t require a one of them exclaimed, pumper. Then Graney noticed the “Hey look, there’s firefighters running away from the another one around fire apparatus. As he lugged the the corner.” With the hose the entire side of the building hose now back on the suddenly lit up, he saw what the pumper, they imme- other firefighters had run to. Inside diately backed around the door at the corner of Broadway and drove over to the and Shawmut was a man stumbling Broadway Street side out in a sheet of flames. the building came down. Ladder of the Cocoanut Grove parking, right By tremendous good fortune, 8 was in front of the building and in front of the door to the new lounge. the fire department had gained a was crushed by the debris. Ladder People were running every- significant time advantage by virtue 8 was known as the white elephant, where. Smoke was pouring out the of coming upon the scene with their so named because it was too big to Broadway Street door of the new equipment. Yet because of the swift- maneuver in Boston ‘s small streets lounge as screams pierced the air. ness of the Grove fire, much of this and was painted white instead of District Fire Chief Daniel Crowley advantage was lost. By the time the the traditional fire engine red. As who had also responded to the car men had been able to even approach bad as this tragedy was, it would fire had seen enough upon arrival. the club, it was ablaze from the soon become overshadowed by a He immediately ordered one of Melody Lounge all the way out to calamity of greater proportions. the firefighters to get to nearby box the Broadway exit. At 10:15 p.m. an alarm box had fifteen-twenty-one and skip the The Broadway Street wall of the begun to sound: one. .. five. .. one. .. second alarm and sound a third. new lounge had a wall made of glass four. Fifteen-fourteen; Stewart and This was received at Boston Fire bricks. This wall and a small nearby Carver Streets, South End. This was Alarm Headquarters at 10:23 p.m. window started to fail from the heat a border line call on two districts. One minute later at 10:24 p.m, Chief of the fire. Firefighters worked franti- The firehouse was only a short Crowley ordered a fourth alarm be cally around the Broadway Lounge distance away and the apparatus sounded for what would eventually door. Inside, they could see people arrived in very short time to find be a five-alarm fire. collapsing and bodies piling up, as an automobile fire. The rear seats of Engine Company 35 was a two- they desperately tried to gain access the car were aflame and someone piece engine company with a hose and rescue them. had pulled the street box. Graney wagon and a pumper. The pumper Graney now dragged the charged and the others on Engine 35 imme- was driven and operated alone by high-pressure hose-line toward diately went to work by pulling the Paul Rodd. On the wagon along the corner of Shawmut Street and seats out of the rear of the car and with Graney were Arnie Snell, Broadway to the Broadway Lounge throwing them onto the sidewalk. Webby Mansour and Captain Jerry door. As he pressed in with the
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FREE ADVERTISER INFORMATION AT: www.thru.to/dhi water from the hose deflecting off The fire was knocked down Despite the magnitude of the the ceiling, firefighters worked to quickly. In a short period of time, event, the fire was extinguished reach unburned limp bodies lying the firefighters made an effective and the bodies removed in a rela- just inside the doorway. As these entry into the main dining room. If tively short period of time. Red people were dragged out, he noticed this fire had occurred in an unoc- Graney and Engine Company 35 smudges around their noses and lips. cupied building, it would have been were not released from the scene The firefighters now moved knocked down even more quickly; until around 4:30 to 5:00 a.m. in the forward into the entrance-way. however, rescue was obviously the morning. The entire event seemed Graney looked down and saw a paramount concern. so unreal and taxed reality by play- young woman who, while unburned, With the flames now subdued, ing on everyone’s fatigue. was on her back pinned down to Graney now found himself with a “At the time we had no idea how the floor by bodies. When she saw policeman in the main dining room many were killed, and we guessed Graney she yelled to him, “Please get carrying out bodies. that maybe 200 people had been me out, my father will be worried!” “The tables weren’t all burnt and lost,” Graney says. Just then the fire flashed over in some places people, though dead, In the days following the fire, Graney ‘s head and as he backed were only singed, still at their chairs the firefighters who were involved out he yelled to the girl to “hang and drooped over their tables. Yet in the event were asked to submit on!” Yelling for another hose line, elsewhere other bodies were so any reasons or thoughts on why he didn’t wait, but instead pressed badly burned you couldn’t tell the the flames had spread so fast. This inward again, allowing the girl to be men from the women,” Graney says. information would eventually assist pulled by others out to safety. The false walls on the Shawmut the official fire department inves- Never before had Graney Street wall had been breached and tigation. Graney was not among confronted such a mountain of soon lights were brought in so that those who were asked for official human beings. “It was incredible,” the extent of fire damage could testimony; however, there was much he says. “I couldn’t go forward or be seen. Out on the street first aid speculation in the firehouse. to the right because of the bodies, I was given to those who could still “There were all kinds of thoughts,” couldn’t even get in with the hose.” receive it. Graney says. “There was talk that In testimony to the desperation “I remember seeing a priest stand- vapors from alcoholic drinking along of the rescue effort, the firefighters ing, quiet and solemn, watching as with a lot of smoking contributed to made the noblest of attempts to we carried out the bodies,” he says. the fire. Some also were saying that rescue as many as they could as Graney eventually worked his it was German sabotage since there quickly as they could, but they were way through the building and found were a large number of suspicious overwhelmed by the shear number himself downstairs in the Melody fires during the war years.” of people trapped by the fast-burn- Lounge. “There were small piles of There was much conjecture, but it ing fire. Though no firefighters were belongings everywhere,” he says. would be over a year before the offi- included in the list of those who died, Most of the bodies were now cial Boston Fire Department report several of those first on the scene removed, and the firefighters contin- became available and provided succumbed to the smoke and flames ued with their overhaul duties. some answers to why the fire had during their rescue efforts. One of Venturing into the Melody Lounge spread with such incredible ferocity. those men was Charley Kenney, Sr. was Mayor Tobin and the Boston Red Graney retired from the of Rescue 1 who, after pulling over a Fire Department doctor Martin Boston Fire Department after a dozen people out the Shawmut Street Spellman. prestigious career. While president Dining Room door, finally went “All of a sudden a small portion of of Local 718 of the International down. Later in the hospital it was the ceiling came down and Spellman Association of Fire Fighters during noticed that among his injuries he yelled ‘get out!’” says Graney. “He 1952 and 1953, he was one of those had claw marks on his legs, offering said this remembering Maverick responsible for introducing the a mute testimonial of the desperate Square, but it turned out to be only a muscular dystrophy campaign to final moments of so many. piece of the false ceiling material.” the fire service. He is more widely
26 DOORS & HARDWARE £ JULY 2008 FREE ADVERTISER INFORMATION AT: www.thru.to/dhi known for the “Graney Plan,” the widely adopted fire department work schedule system still used today throughout North America.
The Serviceman
John Collins had been on the Boston Fire Department for about one year when the attack occurred at Pearl Harbor. Like many, he enlisted before the draft, immedi- ately after Pearl Harbor. The year 1942 that followed was arguably the most hectic for the gearing up of the U.S. military during World War II. Because of his firefighting back- ground, Collins found himself as the first man in the U.S. Navy’s fire- fighting program based in Boston. This was one of five U.S. Navy firefighting schools located around the country. The others were located in Norfolk, VA; Pearl Harbor, HI; San Diego, CA and Bremerton, WA. The school in Boston had at any given time ten firefighters, half of whom were from the New York City Fire Department and half from the Boston Fire Department. This group was lead by Navy Lt. Commander Peter Hogstrom, originally from the New York City Fire Department. The school in Boston was referred to as a A school, complete with a simulated ship structure made of concrete. Located at East First and I Streets in South Boston, the intent was to prepare the navy fire service for shipboard firefighting tactics. John Collins and the other instruc- tors lived in barracks located at 500 East First Street. An emphasis was standby, was passing the idle gear. They were being called to given to several innovative tech- time. As the evening came to a a bad fire in the “film district” of niques, including the use of foam, close he had just laid down on his Boston. The men grabbed their and also the use of fog streams. double-decker bunk when the Lt. equipment, jammed into a single It was a Saturday night like any Commander came in and shouted navy wagon and sped off to the other and John Collins, who was on for everyone to get their turnout scene.
28 DOORS & HARDWARE £ JULY 2008 originally intended to provide safe escape. “Some bodies were very badly burned, but some were not. It was very, very strange,” says Collins. “But more than anything else, the stench of burned flesh was terrible. It was overwhelming.” The stairway to the Melody Lounge was now being cleared, and the firefighters had finally gained access down into the basement Lounge from the lobby. Surprisingly, the fire damage downstairs was minimal. Except for the overhead area, there seemed to be very little damage from the fire itself. “Of all the vivid impressions made upon me that evening, perhaps the most unforgettable was when we first went down into Upon their arrival, the fire itself scene. Riley said that he thought the Melody Lounge,” says Collins. was quickly becoming subdued. there were about 200 dead. “There, sitting at a table was a very However, a massive rescue effort “I couldn’t believe it,” says Collins. pretty girl. She was sitting with was under way and the services of “Two hundred dead—it seemed so her eyes open and her hand on the Navy Fire fighters were clearly high for such a small place.” a cocktail glass, as if waiting for needed. As the group approached The navy men split up and imme- someone. As I first looked at her I the Cocoanut Grove building, diately started to work. The fire wondered why she was just sitting they came upon the main entrance was being brought under control there, thinking she was okay. But, revolving door on Piedmont Street. and the task at hand was to get the of course, she was dead. It seemed A row bodies had been laid out on people out. Collins began helping very strange.” the street and the rescue efforts to remove bodies at the entrance on The large number of fire service had only cleared out the revolving Piedmont Street through the now personnel supplemented with the door itself. Inside, a gruesome pile tomb-like main entrance where the many other rescuers at the scene of bodies could be seen piled seven revolving doors had been. Just a few allowed the fire to be controlled and eight high. feet away other firefighters finally and overhauled quickly. The bodies People were running and holler- broke down an adjacent door with themselves were removed from the ing everywhere, Collins says. much effort, only to reveal a shock- building at a rapid pace, so that by Standing near the revolving door ing sight. Bodies were piled chest- midnight that urgent task at hand exit directing operations was Boston high against the door. was nearly complete. Bodies were Fire Commissioner William Riley. This door was located at the top of removed from the Grove and laid out Being a member of the Boston Fire the stairs from the Melody Lounge upon the street so rapidly that the Department on military leave, John in the lobby and was equipped with transportation to the nearby hospi- Collins introduced Lt. Commander panic hardware, but it was double- tals and morgues could not begin Hogstrom to Commissioner Riley. bolted shut, with lifeless forms piled to keep up with the high number of At least with regard to the Navy, Lt. against it from the inside. After dead. Fire department officials forced Commander Hogstrom appeared to it was broken open, bodies were entry into a garage across the street, be the ranking Navy officer on the brought out through this opening making it a temporary morgue,
JuLY 2008 £ DOORS & HARDWARE 29 very closely the in the routine report, terming the inquiries and Grove’s safety conditions as “good.” activities that This entire single-page report was transpired after the printed on the front pages of area fire. Convened the newspapers. Now, despite having following day was several commendations for hero- a public hearing ism, Frank Linney found himself by the Boston Fire in every fire inspector’s worst Department. This nightmare. was chaired by Linney was pressed to elaborate Fire Commissioner on his written report during the Riley and was hearing. Another part of the report intended mainly had stated glaringly that there were to clarify fire “no inflammable decorations.” department Linney indicated during the hear- involvement. The ings that he had taken some of the final report from fabric and tried to light it with a these provocative match after it had been removed. He hearings would found the material was very diffi- appear over a cult to ignite. This was the normal year later. procedure. The fallacy of these test Another inves- methods would later be shown, but tigation began this unfortunately would not assist laying out row upon row of bodies in the legal forum. Requiring more Linney during his testimony. John on the cold concrete floor. time to collect sufficient evidence to Collins followed the testimony of John Collins and the other Navy present to the grand jury, the state his comrade very closely. firefighters stayed until all the bodies attorney general and the county Riley’s hearings were meant to do were removed. In the early morning district attorney’s office were work- nothing more than to bring forth hours, they gathered together with ing on criminal indictments that public information as quickly as their Lt. Commander and went to would eventually be handed down feasible, and would not result in any the nearby Mayfair Hotel to have to ten individuals. Nearly a month criminal actions. The fingers of blame coffee. The night was cold and the would pass before they would hand pointed in many directions and even nearby hotels and other facilities had down these indictments. included Mayor Tobin himself. In opened up, offering coffee, blankets, The investigation by the Boston other parts of Boston at the end of and anything else to help those Fire Department began less than 1942, the grand jury handed over the working at this disaster. 24 hours after the disaster. Among criminal indictments. Among these “Afterwards as we talked, it the questioners with the Fire indictments, charged with accessory seemed so unreal, almost as if it was Commissioner were representa- after the fact of manslaughter and a bad dream,” Collins says. tives of various municipal and willful neglect of duty, was Lt. Frank With fatigue blending into reality, state agencies, Army and Navy Linney, inspector for the Boston Fire they gathered their equipment and brass, and Federal Government Department. went back to the Navy firefighting representatives, including the FBI. Linney went to trial in October, school in South Boston. In the early Among the first witnesses called by 1943. Defending Linney was an morning hours, they had showers Commissioner Riley was one of his African-American lawyer by the and attempted to get back into their own inspectors, Lt. Frank Linney. name of Lewis, one of the top crimi- normal routine. Linney had inspected the nal lawyers in Boston at that time. Like most of the people in Boston Cocoanut Grove approximately a Linney was a man of modest means at that time, John Collins followed week before the fire and turned and it was not clear to Collins how
30 DOORS & HARDWARE £ JULY 2008 he had attained such prestigious legal defense. John Collins went to one of the court sessions relating to the Cocoanut Grove fire, and this was when Frank Linney was being cross-examined by his own lawyer. “I remember when Linney was on the witness stand and was being examined by Lewis. Lewis kept asking questions and rebuking him, making Linney look bad,” says Collins. Collins could not understand why Lewis was doing this, chastising his own client instead of defending him. Linney, though despondent, managed to keep pace with the relentless questioning. “All of a sudden, Linney just fell apart and broke into tears. It was heart rendering,” says Collins. Lewis, the shrewd lawyer that he was, was able to demonstrate that Linney had never intentionally meant to do anyone harm and had only followed standard, albeit terri- bly inept, inspection procedures. Following the testimony, the jury deliberated three and a half hours. The verdict: not guilty. The painful legacey of Frank Linney in the Cocoanut Grove disas- ter serves as a classic lesson for all who may find themselves involved in fire inspections. Years later John Collins would recall this lesson as he was walking to work one evening to Ladder 26 in Boston’s Back Bay. In uniform, he was passing by Symphony Hall and noticed that a big show was about to go on for that evening. As he sometimes did, he would pass through Symphony hall, more for curiosity than anything else, gaining access as a fire depart- ment representative. “It was a big show, and I was shocked to see that they had put
FREE ADVERTISER INFORMATION AT: www.thru.to/dhi JuLY 2008 £ DOORS & HARDWARE 31 chairs in the aisles blocking some arrived at Massachusetts General immediately ordered the full use of of the exit paths,” says Collins. “In Hospital at approximately 10:35 p.m. all phases of the war disaster plan, my mind I wasn’t sure what to do, I “I was upstairs and came down leading to activity in every wing could’ve walked out and pretended after hearing the sirens,” says Moore. of the giant hospital. Emergency that I had never seen any of it.” This would be the beginning equipment and extra supplies He didn’t. Instead, he contacted of an unprecedented onslaught were assembled and rushed to the the management and told them of patients. But as bad as it would Cocoanut Grove Ward. that they could not start the show become, it would be worse at nearby As staff was being mobilized, until they corrected the problem. Boston City Hospital. For every four the accident floor was cleared of all As expected, the management was victims sent to Boston City Hospital, non-Grove patients. Despite this furious, but they had no choice. The only one went to Massachusetts action, victims continued to pour in show was delayed momentarily General. Later, when City became and the hospital was running out while the chairs were cleared, and badly overloaded, this ratio shifted of space quickly. Thus, patients on as a result, some of the patrons were so that about half of the victims the sixth floor of the White Building removed from the audience. went to Massachusetts General. were rolled, in their beds, to other “I thought of the Cocoanut Grove The victims that were brought in wards. The entire floor was quickly and I thought of Frank Linney, and were wet from the fire hoses, dirty converted into a Cocoanut Grove I couldn’t bring that upon myself. from the soot and grime and suffer- Ward. What he went through should never ing from the rough handling neces- “The first few hours were spent happen again,” Collins says. sary to get them out of the Grove. stabilizing the victims and clearing After his naval service, John They presented with an assortment the dead,” says Moore. Collins returned to the Boston Fire of afflictions, including burns, Within two hours after the fire, Department where he stayed until partial asphyxia, exposure to the 114 Cocoanut Grove victims were retirement. He ended his career as cold, shock and fright. Some stared delivered to Massachusetts General a Captain, serving as the depart- blankly and said nothing. Others Hospital. Seventy-five were dead ment’s public relation officer. In this screamed and raved, flinging their on arrival or before treatment could capacity he appeared numerous arms and legs so violently that they be given. This left 39 patients to times as the fire department repre- had to be restrained. be treated. Unlike the situation at sentative on radio and television. The magnitude of the disaster Boston City Hospital , this was a became quickly evident as victims number that could be effectively The Doctor arrived in quick succession. accommodated at Mass General. Massachusetts General staff who None of these patients showed any On November 28, 1942, Dr. could not immediately be assigned sign of drunkenness. Also, in spite Francis D. Moore was working as an to medical work were asked to tele- of the wild panic, only a few were assistant resident at Massachusetts phone doctors and nurses associated bruised and none had suffered General Hospital in Boston. This was with the hospital. broken bones. the third of his five years required Not long after the arrival of Ten of the 39 patients admitted for post medical work. That evening, the first patients, Dr. Oliver Cope to Mass General had significant he was one of the staff doctors on arrived. Cope headed an important burn injuries, yet the other 29 had duty and would find himself thrust National Research Council Project slight or no external burns. Some of into the mist of an event that would regarding the treatment of burns them suffered gravely from severe become a milestone in the field of and walked straight into a crisis that lung damage and anoxia (restricted medical treatment. would put the new burn treatment oxygen supply to body tissues). As “Charlie Burbank and I were in techniques that they had developed the casualties continued to arrive, charge of the emergency room,” to an unparalleled test. one facet of the crisis that increas- says Moore. The evening was Also arriving in the early stages of ingly confounded the medical cold and the hospital had been the staff response was Dr. Nathaniel staff was the seemingly inordinate very quiet. The first Grove patient Faxon, the hospital administrator. He number of fatalities from causes
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FREE ADVERTISER INFORMATION AT: www.thru.to/dhi ”This flood of patients domi- nated everything for the next several days, there was little rest for anyone,” says Moore. The research project headed up by Cope was intended to develop a superior and simple method of treating burns. Throughout the year every patient suffering burns was treated in accordance with these studies. The new plan of therapy was care- fully tested and developed, and involved the use other than extensive burn damage. enough to be held aside as the flood of ointments containing boric acid. Some of the victims appeared to of more desperate victims arrived. After Pearl Harbor, Massachusetts have died instantly without burns Despite being told to lie down and General Hospital administrative at the scene of the fire, while others stay calm, he was soon pacing back staff had developed a plan by which succumbed after they had reached and forth waving his hands in the institution’s full facilities could safety or en route to the hospital. pain. Suddenly, he fell to the floor respond to a disaster of war by The most baffling were those who hardly breathing. Further examina- virtue of their mobilization plan came into the hospital apparently tion revealed that his nostrils were and this ongoing burn research. with only minor injuries or none deeply burned. He soon devel- The hospital was ready for the crisis at all, and then with little warning, oped a swelling of the throat and that impacted them following the collapsed and died. then rapidly began to experience Cocoanut Grove fire. Typifying this phenomenon was obstruction of the upper respiratory The awful toll in human life of a 23-year-old Navy Ensign, who passages. Hours later, he died. the Cocoanut Grove fire produced was one of the first to arrive at As the crisis continued, one young taught medical professionals a Massachusetts General Hospital. doctor was assigned directly to each lesson of enormous value. Those He walked into the accident room patient. Moore’s responsibility was who lost their lives and those who under his own power with hands to monitor the emergency room, suffered agonizing pain and misery that were badly burned and some taking an overview of the area. By in the days that followed were burns on his face and neck. Aside 3 a.m. on Sunday morning, all 39 to make available through their from a flushed appearance and patients at Massachusetts General sacrifice knowledge that was to save his agitation, he seemed to be fit were bedded down. thousands of victims in the future.
34 DOORS & HARDWARE £ JULY 2008 FREE ADVERTISER INFORMATION AT: www.thru.to/dhi Summarizing the diverse hospi- In this regard Fire Commissioner a movie theater in the new hotel tal experiences of the Cocoanut Reilly’s report carried a “Master complex discharge out onto this site. Grove victims is difficult. Each List” of the dead and injured that The shock of Cocoanut Grove Fire was excruciating in its own way, indicated 490 dead and 166 injured. death toll drove society to make but each contributed something to This list had an effective date of significant changes in fire regula- the knowledge of medicine. The December 10, 1942 and adjusted tions and emergency procedures Cocoanut Grove fire, with its terrible to October 16, 1943. Yet despite its that would have taken years to number of victims, became one of claim to cancel and supersede all change otherwise. This leads to the the most informative single trage- other tallies, it did not include the debatable thought of how many dies ever approached by physicians. name Eleanor B. Powerell, who had more would have cumulatively died After the Grove fire Moorespent succumbed at Boston City Hospital. in smaller, less impacting tragedies many years practicing in the field of Also, regarding the injured, the list through the years that followed. medicine. As one of those directly did not include patients treated and With regards to advances in medi- involved in this tragedy, he was immediately released, or service- cine, the sheer enormity of the work intimately familiar with the medical men and women admitted to mili- done in Boston ’s hospitals along advances that followed. Among his tary hospitals. And then their were with the timeliness of war-related noteworthy professional achieve- victims like Francis Gatturna, who research allowed significant strides ments, he became Mosely Professor several weeks after recovering from forward in medical knowledge. The of Surgery-Emeritus at the Harvard his own injuries returned to the Cocoanut Grove fire, with its terrible Medical School and Surgeon- hospital despondent over the loss of aggregate of victims, became one of in-Chief-Emeritus at Peter Bent his wife, only to end his suffering by the most informative single trage- Brigham Hospital. throwing himself through a closed dies ever approached by physicians. sixth floor hospital window. Perhaps the greatest irony of Decades Later As testimony to the healing this tragic event is that, at least in power of time and how much has Boston, there will never be another With the march of time the fire changed through the years, finding Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire. at Boston ‘s Cocoanut Grove has the precise location of the Cocoanut There is only truth in this statement become an event from far away and Grove today is challenging, even for because immediately following the long ago. And yet to some, it seems those considering themselves native fire, the Boston Licensing Board like only yesterday—a bad dream Bostonians. When standing at the ruled that no place of entertainment they are still waiting to forget. former Grove site, one can see that could ever again use the name The Cocoanut Grove fire was a even the streets have been altered Cocoanut Grove. Of course, this was tragedy of immense proportions. to accommodate a high-rise hotel only a measure to prevent future Perhaps most demonstrative of its complex over most of the Grove’s exploitation of this tragedy and not magnitude is that a few lingering main dining room and Broadway to prevent fires. questions regarding the final death Street Lounge. Shawmut Street now Unfortunately, we all know that toll still continue to remain unan- curves into Piedmont Street right at fires of this magnitude continue to be swered. News reports finally settled the site that was the Grove’s main possible. We can only take comfort on the figure of 492 dead based on lobby area. by hoping that we’ve learned from their information gathering efforts. Today’s quiet residential streets at our mistakes, mistakes like the fire at But depending on the particular Shawmut and Piedmont in Boston’s the Cocoanut Grove. count, questions persisted about Bay Village allow a person to stand certain individuals who had been at the exact location of the revolving About the Author: Casey C. Grant, P.E. is counted twice or not counted at all, door and at the top of the stairway Research Director for the Fire Protection Research Foundation. He can be reached at [email protected]. or who died later in the hospitals to the Melody Lounge—a place either from direct physical injuries were bodies piled seven and eight This article originally appeared in the November/ ® or from serious and deteriorating high. Ironically, though as it should December 2007 issue of NFPA Journal . For more information, visit www.nfpa.org. Reprinted psychological scars. be, a long string of exit doors from with permission. All rights reserved.
36 DOORS & HARDWARE £ JULY 2008