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1947: Atlanta Hotel Fire
It was Friday night. Arnold Hardy, college student, was out having a good time. He arrived home to hear firetrucks in the street. Hardy grabbed his camera and a taxi. "I came upon it all at once. Fire was raging [and] from almost every window, men, women and children screamed for help."
The Winecoff Hotel had no fire escapes, no fire doors, no fire stairs. Atlanta Fire Department ladders did not reach the top floors. Trapped guests descending ropes of blankets and bedsheets. The sheets tore. People plunged to the pavement.
Hardy heard a woman shriek. "I looked up, raising my camera," he said. "A woman was plummeting downward. As she passed the third floor, I fired, using my last flashbulb." The woman's fall was broken by a piece of pipe and a railing. She lived. In all, 119 people died in the Dec. 7, 1946, Winecoff fire -- including owner W.F. Winecoff, found dead with his wife in their 14th floor luxury suite. |