by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
The fire that claimed 22 lives, including an assistant fire chief, inside the Roosevelt Hotel 40 years ago would exact a less costly toll today due to improved safety regulations and better trained, better equipped firefighters said the City’s fire chief Monday.
Richard Barrett joined victims’ relatives and dozens of firefighters along a shut–down West Adams Street block to pay tribute to the victims of the city’s deadliest blaze. The ceremony marked the 40th anniversary of the fire, which took 17 fire trucks, eight Navy helicopters and numerous volunteers to fight. Today the department’s response to a similar blaze would be more concentrated and far more effective, said Barrett.
“Today it’s unlikely that any firemen would have been injured,” he said. “With improved safety equipment and training, we would be much better prepared for a fire like the one that happened here.”
The firefighters of 1963 choked their way through thick, black smoke without the benefit of breathing devices. Assistant Chief J.R. Romedy collapsed and died from a heart attack as he led guests from smoke–filled rooms.
Today, Barrett said, firefighters entering the blaze would breath clean oxygen through devices similar to SCUBA gear. Large fans would help ventilate the building. Barrett said his men and women also benefit from fire and heat resistant gear and improved communications.
Every fire is a lesson, said Barrett, and his department learns from tragedy.
“We look back and critique our reaction to every fire,” said Barrett. “We learn from every call.”
The department’s High Rise Team would be the first on the scene for a modern fire in a building above three stories, said Barrett. The team is trained specifically to contain office building fires and to evacuate those inside.
While the department is better prepared to respond to a high–rise blaze, more stringent building regulations and fire resistant materials reduce the likelihood that firefighters will have to battle a fire of similar scale.
As the Vestcor Companies converts the dilapidated Roosevelt into high–end apartments, the building’s safety is one of the developer’s chief concerns, said Larry Barnes, an assistant project supervisor for Vestcor.
When Vestcor unveils The Carlington, Barnes said the building will feature fire resistant sheet rock, improved fire detection and a sprinkler system spread throughout the building.
For those gathered in the Roosevelt’s shadow Monday, the need for safer buildings was driven home by a fire bell’s ring. The bell sounded four times for the victims that day.
Battalion Chief Miles Bowers, a 57–year department veteran who helped fight the Roosevelt fire, said four decades had not dulled memories of hotel guests hanging out of windows, black smoke pouring from the building and of Romedy’s body being carried from the building.
“We know we face danger every day, but when you lose one of your own it really hits home,” said Bowers. “It was a long, long day for the fire department, but we stood up and did what we needed to do.”
The department rescued 475 people from the Roosevelt that day.