Niagara Falls, New York

Apartment Fire

November 16, 1957

APARTMENT BLAZE CLAIMS 17 LIVES

Dead Include 13 Children, Four Adults

Cause of Blaze Still Not Known; Several Others Injured

NIAGARA FALLS, N. Y. (UP) – An early morning fire in a three-story frame structure that housed several Negro families brought death today to 17 persons, including 13 children.

The charred bodies of three adults and 13 children were carried from the gutted tenement area building, known as the Moonglow Hotel but used as a permanent residence, shortly after firemen put out the smoldering blaze.

One other victim, MRS. MARY EWING, 25, mother of six of the children who lost their lives, was found alongside the blackened structure after she had made a fatal leap from a window.

Authorities said the other death victims included JACK THOMPSON, JOHN JACKSON and six children of the family of SANFORD REID, who was treated at a hospital and later discharged. Four other REID children were treated at a hospital for minor injuries.

The fire was discovered by officers in a police car which happened to pass the scene. When firemen arrived, the upper portion of the building was a mass of flames and it was impossible to enter.

Ambulances rushed to the scene to treat the injured. HORACE EWING, 35, husband of the dead woman, and MRS. LOUISE REID, 37, mother of the 11 children REID family, were reported in “fair” condition at St. Mary's Hospital.

Another of the injured, HERBERT REID, 16, was listed in very critical condition in Memorial Hospital.

First reports indicated the blaze was started by careless smoking. However, nearby residents reported hearing an explosion before the flames broke out, indicating the fire may have been caused by a gas heater.

The Holland Evening Sentinel Michigan 1957-11-16

Seventeen Persons Die In Niagara Falls Fire

NIAGARA FALLS, N. Y. (AP) – Seventeen persons, including a mother and her eight children, perished early today as fire billowed through a narrow three-story apartment housing two Negro families.

Fourteen of the dead were children. Nine others were injured.

Flames surging through stairways and halls trapped many in their bedrooms. At least one was killed in a jump to the ground.

The victims, besides the mother and 14 youngsters, included two adults reported staying with the two families.

The frame building, once the Moonglo Hotel, was a splintered, charred tomb. Firemen searching for bodies walked on ladders stretched along upper halls.

Names Of Victims
MRS. MARY EWING, 25, died with her eight children – HOWARD, 9; HORACE, JR., 8; ARLINE, 6; LINDA, 4; GLORIA JEAN, 3; twins TERRY and JERRY, 1, and BONNIE PATRICIA, 2 months.

Also dead were six children of MR. AND MRS. SANFORD REID – WALTER, 17; CARSON, 10; HARVEY, 6; WILLIAM, 3; SANFORD, JR., 2; and MARY LOUISE, 5 months.

The other victims were JACK THOMAS and JOHN JOHNSON, roomers.

Mrs. Frances Haynes, who lives across the street, said the sound of an explosion awoke her.

She looked out and “saw flames pouring out of a window on the second floor of the house across the street.” By the time she had awakened others in her own house, “we looked again and the entire building was in flames.”

The fire was reported at 4:35 a. m. by patrolmen in a police cruiser.

Died In Sleep
Firemen said the flames roared through the building so fast that some of the youngsters might have died asleep. Some of the victims probably had no time to reach a window, firemen said.

Cause of the fire was not determined, but firemen said an exploding heater could have started it.

The owner of the building, William Dietz, said he had notified both families that he was evicting them from the old, partly abandoned structure.

Dietz, a building demolition contractor, said the building was closed once but that he had opened it to accommodate the families temporarily after they were evicted from a housing project.

The Sheboygan Press Wisconsin 1957-11-16

Articles Submitted & transcribed by Stu Beitler  Thank you, Stu!

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