The Cocoanut Grove was a nightclub in Boston, Massachusetts. On November 28, 1942, the fashionable nightclub burned in what remains the deadliest nightclub fire in United States history, killing 492 people and injuring hundreds more. It was also the second-worst single-building fire in American history. Only the Iroquois Theater fire in Chicago in 1903 killed more (602). The tragedy shocked the nation and briefly replaced World War II news headlines. The fire led to a reform of fire codes and safety standards across the country. The club's owner, Barney Welansky, who had boasted of his ties to the Mafia and to Boston mayor Maurice J. Tobin, was eventually found guilty of manslaughter. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Nickname: City on the Hill, Beantown, Athens of America, The Hub (of the Universe)1 Location in Massachusetts, USA Counties Suffolk County  - Mayor Thomas M. Menino (D) Area    - City  89. ... November 28 is the 332nd day (333rd on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1942 calendar). ... The Iroquois Theater Fire in Chicago, Illinois, claimed 602 lives on December 30, 1903. ... Nickname: The Windy City, The Second City, Chi Town, City of the Big Shoulders, The 312, The City that Works, Second City (reference to when Chicago was second in population and prestige to New York). ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The Sicilian Mafia (also referred to simply as the Mafia or Cosa Nostra or the ever popular, Mob), is a criminal secret society which first developed in the mid-19th century in Sicily. ... A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning larger, greater) is the modern title of the highest ranking municipal officer. ... Maurice Joseph Tobin (May 22, 1901–July 19, 1953) was a Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, governor of the U.S. state of Massachusetts, and U.S. Secretary of Labor. ...

The fire

The club, a former speakeasy located at 17 Piedmont Street in what is now Boston's Bay Village neighborhood, was filled with approximately 1,000 occupants that evening, more than twice its official capacity of 460. The club had recently been expanded with the addition of a lounge, which opened onto an adjacent street. Decorated in a Casablanca tropical style, the restaurant, bars, and lounges inside were decorated with romantic but flammable paper palm trees, cloth draperies covering the ceiling, flammable furniture, and other flimsy decorations, some of which obscured exit signs. This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Bay Village is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Description Bay Village is the smallest and arguably least known neighborhood in Boston, with a population of approximately 2,100 residents. ... Casablanca is a 1943 romantic film set during World War II in the Vichy-controlled Moroccan city of Casablanca. ... Toms Restaurant, a restaurant in New York made familiar by Suzanne Vega and the television sitcom Seinfeld A restaurant is an establishment that serves prepared food and beverages to order, to be consumed on the premises. ... A well-designed fire exit sign should be easily seen, even if visibility is poor. ...

Official reports state the fire started at about 10:15 p.m. in the dark, intimate Melody Lounge downstairs. It was believed that a young man, possibly a soldier, had removed a lightbulb in order to give him privacy while kissing his date. Stanley Tomaszewski, a 16-year-old busboy, was instructed to put the light back on by retightening the bulb. As he attempted to tighten the lightbulb back into its socket, the bulb fell out in his hand. In the dimly-lit lounge, Tomaszewski, unable to see the socket, lit a match for a moment to illuminate the area, found the socket, blew out the match, and replaced the bulb. Almost immediately, patrons saw something ignite in the canopy of artificial palm fronds draped above the tables. An incandescent light bulb and its glowing filament. ... A busboy is an assistant to a waiter or waitress, mainly specializing in setting and clearing tables or in some types of restaurants, in bringing the introductory foods, for example tortilla chips and salsa in a Mexican restaurant or bread in an Italian restaurant. ...

Despite waiters' efforts to douse the fire by throwing water on it, it quickly spread along the fronds of the palm tree, igniting nearby decorations on the walls and ceiling. Flames raced up the stairway to the main level, feeding on oxygen and burning the hair of patrons who were stumbling up the stairs. A fireball burst across the central dance floor just as the orchestra was beginning its evening show. Flames raced through the adjacent Caricature Bar, then down a corridor to the New Lounge. Within five minutes, flames had spread to the main clubroom and the entire nightclub was ablaze.

As is common in panic situations, many patrons attempted to exit through the main entrance, the same way they had come in. However, the building's main entrance was a single revolving door, immediately rendered useless as the panicked crowd scrambled for safety. Bodies piled up behind both sides of the revolving door, jamming it to the extent that firefighters had to dismantle it in order to get inside. Other avenues of escape were similarly useless: side doors had been welded shut to prevent people from leaving without settling their bills. A plate glass window, which could have been smashed for escape, was instead boarded up and unusable as an emergency exit. Other unlocked doors opened inwards, rendering them useless against the crush of people trying to escape. Only the Bartender, Daniel Weiss, survived the Melody Lounge. By dowsing a cloth napkin with a pitcher of water, Weiss was able to escape by crawling through the kitchen and other subfloor areas. Five survived by taking refuge in a walk-in refrigerator. Fire officials later testified that, had the doors swung outwards, at least 300 lives could have been spared. Many young soldiers perished in the disaster, as well as a married couple whose wedding had taken place earlier that day. A revolving door is a type of door that, as its name suggests, revolves in its frame. ... Welding is a fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence. ...

The aftermath

Boston newspapers were filled with lists of the dead and stories of narrow escapes and deaths. It was erroneously reported that Hollywood movie star Buck Jones had made it safely outside, but died two days later in the hospital. In fact, Jones had fallen where he sat in the prime Terrace area near the bandstand, which was behind a wrought iron railing that acted as a trap. Stories claimed that Buck had gone back in to rescue people. In truth, he had been incapacitated at his seat and would linger in the hospital for some hours before dying. Buck Jones (born Charles Gebhart, December 4, 1889, Vincennes, Indiana; d. ... A bandstand built in 1912 stands in the grounds of the Horniman Museum in London Jedforest Instrumental Bandstand built in 2006 stands in the shadow of Jedburgh Abbey Scottish Borders Eastbourne bandstand opened in 1935 A bandstand is a circular or semicircular structure set in a park, garden, or pier...

Coast Guardsman Clifford Johnson went back in no fewer than four times in search of his date who, unbeknownst to him, had already safely escaped. Johnson suffered extensive third-degree burns over 50% of his body but survived the disaster, spending 10 months convalescing in Boston City Hospital. Ironically, years later, he burned to death in a fiery auto crash in his home state of Missouri. The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is a branch of the United States armed forces involved in maritime law enforcement, mariner assistance, search and rescue, and national defense. ... A vehicular collision in Yate, near Bristol, England, in July 2004. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

The top-ranked Boston College football team had made victory party reservations at the club that evening, but canceled after an upset 55-12 loss to rival Holy Cross dampened their spirits. For similarly-named academic institutions, see Boston (disambiguation). ... United States simply as football, is a competitive team sport that is both fast-paced and strategic. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Not to be confused with Holy Cross College (Indiana) or other similarly named Holy Cross Colleges. ...

In 1993, the Bay Village Neighborhood Association built a memorial into the brick ground on Piedmont Street, where the club formerly existed.

In the year that followed the fire, Massachusetts and other states enacted laws for public establishments which banned flammable decorations and inward-swinging exit doors, required exit signs to be visible at all times, and stated that revolving doors used for egress must either be flanked by at least one normal, outward-swinging door, or retrofitted to permit the individual doors to fold flat to permit free-flowing traffic in a panic situation. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 533 pixel Image in higher resolution (1728 × 1152 pixel, file size: 823 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Taken by myself on 02 December 2006. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 533 pixel Image in higher resolution (1728 × 1152 pixel, file size: 823 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Taken by myself on 02 December 2006. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ...

Barney Welansky, whose connections had allowed the nightclub to operate while in violation of the loose standards of the day, was convicted on nineteen counts of manslaughter (nineteen victims were randomly selected to represent the dead). Welansky was sentenced to twelve to fifteen years in prison. He served nearly 4 years before being quietly pardoned by Massachusetts Governor Maurice Tobin, who had been mayor of Boston at the time of the fire. Busboy Stanley Tomaszewski, who had survived the fire and later testified at the inquiry, was exonerated, as he was not responsible for the flammable decorations or the life safety code violations. Maurice Joseph Tobin (May 22, 1901–July 19, 1953) was a Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, governor of the U.S. state of Massachusetts, and U.S. Secretary of Labor. ... Life safety code is a set of standards involving hazards to human life. ...

In 1997, the case was reopened. New information and improved understanding of fire dynamics led to the determination that the flash fire was caused by extremely flammable methyl chloride leaking from a faulty refrigerator in a service area near the Melody Lounge. Chloromethane or Methyl chloride is a chemical compound once widely used as a refrigerant. ...

For decades it was believed that by order of the Boston Licensing Board, no Boston establishment may again call itself the Cocoanut Grove. This is a myth, as no law or regulation on this subject exists.

Burn treatment

Many of the burn victims were admitted to mainly two hospital - Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston City Hospital. Dr. Francis Daniels Moore and Dr. Oliver Cope treated them at Massachusetts General Hospital in the process involving gauze smeared with Vaseline. Experimentation led to many advances in the care of burn patients. Massachusetts General Hospital (often abbreviated to Mass General or just MGH) is a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and biomedical research facility in Boston, Massachusetts. ... Boston Medical Center (Boston, Massachusetts, United States) is an academic medical center created by the formal merger of Boston City Hospital and Boston University School of Medicine in the 1990s. ... Francis Daniels Moore (1913-2001) was an American surgeon who was a pioneer in numerous experimental surgical treatments. ...

See also

Fire Portal

• Rhythm Night Club Fire--a 1940 fire in Natchez, Mississippi killing 209
• Beverly Hills Supper Club fire--a 1977 fire in Kentucky that claimed 165 lives
• The Station nightclub fire--a 2003 fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island that killed 100
• Collinwood School Fire--a 1908 fire that killed 175 in Cleveland, Ohio
• 2006 Kolkata leather factory fire--a 2006 fire in West Bengal, India that killed at least 10
• Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire--a 1911 fire in New York, New York that killed 146
• Stardust disaster--a 1981 fire in Dublin, Ireland that killed 46
• 1991 Hamlet chicken processing plant fire--a fire in Hamlet, North Carolina killing 25
• Summerland disaster--a 1973 fire on the Isle of Man that killed 51
• Happy Land Fire--a 1990 fire in New York, New York that killed 87
• Our Lady of the Angels School Fire--a 1958 fire in Chicago, Illinois that killed 95
• Iroquois Theater Fire--a 1903 fire in Chicago, Illinois that killed 602
• 2006 Moscow hospital fire--a fire in a Moscow hospital killing 46

All of the tragedies above involved people being trapped behind locked doors or windows, or doors that could not be pushed open. Large Bonfire File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The Rhythm Night Club fire took place in Natchez, Mississippi on April 23, 1940 and killed 209 African-American party goers, while severely injuring many others. ... Melrose, an antebellum home in Natchez, Mississippi. ... The Beverly Hills Supper Club fire in Kentucky is the third deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history. ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Frankfort Largest city Louisville Area  Ranked 37th  - Total 40,444 sq mi (104,749 km²)  - Width 140 miles (225 km)  - Length 379 miles (610 km)  - % water 1. ... The Station Nightclub Fire on the evening of Thursday, February 20, 2003, was the fourth deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history, killing 100 people and injuring more than 200. ... Location of West Warwick, Rhode Island. ... Lake View School, Collinwood, Ohio as it appeared before March 4, 1908. ... Cleveland redirects here. ... The 2006 Kolkata leather factory fire was a deadly industrial fire that occurred in West Bengal, India, on November 22, 2006. ... West Bengal (পশ্চিম বঙ্গ, Pościm Bôngo) is a state in the eastern region of India. ... The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City on March 25, 1911, was the largest industrial disaster in the history of the city of New York, causing the death of 146 garment workers who either died in the fire or jumped to their deaths. ... Nickname: Big Apple, Gotham, NYC, City That Never Sleeps, The Concrete Jungle, The City So Nice They Named It Twice Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island Settled 1676 Government  - Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area... The Stardust Disaster refers to a fatal fire which took place at the Stardust nightclub in Artane, Dublin, Republic of Ireland in the early hours of February 14, 1981. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 53. ... The 1991 Hamlet chicken plant fire took place at the Imperial Foods chicken processing plant in Hamlet, North Carolina, U.S., on September 3, 1991 after a faulty repair to a hydraulic line. ... Hamlet is a city located in Richmond County, North Carolina. ... The Summerland Disaster occurred on the night of August 2, 1973. ... The Happyland Fire killed 87 people trapped in an unlicensed social club called Happy Land in New York City, on March 25, 1990. ... Monument at Queen of Heaven Cemetery The Our Lady of the Angels School Fire broke out shortly before classes were to be dismissed on December 1, 1958, at the foot of a stairway in the Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago, Illinois. ... Flag Seal Nickname: The Windy City Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location Location in Chicagoland and northern Illinois Coordinates , Government Country State Counties United States Illinois Cook, DuPage Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 606. ... The Iroquois Theater Fire in Chicago, Illinois, claimed 602 lives on December 30, 1903. ... Nickname: The Windy City, The Second City, Chi Town, City of the Big Shoulders, The 312, The City that Works, Second City (reference to when Chicago was second in population and prestige to New York). ... The 2006 Moscow hospital fire was a fire that occurred on December 9 in a drug addict rehabilitation centre in Southern Moscow, Russia. ...

Tributes and Popular Culture

• in 2002, a Boston-based death metal band, the Red Chord released a CD, Fused Together in Revolving Doors named after this event

The Red Chord is a deathcore band from Revere, Massachusetts. ... Fused Together in Revolving Doors was the first full length album from Boston metalcore quintet The Red Chord. ...

References

• Benzaquin, Paul, Holocaust! The shocking story of the Boston Cocoanut Grove fire (1959) No ISBN available, but Library of Congress Control Number is 59014396.
• Schorow, Stephanie, The Cocoanut Grove Fire (2005) ISBN 1-889833-88-6.
• Keyes, Edward, Cocoanut Grove (1984) ISBN 0-689-11406-0.
• Esposito, John, Fire in the Grove: The Cocoanut Grove Tragedy And Its Aftermath (2005) ISBN 0-306-81423-4.
• Am J Surg. 1993 Dec;166(6):581-91. The 1942 fire at Boston's Cocoanut Grove nightclub. Saffle JR.

External links

• The Boston Globe archives, featuring coverage of the tragedy from 1942
• With the Command Historical Perspective: US Naval Academy Fire Dept - Cocoanut Grove Fire
• Article on Buck Jones and his role, if any, in rescuing victims from the fire
• Celebrate Boston: Disasters - Cocoanut Grove Fire