The Vendome Hotel fire, 50 years later

The Vendome Resort fire in Boston on June 17, 1972, remains the largest line-of-duty demise toll in the town. Nine firefighters shed their life preventing that blaze.

Guest columnist Kevin Duffy paid homage to those men the other day (backlink right here to his column.) And today’s “From the Archives” entry shares the entrance pages that carried the grim information.

Vendome Hotel fireplace day 1

Vendome fire working day 2

You will see that Day 2 involves a observe from the publisher that the History American and Boston Herald Traveler experienced merged. But the protection of 1st-responders continues to be in this paper’s DNA. When the photographs ring out, the alarm bells ring or anyone is unwell or damage, law enforcement, fire, EMTs and reservists run at the risk. Include medical professionals, nurses and Excellent Samaritans to that equation. On the water, the Coastline Guard and fellow boaters are also heroes among the us.

That is why we’re devoting these days to the Vendome Resort fireplace.

As the Boston Fireplace Historial Culture studies, the hotel was celebrated for its “Parisian elegance, stately decor and spot fronting the Commonwealth Avenue shopping mall.” But it fell into disrepair and was likely to be transformed into luxurious apartments.

On Saturday, June 17, 1972, that all changed. Hearth broke out, 100 customers in a cafe ran out and soon a hearth on the upper floors and areas of the setting up collapsing price tag nine firefighters their life. The final hurt firefighter was rescued the upcoming working day, Father’s Working day.

Those who died had been:

Fireplace Lieutenant Thomas J. Carroll
Hearth Lieutenant John E. Hanbury
Fire Fighter Charles E. Dolan
Fireplace Fighter Joseph P. Saniuk
Fire Fighter John E. Jameson
Fireplace Fighter Thomas W. Beckwith
Fire Fighter Paul J. Murphy
Hearth Fighter Richard B. Magee
Hearth Fighter Joseph F. Boucher, Jr.

To quotation Kevin Duffy’s superb column: “There weren’t quite a few people there when it arrived down, then. But there have been some there were being the seventeen Boston firefighters that came down with it, and below it. Eight of them survived. For the other nine and their people, so much additional arrived down with the Vendome Hotel, 50 many years in the past this 7 days.”

He’s correct in incorporating “passersby on Commonwealth Avenue could occasionally cease to note a selected monument at Dartmouth Road … (and) thank and honor” all those who died “doing their positions.”