Bradford, Pennsylvania Fire

April 1, 1893

HOTEL IN FLAMES

Early Morning Disaster in Bradford, Pa.

SIX PERSONS BURN TO DEATH

Twenty Five or Thirty People Injured,
Some of Them Fatally-
Elmira Man and Child Among the Missing

BRADFORD, Pa., April 1. ---Early this morning the Higgins Hotel, the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Station, the Higgins Cigar Factory and the grocery store and building of J. Leroy were destroyed by fire. The bodies of six persons have already been taken from the ruins of the hotel and as one hundred and twenty-five persons went to sleep in the building last night it is feared that many others besides the six already found perished in the flames. Many persons jumped from the second and third story windows into the creek, and it is feared that some of them were drowned.
The list of the injured is a long one.

The fire broke out shortly after 4 o’clock and the inmates of the hotel were awakened from their sleep by a man who rushed through the hallways, kicking at the doors and shouting fire at the top of his voice. Rudely awakened from their slumbers, the men and women rushed from their rooms into the halls, which were already filled with smoke and flames, and the general cry was: “Jump from the windows and save yourselves.”

Jumped From the Windows
Many did so, but the jump was a bad one to risk. From the upper story it was thirty feet on the west side, with a plank roadway on which to land. On the other side was the creek, which made the jump forty feet. Several persons made the leap for life into the stream and were rescued. As stated, however, it is feared that some who jumped were either killed by the shock or drowned in the water of the creek.

Nearly all the inmates were in a state of panic, and many were injured in the rush down the stairways and through the halls.

The Dead
The list of the dead, as nearly as can be obtained, is as follows:
-------TUCKER, Elmira, N.Y
-------TUCKER, a child of the above.
-------PARKS, machinist, B.R. & P. shops.
H. HAVELIN, engineer, P&E Railroad.
THOMAS CULLEN, a painter.
Unknown Woman, suppose to be a MISS C. or possibly <G. > BOND.

The Injured
HAL RHODES, ankle sprained
JAMES BRYSER, face, hands and feet badly cut.
WD DRYSDALE of Johnsonburgh injured internally.
JD CADY, Jamestown hurt about head.
J.J. CAMPBELL, Hellwood, Pa. arm broken and hip dislocated.
HARRY JONES, cut about face, head and hands.
JAMES BRISSON, carpenter, head cut.
W.J. HOLLIDAY, traveling salesman, ankle broken.
MRS. WEAVER, burned about head and arms, her baby missing.
JUBY HANNON, glassblower, cut about hands and head, injured internally.
J. CODY, clerk, badly burned and injured from jumping.
W.J. OSBORNE, Buffalo, injured about back; feared his backbone is broken;
considered fatal.
MRS. HIGGINS, hurt internally and badly burned.
J.W. NEUMEYER, leg broken.
MRS. E. TUCKER, and baby, Elmira, NY, badly burned about heads, hands and bodies.
WD DRISCOLL, injured internally.
TED BURNS, fireman, badly hurt by falling walls.
RICHARD HIGGINS, hand broken and burned.
J. PICARD, night clerk, leg broken, hurt internally.
COOK MCNABE, head and face cut.
MICHAEL COLLINS, hand and shoulder injured.
W.J. HASTED, injured internally.

It Was A Dark Night
A large force of fireman and engines was summoned to the scene immediately after the first alarm was given, but owing to the darkness and the capability with which the fire burned it was difficult to do much in the way of help for the inmates. The proprietors of the Riddle House, nearly, offered the use of the hotel for a temporary hospital and the injured were taken there. The scenes were pitiful in the extreme. The cries and lamentations of MRS TUCKER of Elmira were heart rendering.

She lost both her husband and one of her children in the fiery furnace. JOHN JOHNSON, a boy, was found wandering through the streets with a two-year-old baby in his arms. The infant’s face, arms and hands were burned and blistered. It was properly cared for.

The loss on Higgins Hotel is $15,000; light insurance. The loss to the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad is about $50,000; insured. The cause of the fire is unknown, but it is supposed to have caught from a gas stove.

The Evening Herald, Syracuse, NY Apr 1 1893

Transcribed by Trish.  Thank you, Trish!

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