Other Event Detail

Dr. Pierce's Hotel Fire
Buffalo, NY

February 16, 1881

A fire destroyed the magnificent hotel erected by R.V. Pierce on Prospect Avenue in Buffalo on February 16, 1881. The fire was discovered around 2 p.m. when smoke was seen issuing from the cupola above the sixth floor. The fire was found to be in the baggage room on the sixth floor. The hotel did have a fire extinguishing apparatus, but the cylinders burst when it was used. The fire department responded promptly, but the wind coming from the lake fanned the flames into ferocity. Twenty patients in the infirmary or medical and surgical department, two of whom had undergone serious operations only a few hours earlier were safely evacuated. The tower of the cupola crashed through the roof fifteen minutes later, and the fire was soon spread to the first floor. Frequent explosions were heard, probably a result of the cracking or bursting of the hotel's stone and marble interior. The building was burned to a pile of ruins within two hours. The boarders at the hotel lost all their personal property, valued from a few hundred dollars to $20,000. The total loss was estimated at $400,000. Several firemen were injured by falling walls. One was hurt seriously when he was buried under a portion of the tower when it fell. The hotel was built between 1876 and 1878. It had a frontage of 210 feet, with wing extensions of 125 feet, was 216 feet in depth, and 258 feet high including the tower.

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