Bob & Pauline Bault - Newly Acquired Photo

Few survived The Winecoff fire as narrowly as Bob & Pauline Bault. Fourteen floors above Peachtree St. searchlights found them and spectators gasped as they moved precariously from the window of room 1404 to the window of room 1406. Trapped there, room 1406 became a virtual oven during the fire. It was directly above the middle floors which were roaring flames from their windows during the fire's explosive flashover. Fortunately, eleven month old Sally Bault was safe at home with the family's maid. The Baults' story is told in chapter three of The Winecoff Fire.

Margaret & Warren Foster - Newly Acquired Photo!

Margaret and Warren Foster were rescued by ladder from room 508.
It was what Warren overheard happening in the room next door, prior to the fire, that has intrigued arson investigators ever since. He overheard an argument, a fist fight, breaking glass and a threat as a man departed room 510-12, "I'll get even with you before the night's over!"

Connie Foster

One year old, Connie Foster and her parents were recued from room 508 by Atlanta Fire Captain Rick Roberts. He carried little Connie down a ladder to the safety of Peachtree Street. "That baby was smiling all the way down the ladder," said Captain Roberts.
This newly acquired photo shows Connie in the dress her parents bought for her at Davison's Department Store following the fire.
Connie Foster and Rick Roberts were reunited first in 1993 after the the publication of The Winecoff Fire and again in 2006. Said Roberts, "I recognized her eyes immediately!"

Ed Kiker Williams - Newly Acquired Photo

Ed Kiker Williams, 15, was excited about going to Atlanta. When he left Cordele, Ga. that Friday he was behind the wheel of his aunt's big blue Buick. His mom, aunt, little sister and three cousins were all on board. The weekend in Atlanta was a shining star ahead for each of them. His sister Clair had her heart set on seeing the Disney film, Song of the South. The ladies were going to Christmas shop for special gifts unavailable in Cordele. Ed was content just to be the driver.
The group took two rooms in the Winecoff Hotel, 1530 for his aunt and cousins, 1520 for him, his mom and little sister.
At 3:42 am Saturday morning life began to change for Ed Kiker Williams. The story of his struggle to live and his miraculous survival is told in Chapter 4 of The Winecoff Fire.
Hear a six minute segment of the authors' original 1986 interview with Mr. Williams: Ed Kiker Williams.mp3

Mildred Johnson - Newly Acquired Photo

Mildred Johnson, room 628, fell into the alley behind the Winecoff Hotel when flames from the window of room 528 severed her sheet rope. She survived with injuries. One hand was permanently disfigured by the fall. This photo, taken before the fire, was one of her favorites because it shows her hands. Her story is told on pages 26 and 166 of The Winecoff Fire.

The Luckey Brothers - Newly Discovered Photos

A Winecoff Fire reader has agreed to share these newly discovered photos of her great uncles, King & Frank Luckey. The Luckey brothers are believed to have been among the group of gamblers who occupied room 330 of the Winecoff Hotel at the time of the fire.

She also made this surprising revelation: "I've talked to my aunts and uncles and from things that were said in the family or things they've heard from family members or rumored in the family was that King and Frank started the fire. One uncle heard that they escaped from a third room window and climbed on the roof top of a building next door. He also said that he heard the reason was because they were accused of cheating while gambling that night. Now whether or not this is true we will never know."

In interviews with "The Winecoff Fire" authors Sam Heys and Allen B. Goodwin, two Atlanta newspaper reporters also put credence in the idea that the fire was somehow tied to the poker game in room 330.

In 1993 Atlanta Constitution reporter Keeler McCartney said, "It was the card game. Somebody got thrown out and then came back. But I never could nail it down and neither could the police."

In 1985 Atlanta Journal reporter Aubrey Morris said, "I remember the stories that allegedly someone in the poker game got mad and set fire to the place."

Both of the Luckey brothers are now deceased.

This and other arson theories are examined in Chapter 10 of The Winecoff Fire: The Untold Story of America's Deadliest Hotel Fire.