Reid and Cary Horne

Pictured here shortly before the Winecoff Hotel fire are Reid and Cary Horne. Together they ran a grocery business in Cordele, Georgia. They were frequent visitors to Atlanta. Young and full of life, they enjoyed the excitement of "the big city". This photo shows them walking in front of Davison-Paxon's Department Store, a stone's throw from The Winecoff Hotel and on the same side of Peachtree St.

They were in the hotel on December 7, 1946 - room 1606 - on the Peachtree St. side when the fire began. Their struggle to survive included several acts of high drama acrobatics on the outside of the hotel - fifteen stories up. They were forced by smoke to leave through the window of room 1606, down to 1506, then to make a terrifying, sidestepping journey along a tiny ledge at the fifteenth floor and eventually up by sheet rope to room 1612.

From there the Hornes' survival strategy had to be revised several times, risks re-assessed. New escape plans were implemented and abandoned as other hotel guests perished all around them.

The Hornes' harrowing story is told beginning on page 97 of The Winecoff Fire.

Listen to a brief segment of the authors' original 1986 interview with Reid and Cary Horne. Reid tells about the unusual thing he did, standing at the window of room 1612, when all hope for survival seemed lost. Click here.

Major General Paul Baade

During World War II Winecoff fire survivor Paul Baade was commander of the 35th Infantry Division in Europe. His division saw almost continuous combat action during the eleven months that followed D-Day. His wartime papers are housed at the Truman Library.

A veteran of both World Wars, Paul Baade, 57, was sixty-eight days into retirement when he and wife Margaret were guests at Atlanta's Winecoff Hotel.

"My wife and I were awakened to the screams of, 'help help'. We got up. I smelled a little smoke. I opened the door, found the hall full of smoke and realized we could only be saved out the window," Baade said. They were trapped - six stories up.

The corner room afforded a view of both Ellis Street and the back ally. Slowly the enormity of the event and the urgency of their situation within it became evident. Fire was below them and rising. A grueling period of uncertainty ensued. An areal ladder was fully extended toward room 618.

"When the ladder did arrive, it was only six inches on the window and how Mrs. Baade and myself got on and down is still a miracle," he said.

Baade said of the Winecoff fire, "I have never seen anything worse than this in all of my experience in the war. There you have chance for an escape. You can lie down or you can move. Here you just had to wait."

Nell McDuffie

Nell McDuffie came to work at the Winecoff Hotel in 1928. She was a capable secretary to several general managers during the next eighteen years. She knew the hotel's operation top to bottom. "I was sort of the assistant manager and just general flunky really," she said. During World War II she moved into the hotel.

She survived the Winecoff fire when Atlanta firefighters rescued her by ladder from the window of room 1120, across the ten foot ally way and into the Mortgage Guarantee building. She was still there when Ed Kiker Williams fell - unconscious - from room 1520 and landed miraculously on the ladder still stretched across the ally - a three story plunge. He was injured but survived.

McDuffie later recovered the Gideons bible from her room and claimed it as her own with an inscription. She also typed out some of her special memories of her years at the hotel. Nell McDuffie moved to Raleigh, NC. following the fire but eventually returned to Atlanta.

Listen to a three minute excerpt from The Winecoff Fire authors' 1987 interview with Nell McDuffie. She is asked about co-lessor Robert O'Connell and a disturbance in the hotel's bar on Thursday night December 5th, 1946. Click here.

Sworn Statement Discovered

An original 1946 copy of a sworn statement given by Winecoff fire survivor Paul Lankford has been discovered. Lankford, 26, of Birmingham, Alabama was an Army Air Force veteran of World War II and was in Atlanta working for the Southern Natural Gas Co. He was asleep in room 324 of the hotel when the fire broke out and was one the first to discover it.
In the weeks that followed, he was one of many asked to give sworn statements to insurance investigators.
His son Wayne recently made the find: his dad's carbon copy of the statement. The statement is here. Paul Lankford's story is told beginning on page 21 of The Winecoff Fire.

Richard Turk - Newly Acquired Photo

Richard B. Turk, room 1022, used a blanket and a rope to help three other guests escape the fire before escaping himself. His story is told beginning on page 68 of The Winecoff Fire.

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 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.

To Have And To Hold

The re-development of the old Winecoff Hotel necessitated the removal of some of the original bricks from the 1913 structure. Always alert, Atlanta Fire Department Captain Bill May managed to recover a few of them before they were removed from the re-construction site. He made sure one of them went to a very special person. Here is that man's thank you note to Captain May:

Captain Bill May,
Thank you for sharing a brick from the Winecoff Hotel. The Winecoff fire is that moment in history that totally turned my life. It was a powerful moment to hold a memento from the structure. I appreciate the effort you and Allen have given to make this happen.

In 1946 I was a three year old child and was staying with my parents in the Winecoff the night it burned. My parents did not survive but I was able to land on a fire net as I fell with my dad. An Atlanta fireman, Rick Roberts was one of the men holding the net. I have met and visited with Mr. Roberts a couple of times and it has been a rich experience. We were on the 10th floor and I understand that height meets or exceeds the fall distance that is compatible with survival.

I have no memory of the fire but have gathered many, many stories over the years. In the past few years even more details have come to light. We have photos, videos, the "Winecoff Fire" book, personal conversation and visits to the site. A brick from the structure is a tangible object. It is a powerful visual of a moment in history.

I have recently started to relate the story of the Winecoff to various groups in Kansas, including fire protection engineers and civic groups. It is amazing that people so far from Atlanta are so interested in an event that happened so long ago. The brick is a powerful image for the audience. Thank you again for this piece of history.

Please feel free to share this note and my appreciation with the Atlanta Fire Department.

Sincerely yours,
Robert Cox, M.D.

Captain Bill May is the host of Firefighter 411. http://www.firefighter411.com/