Riggins, ID Rest Home Fire, Sept 1963

REST HOME FIRE CLAIMS LIVES OF 7.

Riggins, Idaho (AP) -- Seven elderly men died Tuesday in a fire that raced through a sprawling wooden rest home in the mountains of West Central Idaho.
About 35 others were evacuated safely.
"Some of the patients could walk and some were in wheel chairs," said MRS. ANITA MILLER, an employe. "Some were bedfast and we carried them out and laid them on the grass, wrapped in blankets."
The men who perished could not be saved, said ROBERT SALTER, operator of the Paradise Pines Rest Home. "It was such a short period after it started until it was engulfed in flames."
Sheriff Frank Burholder said the victims, all in their 80s or 90s, were found in their beds in an annex adjoining the main building.
"I think they all suffocated before the fire got there, " he said.
MRS. KATE HALL, a nurses aide, said she awoke about 3:30 a.m. and discovered the fire in the roof near the furnace room.
The dead, all from Idaho, were:
JOHN PASSI.
FRANK ROWLAND.
JOHN ZIETLOW.
JOE BOGLE.
DAN STOWE.
OTTO KORBIN.
JOHN BROADAHL.
Coroner Gene La Fay said he will call an inquest.

The Abilene Reporter News Texas 1963-09-18
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!