Richmond, VA Lexington Hotel Fire, Feb 1922

TOLL MAY GROW BIG

Death List in Hotel Fire at Richmond, Va. Now Standing At Three, May Go to Twenty, It is Believed.

GUESTS ARE TRAPPED ON THE UPPER FLOORS

With Elevators Out of Service Guests Are Forced to Leap From Windows to Escape Flames Raging in Building.

(By Associated Press)
RICHMOND, Va., Feb. 7 - Three persons are known to be dead, and at least 25 injured in a fire here early today, which destroyed the Lexington hotel and several adjoining buildings, with a loss estimated at $150,000.

Seventy-two persons were guests in the hotel, and it is believed the death toll will reach between 15 and 20.

A wall at the fire escape collapsed, and is believed to have entombed several persons. Many were injured by leaping from windows. The flames quickly spread to the Savings Bank of Richmond, the Pearl Laundry, the Co-Operative Exchange, the Anderson-Wilson Paper company plant and the Clyde W. Saunders printing plant, all of which were badly damaged.

The known dead are M.J. Fox, Williamsport, Pa., neck broken; Hiram F. Austin, Fincastle, Va., who died on the way to the hospital, and I.N. Thomas, sheriff of Albemarle County, Virginia.

Among those probably fatally injured are James Folden, Patton, W. Va. and C. Goodman, Richmond, Ky.

Among those injured are: M.O. Bailey, New York, badly burned about the face; Paul Bigone, New York, fractured hip; William P. Little, Portsmouth, Va., and J. H. Webb, Fincastle, Va.

"I was at the desk when I saw the smoke and fire creeping up the fire escape from the basement," said R. D. Frey, clerk. "I grabbed the telephone but it was out of order. Men had been working on the switchboard and the connection was severed. I told the boy to get upstairs and notify the guests. The smoke and heat was intense and I do not know how many people he was able to arouse. When I got back from turning in the alarm, the flames were roaring up the elevator shaft.

"It seems that few thought of the fire escape with which the building was equipped. Most of the women appeared at the windows and several of the guests started jumping down. I do not know how many were injured, but I think there were a great many. Several people jumped down from the third floor and I believe fatally injured themselves. My lungs soon filled up with smoke and I could do nothing but get into the air or faint."

L. B. Pettus, the proprietor of the hotel, was overcome by smoke and had to be taken to his home.

In the search for the dead progress was very slow, as the interior was filled with smoke from the fallen wreckage and the heat was still intense.

The News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN 7 Feb. 1922

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TEN STILL LISTED AS MISSING IN RICHMOND HOTEL FIRE; SIX DEAD

Recovery of Two Bodies From Wreckage of "The Lexington" Brings Number of Dead to Half a Dozen.

RICHMOND, Va., Feb. 9. - Recovery of two bodies today from the wreckage of the Lexington hotel, destroyed by fire two das ago, brought the known dead to six, with ten still listed as missing. These ten persons, according to the police, have not been heard from since the fire.

Burned beyond recognition, a headless body thought to be that of a man was taken from the wreckage at 3 o'clock this afternoon, while this morning the body of E. J. Bush, a salesman, of Cincinnati, was found in the rear of the hotel. The body was identified by several letters found in a pocket.

Hundreds of workmen continue to probe the wreckage in an effort to recover at least two persons known to be in the debris.

Andrew Galles, Buffalo, N. Y., died from internal injuries and three others, N. J. Fox, Williamsport, Pa.; C. M. Thomas, sheriff of Albemarle county, Virginia, and Hira S. Austin, Fincastle, were killed by leaping from windows.

Three persons are in a critical condition in local hospitals. The ten missing are:
B. E. Ames, Sam Ashe, R. Kessler, S. H. Poirier, C. W. Hawthorne, B. O. Taylor, E. S. Harrell, J. R. Jones, E. T. Cox and C. E. Eberley.

Poirier and Cox are the two believed to still buried in the wreckage.

"Muffy," the pet cat that succeeded in arousing Mrs. L. G. Daniels and daughter, Miss Drusilla Daniels, of Raleigh, N. C., was found dead yesterday afternoon on a dangling part of the third floor of the hotel. "Boots," a pet terrier belonging to Mr. Pettus, proprietor of the hotel, was rescued after arousing his master by barking.

The Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, NC 10 Feb 1922

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