Milwaukee, WI Grace Hotel Fire, Jul 1889

HOTEL FIRE IN MILWAUKEE.

Firemen Fighting Flames on the Roof of Grace Hotel Fall with the Walls---Five of Them May Die.

MILWAUKEE, Wis., July 18.---Fire to-night destroyed the Grace Hotel, a four-story brick structure, at the corner of Park and Reed Streets, on the South Side. About twenty-five firemen were injured, of whom five may die. The pecuniary loss will be small.

Among the injured are Chief James Foley, Capt. P. J. Linehan, Capt. John Wolf, Assistant, and Chief Clancy. It is feared that Capt. Linehan and Capt. Wolf cannot recover.

Two alarms were sent in, owing to the dangerous locality. At a time when the fire seemed to be under control, and while several firemen were in the structure to subdue what little flames were left, with ten others on the roof, the structure collapsed and nothing but a mass of debris was left.

The firemen on the roof and those on the ladders and within went down with the ruins. It was an unexpected catastrophe, and the crowd groaned as one man when they realized what had happened. The work of rescue then began, and as quickly as the injured could be gotten out, ambulances and other conveyances hurried them to the Emergency Hospital.

The New York Times, New York, NY 19 Jul 1889
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Transcribed by Linda Horton. Thank you, Linda!