Little, if any, concern was given to flame spread over surfaces, unprotected vertical openings (stairwells, shafts, chutes, etc.) and the transom windows above doors to offices and guest rooms that allowed for ventilation. Lost in fire underwriter calculations were the people. These buildings could withstand both exterior and interior fire without collapse of exterior walls, ensuring that losses from fire were minimal and predictable. One reason for the high loss of life in hotel fires was the fact that so many hotels featured the so-called “fireproof construction” favored by fire underwriters of the era. In 1912, he wrote that there was a hotel fire every 33 hours in North America.
Chief John Kenlon of the FDNY knew well the potential peril for hotel guests during fires.
