Little Sisters of the Poor Fire, Pittsburgh, PA (1931)

Little Sisters of the Poor Fire, Pittsburgh, PA (1931)

Little Sisters of the Poor Fire, Pittsburgh, PA (1931) -- Thirty persons were known to be dead, twenty were missing and more than 100 were in hospitals after a fire had destroyed the home for the aged of the Little Sisters of the Poor here tonight.
Most of the dead were aged and infirm inmates of the home which was located at the corner of South Aiken and Penn avenues, in the East End district.
The fire which apparently started in the lower part of the building near the institution's morgue, was first sighted by a nearby resident who turned in the alarm. Six alarms were sounded in rapid succession as the seriousness of the situation was discerned, and firemen and police were called from all parts of the city.
250 Inmates In Home At Time.
In the home at the time the fire started were 250 inmates, about evenly divided between men and women.
The flames quickly spread through the home and many aged persons could be steen standing at windows screaming for help. Nuns and Brothers of a religious order aided the firemen in the work of rescue. After a four hour fight the fire was brought under control and rescue parties entered the smouldering ruins in a search for further bodies.
The Mother Superior of the Institution was among those most active in assisting the elderly men and women from the building. After the fire had spread so that it was dangerous for anyone to enter, she had to be forcibly detained from further attempts at rescue.
Six of the missing were volunteer rescue workers who entered the building in search of bodies.
30,000 Persons View Flames.
Police battled an estimated crowd of 30,000 persons who gathered as the flames lighted up the skies.
Most of the inmates of the home were all but helpless before the fire. All were old and most of them suffering from infirmities.
Seven women were trapped in a third floor room among them a MRS. MARY KLINE, 80, who is blind.
"I just got down on my knees and prayed to God," she said, "and then I was rescued."
Despite the care given those rescued from the home, DR. W. HOARD EVANS said he believed that the shock of the tragedy would be fatal to many because of their extreme age. All those in the home were more than 60 years old.
Dead Not Identified Hours After Fire.
Hours after the fire the dead could not be identified except in a few cases.
In the Penn avenue and South Aiken avenue courts of the burning building, scores of volunteers massed on a stout fire escape and passed inmates from hand to hand until they were brought to the ground.
Without the assistance of the many volunteers most of them young men from the nearby balloon field district of the city, firemen would have been unable to cope with the situation. Scores of neighbors who hurried to the home as the first cry of "fire" was heard said they were unable to enter the grounds because heavy iron gates to the sidewalk and drive way were closed.
Many of the volunteer rescuers scaled the high stone walls about the institution and firemen arriving a few minutes later battered down the gates to get equipment inside.
In some instances ladders placed against the walls of the building were burned away before firemen could mount them. Then the life nets were brought out and many of the aged occupants whom firemen could not reach jumped to safety.
All Records Of Home Saved.
Fire department officials said that all records containing the names of the home's residents had been saved and with the air of these records they started a final check on the dead and missing.
The cause of the fire has not been determined. From the first floor where it apparently started, it spread rapidly to other sections of the home.
Oxygen was administered on the lawn to many of the victims and beside them reposed hly images salvaged by the faithful on occasion at the risk of their lives. MRS. MARGARET CONNELL, 75, one of the many who tried to aid feeble and ill fellow-inmates to safety told how women battled againse suffocation and heat.
Aged Woman Describes Holocaust.
"We were almost suffocating," MRS. CONNELL said. "The women had to run from window to window for air. Sister PASCALINO in charge of the floor made them stick their heards out and breathe before going on. There were no lights and the heat on the floor was intense. I felt too wrak to go on. I sand back on a bed and a fireman carried me out."
Sister PASCALINO remained at her post directing rescue efforts and refused to leave until the floor was cleared.
One body was taken from the ruins appeared to be that of a nun. It was clad in block clothes not unlike that of a habit. A number of other sisters collapsed while bringing inmates from the doomed structure.
A score or more of priests from various parts of the city risted their lives in the flaming home to administer last rites to the dying.