Hotel Roosevelt fire
The Hotel Roosevelt fire on December 29, 1963, was the worst fire in Jacksonville, Florida, since the Great Fire of 1901, and it contributed to the worst one-day death toll in the city's history: 22 people died, mostly from carbon monoxide poisoning.
At the time, the Hotel Roosevelt was one of two luxury hotels in the city's downtown, with many restaurants and businesses on its ground floor, including a ballroom and a barber shop. At the end of each year, the Hotel Roosevelt hosted hundreds of travelers who came to attend the Gator Bowl.
Fire and evacuation
The fire started in the ballroom's ceiling. The old ceiling, which was deemed a fire hazard, was not removed when the new ceiling was installed, providing kindling for the fire, which started from faulty wires.The first call to the Jacksonville Fire Department was made at 7:45 a.m., by hotel doorman Alton Joseph Crowden. Smoke was traveling through the 13-story building, and hotel visitors climbed out of the smoky building with the help of other patrons and bedsheets tied together. For some who saw that fire department ladders would not reach them, guests threw mattresses to the ground in an attempt to soften the landing. Guests were warned not to jump by a county patrol officer, who drove on the sidewalk and used his microphone to broadcast; "Don't jump. The firemen are coming to get you."
Mayor W. Haydon Burns immediately called for assistance from the U.S. Navy, and eight helicopters flew to downtown from Cecil Field and NAS Jacksonville. The airmen helped the patrons exit the building, and transported them to a nearby parking lot, where ambulances were waiting.
The fire was extinguished by 9:30 a.m., and it was estimated that nearly 475 people were saved from the burning building.
Victims
After a day of recovering dead, firefighters found 20 residents dead in bed from smoke inhalation. A woman died after attempting to climb to safety from her 11th floor room, but slipped while on a rope she made from bedsheets. In addition, assistant chief J.R. Romedy collapsed of a heart attack during initial rescue efforts and died at the scene.Notable survivors
Survivors of the fire included 1964 Miss America Donna Axum, Manhattan Jaspers basketball coach Ken Norton, and Florida Gators basketball coach Norm Sloan.Aftermath
Immediately after the fire many local Jacksonville residents, churches and businesses took in displaced hotel guests, and provided food and clothes to those displaced.Property damage to the Hotel Roosevelt was immense, and the hotel was closed in 1964, with most of the hotel's businesses and staff relocating to the equally upscale Hotel George Washington. After much renovation, the building was re-opened as a retirement home and the Jacksonville Regency House, which closed in 1989.