Fire ripped through Cocoanut Grove nightclub 65 years ago
(Associated Press file photo)
By Globe Staff
People walking on Piedmont Street in downtown Boston may not realize it, but 65 years ago today it was the scene of a terrible tragedy.
The Cocoanut Grove burst into flames. The worst nightclub blaze in American history killed 492 people. In 1977, the Globe published a story that recreated what happened that night. It can be found here.
The site of the fire is roughly where the garage of the Radisson Hotel now stands, said Casey C. Grant, a fire protection engineer at the National Fire Protection Association in Quincy who has studied the fire.
"This was an event of historic proportions," said Grant, who has written an article on the fire for the NFPA website.
The fire showed the need for communities to adopt model fire safety codes and the need for communities to be prepared for disasters, Grant said. Both lessons still apply today.
"We work hard to try to make sure these disasters don't happen again," he said of his organization's work. "Unfortunately, they do. It's obvious there's more work to do."
(Globe file photo)
Comment
Permalink
EmailThis blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
