100 years ago in Seattle: 7 Spokane residents escape hotel fire, but at least 4 occupants die

Several Spokane travelers escaped from a catastrophic fire in the Lincoln Hotel in downtown Seattle – but four other hotel occupants died and a number were still missing.

Horrified spectators watched from the street below as one man and his 20-year-old daughter stood on high window ledges on the fifth floor. People shouted warnings and told them not to jump – but they did, and both died instantly.

Many others were rescued through heroic efforts by firefighters. Fireman C.R. Dooley climbed an extension ladder and tried to reach two women on the seventh floor, but the ladder would not reach.

“Too short, my God!” groaned the anguished women.

Then Dooley raised the Pompier ladder – an iron bar with crossbars on it –and reached the sixth floor. Dooley climbed to a sixth-floor window and pushed the ladder up to the seventh. He reached the women and lowered them with belts and ropes, while the crowd cheered.

Seven Spokane residents, including the president of the Spokane Rotary Club, told The Spokesman-Review they were able to flee the building safely. Two of them climbed down the fire escape with only their coats and slippers.

The Lincoln Hotel was Seattle’s “first apartment hotel,” built in 1900. The cause of the fire was not yet known.