A 1940 inferno remains the deadliest fire in Minneapolis history. Why was it so lethal?

Listen and subscribe to our podcast: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

It was a tragic mix of fire and ice.

On a frigid morning in 1940, a blaze ripped through the Marlborough Hotel near downtown Minneapolis. Firefighters responding to the scene were hindered by zero-degree weather, which froze water being used to douse the flames — creating an icy hazard.

Nineteen people died in the inferno. More than eight decades later, it remains Minneapolis’ most lethal fire.

Brian Rosaaen was doing genealogy research at Minneapolis’ Central Library recently when he came across records describing the toll of that single hotel fire. He reached out to Curious Minnesota, the Strib’s reporting project fueled by reader questions, wanting to know more about what happened.

He was also curious about whether the Marlborough was a traditional hotel or more permanent housing.

Built in the 1890s, the Marlborough Hotel was on 15th Street near the current site of the Minneapolis Convention Center. It was a “combination residence and transient hotel,” with mostly permanent residents living in 60 single rooms and 25 larger apartments, owners told the Minneapolis Tribune after the Jan. 3 fire.

It was also crowded. More than 120 people were living in the three-story building when it caught fire, according to historian Iric Nathanson, who wrote an account about the tragedy for the Minnesota Historical Society.

Survivors recalled hearing a blast at 5:45 a.m. The boom “was quickly followed by a surge of smoke and flame that swept up through the three floors of the building,” the Minneapolis Morning Tribune wrote.

The alarm rang at the fire department 8 minutes later. Police and fire squads rushed to the hotel.

When they arrived, the building was already a “mass of flames” and “fire spurted out of the three front doors,” the newspaper reported. First responders observed people jumping out of windows — many to their deaths.

“The more fortunate were dashing through the fiery doorways to the street and alleys. Others stood at second and third story windows, screaming for help and then falling back into the inferno,” the Tribune wrote.

A cabbie who was passing by became a hero after he caught children tossed from windows by their parents, according to newspaper accounts.

At least 25 people were hospitalized after managing to get out alive.

“We tried to get out through the halls. The smoke was too thick and I kicked the window out,” survivor James Brown told the Minneapolis Star. “My wife jumped. Then I jumped.”

It was a three-story drop to the concrete below.

Another resident said he was still groggy with sleep when he ran to the window. “I passed out, I guess. I don’t know how I got out,” they said. “The next thing I knew, I was lying in the alley.”

Many of those who died in the blaze had jumped from top floors before firefighters arrived with nets and ladders, according to the Tribune. Other victims got trapped or died of smoke inhalation.

A Tribune reporter at the scene with an assistant fire chief wrote that “your first thought as you climbed the icy steps leading to the charred remains of the Marlborough apartment-hotel ... was one of utter disbelief that anyone could have survived such an inferno.”

The event claimed more lives than the city’s disastrous 1878 mill explosion, and became a national news story.

Initial accounts said that 18 people had died, but a 19th victim later succumbed to injuries in the hospital. One of the dead was not identified until months later.

Among the victims were a 10-month-old baby who died of smoke inhalation while cuddling a puppy, and an entire family of four — including a teen whose bereft sweetheart had to identify her at the morgue.

Two firefighters were injured. One was struck by falling bricks and the other fell two floors from an icy ladder, struggling to hold on to a woman he was rescuing.

“Firemen working feverishly to save trapped victims resembled grotesque snowmen at times, many being sheathed in icicles as they came down ladders,” the Minneapolis Morning Tribune wrote.

The day after the blaze, city officials looked into whether building violations might have contributed to the catastrophe. The building was initially built to house 16 families, but it had been converted to include more than 80 single rooms and apartments, according to the ward’s alderman.

Ultimately, city officials found that the Marlborough Hotel’s owners had not violated any of the city’s building or fire codes, however.

The fire did lead the city’s building inspector to crack down on at least five other landlords who had created housing that was illegally crowded or had inadequate stairways after being subdivided.

The cause of the Marlborough Hotel fire was under investigation for months. The city’s arson squad and fire prevention bureau looked into three theories.

The first — which investigators suggested early on — was that the blaze grew out of “a smoldering fire in the garbage chute,” likely started by a tossed cigarette, the Minneapolis Star wrote.

The second theory was that an unknown arsonist set the fire using metallic magnesium, according to the Star.

This theory was prompted by the discovery by University of Minnesota chemists that there was magnesium in woodwork around the stairways. The Tribune reported this could have accelerated the fire. But the flammable chemical was also once used in the preparation of plaster, the Tribune reported, so it might have been there all along.

Investigators also considered a third theory — that a mentally ill resident had set the fire and then perished in the blaze.

In the end, they designated the cause of Minneapolis’ deadliest blaze “undetermined.”

If you’d like to submit a Curious Minnesota question, fill out the form below:

Read more Curious Minnesota stories:

Historic wildfires once destroyed entire cities in northern Minnesota. Could it happen again?

What is the most haunted place in Minnesota?

Does Minnesota have the coldest and longest winters of any of the US states?

What was the most destructive tornado in Minnesota history?

What was life like in Minnesota during the flu pandemic of 1918?

Why did Minneapolis’ famous flour boom go bust?