As a buff of the Bronx (most of the time), I knew that location well. I was going to visit a friend early that morning and listening to CBS Radio they said there was a fire in the Bronx at a Social Club located at Southern Blvd and Tremont Ave. They also said at that time, there were 21 Confirmed dead. I just couldn't believe it and in my own mind, I just couldn't picture a Social Club there. I had been by there hundreds of times. Later on during the day, the fatalities were increasing.
A few days later I went down to the Bronx to see where that fire was. Flowers were placed in front of that building. But what I couldn't believe that this was really such a small building (maybe 20 x 40 and only a two story brick building). Yet it claimed the lives of so many innocent people.
Based on the book "The Usual' by Retired FDNY Member John Finucane, the fire itself was put out pretty quickly. As "Atlas" said; companies were returning from a previous run and were able to knock the fire itself down very quickly in that only stairway.
Today, across the street is a Memorial with the names of those innocent people who lost their lives in one of New York City's most tragic fires.
