1923 — Dec 26, Fire, Illinois State Hospital for the Insane, Dunning (near Chicago), IL–  18

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 4-5-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

—  18  NFPA (Ed.). “The Dunning Asylum Holocaust,” NFPA Quarterly, V17, No. 3, 1924, 201.

—  18  NFPA. “The Dunning Insane Asylum Holocaust,” NFPA Quarterly, V17, N3, 1924, 226.

Narrative Information

National Fire Protection Association, “The Dunning Insane Asylum Holocaust,” p. 226:

“A fire which occurred during the evening of December 26, 1923, in a group of joisted frame buildings, part of the Illinois State Hospital for the insane at Dunning (just outside of Chicago), caused the death of eighteen persons. This fire, like so many others of the disastrous institu­tional fires that have occurred in the United States and Canada, was due to extremely hazardous conditions which should never have been tolerated….

“The scene of the fire was a group of six one and two-story frame buildings communicating through one-story frame passages 30 to 50 feet long. The general arrangement of the buildings is shown in the accompanying diagram. The central building was occupied as a dining room on the first floor and a dormitory above. The area was approxi­mately 5,500 square feet. There was a two foot unused space under the lower floor. Floors were double one inch boards on ordinary joists. The walls and ceilings were wood sheathed. The roof was pre­pared roofing on one inch boards on ordinary joist and wood truss. Annexes 3, 4 and 5, which were destroyed, were one-story structures similar in construction to the dining hall portion and covering an aggregate area of approximately 10,000 square feet. The passageways were one- story frame with an approximate area of 6,200 square feet. The annexes were used for dormitories. Each dormitory was provided with wood bins in which the patients’ clothes were stored and small enclosures in which mops, brooms and cleaning materials were kept….

“The buildings contained about 300 patients, mostly epileptic, but sonic violently insane kept on the second floor over the dining room. Many of the patients had received Christmas cigars and cigarettes and they were allowed to smoke in the buildings without restriction. The mop closets in each dormitory contained polishing mops made of six inch pipe wrapped with discarded bed linen and blankets. Paraffin wax was rubbed on these mops, which were used for polishing the floors. The buildings were heated by steam, the radiators being covered with wire mesh and sheet metal guards.

Protection.  A private hose reel with 300 feet of hose was kept in a frame shed located within 150 feet of where the fire started. Three four inch hydrants with six inch mains were supplied through eight inch and ten inch mains from two steam pumps at a power house taking suction through an eight inch connection to city mains. A city hydrant was approximately 300 yards distant. The nearest city engine company was 3 ½  miles away. No watch service was maintained. A few 2 ½  gallon soda-acid extinguishers were provided.

Story of the Fire.  The fire was discovered at 5:40 P. M., when all the patients were at supper in the dining room, by a patient who habitually stayed behind to say prayers. It started in the mop closet in Annex No. 5. The cause has not been definitely established but it is probable that spontaneous ignition of the mops or defective electric wiring was responsible. The patient immediately shouted “fire” and a nurse in the dining room telephoned to the operator in the Administration Building, who sent the alarm to the power house where a siren was sounded. A city fire alarm box located in front of the Administration Building was pulled at 5 :41 P. M. The fire spread rapidly and the patients in the dining room were hustled out of the building and lined up outside. ‘There were only eighteen guards to handle the patients, some of whom were violently insane and all of whom were panic stricken. The doors of the dining-hall opened inward, creating a jam, and the lights went out, adding to the confusion. A number of the patients eluded the guards and ran back into the building to save personal belongings. Most of these burned to death. A caretaker and his wife, who had rooms on the second floor over the dining room, went back to get their eight-year-old son. They remained to pack up some belongings and all three perished.

“The guards marched the patients to the Administration Building. On the way the violently insane patients bolted and many escaped into the city. Three men broke out of the line and ran back into the building and locked themselves into a lavatory on the second floor. Policemen entered and broke down the door and were able to force the patients down ladders to safety.

“The private fire brigade had a fairly good hose stream playing on the fire when the city department arrived, but the buildings were all aflame and some walls were already falling. The battalion chief turned in a “4-11” alarm on arrival at 5:56 P. M. The wind had been blowing from the southwest and sweeping flames directly toward the other wards, but fortunately at this time it shifted and the firemen were able to save annex buildings one and two. Seven engine companies and four truck companies responded to the fire. The roads had been transformed to deep mud on account of a heavy rain and great difficulty was experienced in moving the apparatus.

“Fourteen bodies were found in an area of approxi­mately 300 square feet at the rear of the dining room.”  (NFPA. “The Dunning Insane Asylum Holocaust,” NFPA Quarterly, V17, No. 3, 1924, pp. 226-228.)

National Fire Protection Association, “The Dunning Asylum Holocaust,” p. 201:

“The disastrous fire in the Illinois State Hospital for the Insane at Dunning, on December 26, 1923… lengthens the already long list of institutional holocausts. Eighteen persons, fifteen of whom were insane, met death in this fire.

‘The past history of this institution is interesting.  In 1912 the super­intendent had called attention to the serious conditions then existing. On August 23, 1911, one of the buildings had been destroyed by fire. On January 17, 1912, another building burned to the ground. This building, built in 1870, had been condemned in 1908 but was forced back into use :without remodeling because of overcrowded conditions. On May 4, 1914, another building was burned. On October 16, 1916, two barns on the grounds were destroyed by fire. On December 11, 1918, the tuberculosis ward, with 400 patients inside, took fire. The patients were rescued with great difficulty. After this fire the ward was rebuilt the same as before.

“Apparently these previous warnings had little effect as no loss of life .had occurred. Now that the inevitable has happened the usual wave of public indignation and the “startling revelation” that other asylums and institutions in the state are in similar or worse condition has followed. It is too soon, as this issue goes to press, to report the conclusions of the many investigating committees that are seeking to place the blame for this holocaust. In the last analysis the real blame lies on the indifference of the public generally toward the safety of the helpless. The institutional holocaust is not a new horror previously unknown. It is an old story. During the past year the Ward’s Island Asylum fire in New York with its toll of 27 lives, the Allegheny County Alms House fire near Buffalo in which nine inmates were burned to death, and now the Dunning disaster, have been added to the gruesome record.

“It would seem that the officials responsible for the safety of these unfortunates could not claim ignorance of the danger, in the face of these fatal fires which recur again and again. Yet the president of the State Board of Public Welfare, after a “thorough investigation” of the circum­stances of this fire, is reported to have issued a statement which read in part as follows:

Preliminary investigation reveals the following:  That the loss of life among the patients occurred entirely in the dining hall, a one-story building, with three big doors opening to the ground level and with large unbarred and unobstructed windows extending all around. This structure was one of a group of buildings isolated from the main structure of the institution. This building, as were others in isolated groups, was fully equipped with water mains and with lire extinguishers. There was no hazard from heat. All wiring was in conduit. The building apparently presented a maximum degree of safety.” 

(NFPA (Ed.). “The Dunning Asylum Holocaust,” NFPA Quarterly, V17, No. 3, 1924, 201.)

Sources

National Fire Protection Association. “The Dunning Asylum Holocaust,” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 17, No. 3, January 1924, p. 201-202.

National Fire Protection Association. “The Dunning Insane Asylum Holocaust,” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 17, No.3, January 1924, pp. 226-228.