1976 — Oct 24, Arson Fire, Puerto Rican Social Club, Bronx, NY — 25

–25 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 336-337.
–25 Leagle.com. “People v. Mendez.” 7-3-1980.
–25 NFPA. “1976 Multiple-Death Fires in the [U.S.].” Fire Journal, V71, N5, Sep 1977, p. 62.
–25 National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996.
–25 National Fire Protection Association. The 1984 Fire Almanac. 1983, p. 137.
–25 National Fire Sprinkler Association. F.Y.I. 1999, 7.
–25 NY Daily News. “Police arrest two suspects…Bronx social club fire…killed 25…” 1-3-1977.
–25 NYT. “Fire Sweeps Social Club in Bronx, Leaving 25 Dead and Injuring 24.” 10-25-1976, 61.
–25 NYT. “Youth Guilty of Causing 25 Deaths In Bronx Social Club Fire in 1976.” 2-11-1978, 1.

Narrative Information

NFPA: “Social Club, Bronx, New York. The Puerto Rican Social Club in the borough of the Bronx, New York City, was located on the second story of a 50-60-year-old building that was two stories high in front and one story high in the rear. It was bordered on both the north and south by five-story buildings. There was a single enclosed stairway leading from the street to the club.

“About 55 young people were dancing there to a live band early on Sunday morning, October 24. One of them was a girl whose boy friend was annoyed because she had gone to the dance without him.

“Allegedly he rounded up two of his friends, and they brought small containers of gasoline and poured it on the stairs. Then one of the trio ignited the gasoline, and poured it on the stairs. Then one of the trio ignited the gasoline, making the stairway completely impassible. The window leading to the only fire escape was blocked, and the only remaining avenue of escape was to leap from other windows.

“Members of the banc were the first to see the flames. They smashed out front windows and jumped to the street. Patrons reportedly lined up at the windows to take turns jumping. Those at the ends of the lines never tame it. Twenty-five bodies were found in the burned-out clubroom.”
(National Fire Protection Association. “1976 Multiple-Death Fires in the United States.” Fire Journal, Vol. 71, No. 5, Sep 1977, p. 62.)

Newspapers

Oct 25: “Fire swept through a Bronx social club early yesterday morning, killing 25 young party‐goers and injuring 24 others who leaped from a second‐floor window—the sole means of escape from the blaze that had apparently been set in the building’s only staircase by an angry patron.

“The death toll of 16 women and nine, men in the blaze, which broke out shortly after 2:30 A.M. in the Puerto Rican Social Club at 1003 Morris Avenue at East 165th Street, was the highest in a building fire here since 1958, when 27 died as a result of a fire at a textile factory at 623 Broadway.

“So swiftly did the blaze spread through the 25‐foot by 50‐foot dance hall, according to survivors, that there was no time for all to escape. Most of the bodies were found stacked up near the broad front windows, where the victims died of asphyxiation before they could reach the opening.

“The survivors had been forced to jump, fire officials said, because a fire escape extending a short distance along one end of the window ledge was blocked by a rolling steel door, apparently installed to prevent burglaries….

“The injured were taken to five hospitals in the Bronx and Manhattan and to the Nassau County Medical Center in East Meadow. All suffered burns and several had broken limbs and internal injuries, spokesmen for the hospitals said….

“Within hours of the fire, Police Commissioner Michael J. Codd said at the scene that his detectives were looking for “a specific person”—reportedly a man who had been ejected from the club after a heated argument with his wife—and by midafternoon he announced that the police knew where the man was—reportedly in a hospital among those injured in the fire. However, Mr. Codd, who said “there are many aspects under investigation,” declined to confirm—or deny—reports that the man had returned to the club with gasoline and had been burned while setting the blaze.

“According to the police, the fire was first discovered by Jacob Melendez, the organizer of the dance, which drew some 50 neighborhood residents, many of them young married couples who paid a $3 donation at the door, to dance to a sixpiece orchestra.

“Within moments after the fire broke out, the police said, the musicians, whose bandstand was against the windows—and blocking the fire escape—began breaking windows and jumping. Milton Segarra the band leader, was reportedly the first to jump and then Jorge Concepcion swung his guitar, shattering another panel and the race—and panic—was on.

“‘Everybody started acting crazy,’ said José Echeverria, ‘The only way out was the window and we took turns. I had to wait for two people before I could jump. If I stayed one minute longer I’m dead.’ For most, however, there was not enough time.

“The lightning swiftness of the blaze eliminated all possibility of rescue, despite the fact that a police sergeant on patrol drove up Morris Avenue within moments after the fire broke out. ‘All I could see was flames — flames and people jumping,’ said the sergeant, Louis J. Massaro, who radioed the fire alarm and then jumped out of his car to help the injured. ‘We just rolled them away from the building,’ he said, describing how other police cars arriving behind him were quickly filled with the more serious injured for the trip to Lincoln Hospital, some 16 blocks away. There was nothing he could do for those still inside, most of whom were apparently already dead by the time he arrived. ‘I didn’t hear any screams,’ he said.

“Even so, Police Officer John E. Kovac, the next to arrive after Sergeant Massaro, tried to make his way up the stairs, but could get no farther than the entrance landing. ‘It was what, 200 degrees in there?’ he said, ‘and the stairwell was completely engulfed in flames from the entrance all the way up.’….

“When the first fire units arrived — Battalion 26, Engine Company 71 and Ladder Company 55 — within minutes after Sergeant Massaro’s radioed alarm, flames were leaping 10 feet out the front windows and there was no possibility that anyone left inside the building could survive. ‘It went through that building like a bat out of hell,’ said Battalion Chief John J. Weigold who directed the firemen fighting what proved a surprisingly easy blaze to extinguish. ‘We had knocked most of it down within five minutes and had it under control in about 15 minutes,’ said the chief, noting that the fire had been contained in the dance hall and stairwell and had not extended to a series of stores on the first floor of the two‐story brick building.

“As the formal process of identification began, Dr. DiMaio said that based on preliminary examinations, all the victims had died of smoke inhalation and that for the most part the bodies had not been badly burned….

“The Puerto Rican Social Club was described by the police as one of dozens of such gathering spots in the Bronx and elsewhere in the city, most of which manage to operate freely—and without supervision of the State Liquor Authority because of legal loopholes in the law exempting fraternal organizations from licensing requirements.” (New York Times/Robert Mcg. Thomas Jr. “Fire Sweeps Social Club in Bronx, Leaving 25 Dead and Injuring 24.” 10-25-1976, p. 61.)

Jan 3, 1977: “The unemployed salesman and his teenage sidekick were charged yesterday with murder and arson for allegedly setting the Bronx social club fire Oct. 24 that killed 25 persons and critically injured 18 others.

“The arrests were announced by Bronx District Attorney Mario Merola, who said the defendants Antonio Cordero, 40, of 1345 Plimpton Ave. and Hector Lopez, 17, of 1414 Shakespeare Ave. had set the blaze in “revenge” because Cordero’s young girl friend had gone to a dance in the club against his wishes. Cordero is married and has two sons.

“The girl friend was one of the 25 men and women killed when flames and smoke roared up the only staircase to the second-floor club at 1005 Morris Ave. in Morrisania.

“The arrests climaxed a two-month investigation by 40 cops and fire marshals into what Merola described as “the worst mass murder by arson in the history of the United States.”

“The investigators probed three possible motives jealousy, revenge or racial hatred and questioned nearly 1,000 persons before the case was broken. The key to the manhunt was the use of Spanish-speaking cops to bridge the communications gap, according to Lt. Edward G. Clarke, commander of the 7th homicide zone in the Bronx.

“The investigation focused on witnesses at the scene of the fire, the owners of vehicles seen in the area at the time of the fire, and finally a canvass of neighborhood, police said. At least one other person is being sought in the case and an arrest is “imminent,” Merola said….

“Police said that Cordero, a stocky man with a scar across the left side of his face, and a record of seven arrests on drug, weapons and robbery charges, was a frequent companion of Diana Sanchez, 21, of 430 E. 155 St.

“According to the investigators, on the night of the blaze, Miss Sanchez insisted that Cordero take her and her sister, Evelyn, 20, who also died in the fire, to a party at the Puerto Rican social club. Cordero objected but eventually gave in and drove the pair to the club, dropping them off outside, police said.

“He then met up with Lopez and at least one other person and went out drinking, the police reported. Cordero talked about how “enraged” he was with his young friend, and the group went to a local gas station and filled up several milk carton with gasoline, the police alleged. They allegedly returned to the club, doused the staircase with gasoline and set the blaze. Lopez was slightly burned while setting the fire, it was reported.

“Police said Cordero was a trusted friend of the Sanchez family and had even visited the girls’ mother after the fire to give them condolences.

“Lopez had been scheduled to report for active duty with the National Guard in Oklahoma this morning, police said….” (New York Daily News (Michael Oreskes) “Police arrest two suspects for the Bronx social club fire that killed 25 People.” 1-3-1977.)

Feb 11, 1978: “A Bronx teen‐ager was convicted yesterday of 25 counts of murder for spreading the gasoline used to set fire to neighborhood social club in the Morrisania section in October 1976. The fire killed 25 partygoers and injured 24—one of the worst fire disasters in the city’s history. When the foreman of the jury in State Supreme Court announced the verdict, the youth, 17-year-old Francisco Mendez, broke into a smile and, turning to face the spectators shrugged his shoulders.

“Mr. Mendez had been charged with spreading the gasoline on the building’s only staircase, leaving a second‐story window as the only means of escape. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 7, when he faces a maximum of life in prison for each of the deaths, with eligibility for parole after 25 years.

“Jose Antonio Cordero, who allegedly used marijuana, rum and a promise of a car to get young Mendez to set the fire, had pleaded guilty earlier to arson and faces sentencing on Feb. 22, although he is seeking to withdraw his guilty plea. He reportedly had been enraged because a young woman friend was at the Saturday‐night dance.

“Another man, Hector Lopez, 18, admitted having set the building ablaze with a match. He is serving a life sentence….

“A key witness for the prosecution was Julio Hernandez, a 14-year-old Bronx boy, who was with the defendant and the others when they set the fire. He told the jury how he, Mr. Mendez and Mr. Lopez agreed to accompany Mr. Cordero after he had offered them marijuana and rum outside a local candy store, where the three had been “hanging out.”

“After a stop at a gasoline station to pick up a container of gasoline, young Hernandez said that he remained in Mr. Cordero’s car with Mr. Cordero while the two others crept into the club, knows as the Puerto Rican Social Club, at 1003 Morris Avenue at 165th Street. After the blaze was set, the youth said, the four of them celebrated at a nearby White Castle hamburger stand.

“In exchange for his testimony, no charges have been filed against young Hernandez.

“Throughout the trial, Mr. Cordero’s reasons for setting the blaze remained unclear. At the time of his arrest, Mr. Cordero was characterized as the “jealous suitor” of a young woman who died in the blaze. At the trial, he was referred to as the woman’s “godfather,” a friend of the family, who became enraged because she had attended a dance at the club against his wishes….

“Following reports that the club’s fire escape had been blocked by a metal door used to prevent burglaries, the city started an investigation into whether existing fire‐safety regulations were adequate for social clubs. In a sharply criticized study that was made public in December 1976, the city concluded that they were.” (New York Times/Dena Kleiman. “Youth Guilty of Causing 25 Deaths In Bronx Social Club Fire in 1976.” 2-11-1978, p. 1.)

Sources

Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.

Leagle.com. “People v. Mendez.” 7-3-1980. Accessed 6-6-2020 at: https://www.leagle.com/decision/198047575ad2d4001414

National Fire Protection Association. “1976 Multiple-Death Fires in the United States.” Fire Journal, Vol. 71, No. 5, Sep 1977, pp. 61-64.

National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996. Accessed 2010 at: http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=1352&itemID=30955&URL=Research%20&%20Reports/Fire%20statistics/Key%20dates%20in%20fire%20history&cookie%5Ftest=1

National Fire Protection Association. The 1984 Fire Almanac. Quincy, MA: NFPA, 1983.

National Fire Sprinkler Association, Inc. F.Y.I. – Fire Sprinkler Facts. Patterson, NY: NFSA, November 1999, 8 pages. Accessed at: http://www.firemarshals.org/data/File/docs/College%20Dorm/Administrators/F1%20-%20FIRE%20SPRINKLER%20FACTS.pdf

New York Daily News (Michael Oreskes) “Police arrest two suspects for the Bronx social club fire that killed 25 People.” 1-3-1977. Accessed 6-6-2020 at: https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/police-arrest-bronx-social-club-fire-killed-25-article-1.2931892

New York Times (Robert Mcg. Thomas Jr.). “Fire Sweeps Social Club in Bronx, Leaving 25 Dead and Injuring 24.” 10-25-1976, p. 61. Accessed 6-6-2020 at: https://www.nytimes.com/1976/10/25/archives/fire-sweeps-bronx-social-club-leaving-25-dead-and-24-injured.html