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Winecoff Hotel fire

1946 disasters in the United States1946 fires1946 in Georgia (U.S. state)December 1946 eventsFires in Georgia (U.S. state)
High-rise firesHistory of AtlantaHotel fires in the United StatesUse American English from December 2016Use mdy dates from December 2016Wikipedia external links cleanup from December 2016Wikipedia spam cleanup from December 2016
Winecoff Hotel Atlanta 01
Winecoff Hotel Atlanta 01

The Winecoff Hotel fire of December 7, 1946, was the deadliest hotel fire in United States history, killing 119 hotel occupants, including the hotel's original owners. Located at 176 Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States, the Winecoff Hotel was advertised as "absolutely fireproof". While the hotel's steel structure was indeed protected against the effects of fire, the hotel's interior finishes were combustible, and the building's exit arrangements consisted of a single stairway serving all fifteen floors. All of the hotel's occupants above the fire's origin on the third floor were trapped, and the fire's survivors either were rescued from upper-story windows or jumped into nets held by firemen. A number of victims jumped to their deaths. A photograph of one survivor's fall won the 1947 Pulitzer Prize for Photography. The fire – which followed the June 5, 1946 La Salle Hotel fire in Chicago (with 61 fatalities), and the June 19, 1946 Canfield Hotel fire in Dubuque, Iowa (with 19 fatalities) – spurred significant changes in North American building codes, most significantly requiring multiple protected means of egress and self-closing fire-resistive doors for guest rooms in hotels.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Winecoff Hotel fire (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Winecoff Hotel fire
Ellis Street Northwest, Atlanta

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N 33.7583 ° E -84.3878 °
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Ellis Hotel, Atlanta, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel

Ellis Street Northwest 176
30303 Atlanta
Georgia, United States
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Winecoff Hotel Atlanta 01
Winecoff Hotel Atlanta 01
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Georgia-Pacific Tower
Georgia-Pacific Tower

Georgia-Pacific Center is a 212.45 m (697.0 ft), 1,567,011 sq.ft skyscraper in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It contains 52 stories of office space and was finished in 1982. Before the six-year era of tall skyscrapers to be built in Atlanta, it was Atlanta's second tallest building (only surpassed by the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel) from 1982 to 1987. It has a stair-like design that staggers down to the ground, and is clad in pink granite quarried from Marble Falls, Texas. The tower is on the former site of the Loew's Grand Theatre, where the premiere for the 1939 film Gone with the Wind was held (133 Peachtree St. NE, near intersection of Peachtree and Forsyth streets). The theatre could not be demolished because of its landmark status; it burned down in 1978, clearing the way for the tower. The architectural firm that designed it was Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. The general contractor who constructed the project was a joint venture of J.A. Jones Construction Company's Atlanta office and the H.J. Russell Company, also of Atlanta. The tower is the world headquarters of Georgia-Pacific. Other tenants include consulting firm McKinsey & Company and the downtown branch of the High Museum of Art, which opened in 1986.On March 14, 2008, the tower sustained minor damage when a tornado tore through downtown Atlanta. A number of windows were blown out. It was the first tornado to hit the downtown area since weather record keeping began in the 1880s.The Consulate-General of the United Kingdom is located in the building. The building served as a filming location for the 1985 action film Invasion U.S.A. starring Chuck Norris and Richard Lynch, in which it served as the setting for the final battle between the U.S. Army and the army of international terrorists.