The Knickerbocker Theater Disaster
Saturday January 28, 1922, is the second day of heavy snowfall that has at times dropped over a foot an hour onto Washington DC. Depths have reached a record of twenty-six inches at the city weather station as the slow-moving storm begins winding down. That night, a crowd of some 300 patrons gather at Crandall’s Knickerbocker Theater the largest and most modern cinematic theater in the city opened in 1919 at the southwest corner of 18th Street and Columbia Road NW in today’s Adams Morgan section. This three-story, odd-shaped, palatial theater is a popular place for Washingtonians. Unknown to all, is that the roof support beams extend only two inches into the walls not the eight inches as stipulated in the plans. With the flat roof covered in heavy wet snow it has already begun to sag in the middle pulling the support beams away from the walls. This as the theater fills with patrons, ready to watch “Get Rich Quick Wallingford”.
About 9 p.m. near the end of the first intermission a loud hissing sound is followed by the ceiling splitting down the middle. Many are unaware and out of their seats as a few take notice and dive for cover or run for the doorways. Then the entire roof comes down along with portions of a brick wall. This collapses the cement upper balcony that wraps around the building’s interior. Those in forward seats are thrown over the railings as the balcony slams to the ground atop others who become buried in two layers of masonry, brick and roofing materials.
At 9:09 p.m. the Fire Alarm Headquarters of the District of Columbia Fire Department strikes Box 817 sending a full first alarm assignment. Companies respond but are delayed by the snow covered streets. Those still alive awake in darkness covered in plaster and other heavy masonry and steel amidst cries and screams for help. The first arriving fire and police personnel find their way inside using lanterns where they are greeted by a scene of utter destruction. Realizing the magnitude of the situation, a second alarm is struck at 9:22 followed by a fourth then a fifth alarm at 9:43.
Given the number of victims and the complexity of their rescue needs, an array of specialized resources is also requested. This includes all city and military ambulances, each branch of the military, doctors and nurses from Walter Reed Army Hospital and throughout the city, engineers and machinists from the Navy Yard plus wrecking crews from city streetcar companies as well as any available construction contractors. The Fire Department recalls its off-duty shift plus its Superintendent of Machinery, all repair shop mechanics, fire marshals and headquarters personnel.
As this unfolds, an alarm is struck at 11:40 p.m. for nearby at 14th and “U” Streets NW. With a shortage of resources, the Chief Engineer sends two engine companies from the theater with instructions for them to return once that fire is extinguished. By midnight some 200 are on hand at the theater. Rescuers must dig through the various layers first removing plaster and steel from the roof to reach those seated in the balcony. Here large saws are used to cut through heavy wire screen and plaster of the ceiling. Meanwhile nearby residents offer their homes for aid stations as well as provide food and drinks to the less injured and rescuers. Reportedly a small boy is used to squeeze through the tangled debris to give pain medications to trapped victims.
By 2:30 a.m. over 600 are on hand helping in the rescue effort. As the roof portions are removed chisels are applied to break apart the cement balcony with cutting torches used to cut the reinforcing steel in order to reach those at the very bottom. Hardships continue when at 2:45, another alarm comes in farther south at 17th and “H” Streets NW. Again three engine companies are sent from the theater with the same instructions to return to the theater when the fire is out.
Then at 8:15 another alarm comes in for 18th and “T” Streets NW a few blocks south. The Chief Engineer responds personally finding a roof collapse involving several row houses. Fortunately there are no injuries and the companies are quickly released. By that morning January 29, the storm finally ceases. Rescue and recovery at the theater continues into the afternoon with victims and remains carried out along narrow snow lined walkways and sidewalks. The operation is complete with Fire Department companies released finally just after 1 a.m. on Monday January 30th.
In all 98 are dead with 133 injured in what remains one of the worst disasters in our Nations Capital. In the end, the storm remains a record for Washington DC dropping twenty-eight inches of snow thirty-three inches measured to the north in Rock Creek Park. This incident leads the District of Columbia Fire Department to form its first specialized heavy rescue company organizing in January 1925.
