Corpse in the squalor of skid row fire PHOTO NEG.

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Corpse in the squalor of skid row fire PHOTO NEG. A NEW ANNOUNCEMENT FROM EDMPHOTOS: We are now including a signed letter of authenticity with each item won. This will help you as a buyer/collector establish and maintain provenance for this item. Does the negative look bright or dark to you? Please be sure to read our FAQs and take note of the "before and after" examples. This is an original large-format (4"x5") acetate negative of a victim inside the ruins of the skid row Comfort Hotel that was destroyed by fire on May 6, 1955 in Chicago. Firemen were able to save 25 residents by guiding them through the smoke. Several more occupants were brought down by fire department ladders by firefighters who were veterans of previous skid row fires and were accustomed to the sight of raggedy derelicts hanging from hotel windows and screaming for help. In some instances, the firefighters had to fight with numerous drunken residents who either panicked or turned belligerent and tried running back inside the burning building. Rescuers had no choice but to drag them to ladders or to the rear fire escape and force them down. Because of the safety hazard and rescue work involved, the fire was elevated to three alarms. But even though the fire was put out in 47 minutes, the flames and smoke had killed ten residents and sent 20 more to hospitals read more