The official investigation failed to yield any convictions. Another 18 suffered injuries, of whom three, including Boggs, died. Twenty-eight people died at the scene of the sixteen-minute fire, and one died en route to the hospital. They arrived to find bar patrons struggling against the security bars and quickly brought the fire under control.
One fire truck tried to maneuver on the sidewalk but crashed into a taxi. įirefighters stationed two blocks away found themselves blocked by cars and pedestrian traffic. Eventually, a friend took them to the airport and sent them home to their mother without telling them what happened to their father and his partner.
WIKIPEDIA FIRE AT GAY BAR NEW ORLEANS MOVIE
Mitchell's children were visiting from out of town and watched the same movie seven times as they waited for their father's return. Both died in the fire, their remains found clinging to each other. MCC assistant pastor George "Mitch" Mitchell managed to escape, but returned in an attempt to rescue his partner (they considered themselves married based on a civil ceremony they had two years previously), Louis Horace Broussard. His charred remains would be visible to onlookers for hours afterward, recorded in many pictures taken of the front of the building in the aftermath of the 16 minute fire.
WIKIPEDIA FIRE AT GAY BAR NEW ORLEANS WINDOWS
Reverend Bill Larson of the MCC removed an air conditioning unit from the bottom of one of the floor to ceiling windows and was attempting to get out when the upper pane of glass fell on top of him, pinning him to the window frame half in the building and half out. The flames on Boggs were extinguished by the owner of a neighbouring bar, but he died on the 10th of July (16-days later), from third degree burns to 50% of his body. Luther Boggs was one who came through the window in flames after pushing his female friend through the gap. Several people managed to squeeze through, some still burning when they reached the ground below. Others saw the floor to ceiling windows as the most promising means of escape despite the fact that there were safety bars on the windows with a 14 inch gap between them to prevent dancers from breaking through the glass. Rasmussen immediately led some twenty patrons out of the back exit to the roof, where the group could access a neighbouring building's roof and climb down to the ground floor. Boggs opened the door to find the front staircase engulfed in flames, along with the smell of lighter fluid.
Īt 7:56PM, a buzzer from downstairs sounded, and bartender Buddy Rasmussen, an Air Force veteran, asked Luther Boggs to answer the door, anticipating a taxi cab driver. After the drink special ended, about 60 to 90 patrons remained they listened to pianist George Steven “Bud” Matyi perform and discussed an upcoming MCC fundraiser for the local Crippled Children's Hospital. That night’s beer bust, from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm, attracted approximately 110 patrons. The MCC was the United States' first national gay Christian fellowship, founded in Los Angeles in 1968 the local congregation had held services in the UpStairs Lounge's theatre for a while.
Members of the Metropolitan Community Church, a pro-LGBT Protestant denomination, were there after service. The club was located on the second floor of a three-story building at the corner of Chartres and Iberville Streets. On Sunday evening, June 24, 1973, over a weekend when Christopher Street “Pride” celebrations took place in seemingly every major American city but New Orleans, the regular "beer bust" drink special attracted its usual blue-collar gay crowd to the UpStairs Lounge.