Two Indianapolis firefighters and an elderly male
guest died in an early morning fire in the Indianapolis
Athletic Club. This fire received widespread media
coverage since it occurred while the building housed
the jury hearing testimony in heavyweight boxer Michael
G. Tyson’s rape trial. The true significance
of this incident is not the involvement of the Tyson
jury - their presence was merely coincidental -but
why it turned so tragic. The fire originated in the
third floor bar due to an electrical malfunction in
or near a refrigerator. A detailed chronology of the
incident and the plan of the floor of origin are presented
in Appendices A and B. Indianapolis fire communications
received a 911 call at 12:06 a.m., February 5,1992
reporting an odor of smoke in the lobby of the Indianapolis
Athletic Club, a nine-story mixed use building. Within
two minutes a first alarm assignment of four engine
companies, two truck companies, and two chief officers
was dispatched to the incident. A little more than
a minute and a half later, the first company arrived
on the scene and reported “nothing showing.”
What looked routine upon arrival would become tragic
less than 20 minutes later when fire erupted from
a concealed space on the third floor, resulting in
a flash fire which claimed the lives of Corporal Ellwood
Gelenius and Private John Lorenzano
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