‘They told people to jump’: Remembering Effingham’s devastating hospital fire, 75 years on

EFFINGHAM, Ill. (WCIA) — 75 years ago, a historic moment changed lives and firefighting as we know it in Our Town Effingham.

A massive fire spread throughout HSHS St. Anthony’s. Now, the victims are forever being honored on hospital grounds.

“The call had come in around 11-11:30 that night,” said Nick Althoff, former fire chief and president of the Retired Volunteer Firefighters Association.

Fire and flames engulfed the hospital, killing 77 people.

“They did determine it originated in the basement and first went up through the laundry chute,” explained Vice President of the Volunteer Firefighters Association Jim Wolters.

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27 departments responded that night.

“They couldn’t get to everybody. They told people to jump,” Althoff said. “Something like that… I can’t imagine what those guys went through that night.”

Althoff and Wolters know the building’s structure was one reason why it spread and spread.

“Wood. A lot of wood paneling and so forth; heavy varnish over the years; open stairways; open hallways,” Wolters described.

Engineers and firefighters learned a lot from this tragedy. It’s why there are many new building codes today.

“The biggest thing is the sprinkler system in the building, and then also they enclosed the stairwells,” Althoff said. “They put fire doors on the stairwells. Over the years, I think it’s saved a lot of lives.”

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But even with updates and changes, many will never forget that night.

“My mother-in-law was in the fire,” Wolters said. “She had a baby that day. All the babies were lost.”

She saw the flames down the hallway and crews told her to jump.

“Some of the staff had put mattresses on the ground for them to jump on,” Wolters continued.

Now, there’s a way to make sure those who died in the flames will never be forgotten.

“[It’s] for all the people that worked in the hospital; for the people who responded that night,” Althoff said.

A memorial now stands tall just outside the hospital.

“I think it was a healing thing for the community,” Althoff said.

But for those who were on the ground that night, it will always be an emotional thing to talk about.

“When we got on, there were still two or three or four firefighters who had fought that fire,” Wolters said. “They wouldn’t talk about it. You’d bring the subject up, they’d walk away.”

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Now, 75 years later, the memories still live on.

“It means a lot to us, and obviously it means a lot to the citizens of Effingham and Effingham County,” Wolters said.

The statue stands near the hospital’s healing garden by the Prairie Heart Institute off of Maple Street.

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