LaSalle Hotel Fire in Chicago Killed 61 in 1946
On June 5, 1946, a significant fire occurred at the LaSalle Hotel in Chicago, leading to 61 deaths and hundreds of injuries. Among the casualties were four officials from Quincy, Illinois—the mayor, an alderman, the public engineer, and the housing…
Quincy Hannibal Keokuk, IL, October 23, 2026 —
A fire at Chicago’s LaSalle Hotel on June 5, 1946, killed 61 people and injured hundreds, according to the available account of the event. The blaze spread rapidly through the hotel, which was found to lack essential firefighting equipment. It became known as Chicago’s worst hotel fire at the time.
Among those caught up in the fire were four officials from Quincy, Illinois: the city’s mayor, an alderman, the public engineer and the housing authority manager. They were in Chicago for housing-related meetings. Their names and the specific circumstances of their fates were not provided in the account.
The reported details establish the scale of the disaster and note the hotel’s lack of essential firefighting equipment. However, they do not specify what equipment was missing, how the fire began, or the sequence of events as it spread. The available information also does not describe the emergency response or any subsequent investigation or measures.
The account identifies the incident as the city’s worst hotel fire at the time, but provides no further comparison or details about how that distinction was determined. The information provided does not include the number of people staying at the hotel, the precise number of injuries, or the names of the four Quincy officials.
The LaSalle Hotel fire’s reported toll—61 deaths and hundreds of injuries—makes it a major Chicago disaster in the account. Further details about the fire’s cause, response and aftermath were not provided.
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