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Table of contents
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Table of contents

0:00
Intro
0:36
Background
2:26
The Pioneer Hotel Fire
6:26
The Aftermath
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00:00:07
[Music]
00:00:11
on the 20th of december 1970 hundreds of
00:00:14
people were attending a christmas party
00:00:16
at the pioneer hotel in tucson arizona
00:00:19
while guests dined and danced residents
00:00:22
slept peacefully in the rooms above
00:00:24
until just after midnight when a fire
00:00:27
began on the fourth floor of the hotel a
00:00:30
fire that would go on to become the
00:00:33
deadliest in arizona's history
00:00:36
built in 1929 the pioneer hotel was one
00:00:40
of tucson's first high-rise buildings
00:00:43
upon its opening the hotel's promotional
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material claimed that the hotel was
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absolutely fireproof it was equipped
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with stand pipe connections on each
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floor of the hotel two external fire
00:00:54
escapes and a smoke tower which was
00:00:56
designed to provide firefighters easy
00:00:58
access to the upper floors in the event
00:01:01
of a fire
00:01:03
while these fire safety measures were
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commendable for the time when the hotel
00:01:06
was built the building would not be
00:01:08
considered fireproof by modern standards
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there was for example no sprinkler
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system no centralized alarm and an
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abundance of flammable materials such as
00:01:18
wood and fabric used in the finish of
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the hotel
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this finish which included a great deal
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of plush carpet and wooden furniture was
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only fitting for a hotel as glamorous as
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the pioneer it was built by businessman
00:01:31
albert steinfeld and his son harold
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steinfeld who later took over sole
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ownership of the hotel after his
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father's death in 1935
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even after selling the hotel in 1963
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harold and his wife continued to live
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permanently in its penthouse
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as well as being a popular place to stay
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the hotel was also known for its lively
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banquets dances and conventions it was
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the obvious choice for tourists visiting
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the city as well as for locals looking
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to organize a high-profile event
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visiting celebrities often stayed at the
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pioneer and it was a particular favorite
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of well-to-do families from the mexican
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state of sonora for whom it was more or
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less tradition to stay at the pioneer
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when visiting tucson
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the hotel was indeed such a part of the
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fabric of the town that it was commonly
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said that if you grew up in tucson you
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grew up at the pioneer hotel
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on the night of the 20th of december
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1970 the hotel was host to more than 700
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guests in addition to those staying on a
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temporary or permanent basis in the
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hotel's many rooms there was also a
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large event taking place that night
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hughes aircraft now known as raytheon
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was holding its annual christmas party
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in the hotel's ballroom with around 350
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people in attendance
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just after midnight the fire started in
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two different places on the fourth floor
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of the hotel it had plenty of fuel at
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its disposal including flammable
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carpeting wooden furniture wallpaper and
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christmas decorations
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feeding on this abundant material it
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quickly spread from the fourth floor all
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the way up to the eleventh aided by open
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stairwells that acted like chimneys
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guests at the hughes aircraft party as
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well as those who were resident on the
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lower floors flooded from the hotel
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through any available exit some staff
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lingered to try and extinguish the
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flames before quickly realizing that the
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blaze was out of control within just
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minutes the fire was firmly established
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hundreds of guests were trapped on the
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upper floors of the building separated
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from safety by a solid barrier of smoke
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and flames
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at 12 19 a.m the city's emergency
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dispatchers received three separate
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calls reporting a fire at the pioneer
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hotel many firefighters initially
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assumed that these were simply a bout of
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prank calls and only realized that the
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situation was real when they saw an
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orange glow on the city's skyline within
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minutes three fire engines and two
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ladder trucks were on scene upon arrival
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they immediately called for all
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available backup another eight engines
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and over 200 firemen flocked to the
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hotel to help
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the available ladders were approximately
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30 meters or 100 feet long meaning that
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they could only access the first eight
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stories of the 11 story building guests
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who were trapped on those three
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inaccessible floors were left in a dire
00:04:28
situation
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some attempted to escape by knotting
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together bed sheets and clambering down
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the outside of the building until they
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were low enough to be rescued by ladder
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a desperate tactic that nonetheless did
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allow at least some guests to escape
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with their lives
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six guests were able to shimmy down a
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copper pipe on the side of the building
00:04:49
until they were low enough to be rescued
00:04:51
by ladder others were not so fortunate
00:04:53
there are reports of guests jumping from
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their windows
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in some cases they threw out mattresses
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first in an attempt to soften their
00:05:01
landing in other cases it is possible
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that they knew they would not survive
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but had no other way to escape the
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all-consuming flames after rescuing many
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people from the exterior of the building
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firefighters pumped water through the
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7th and 8th floor windows then entered
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the building and began to battle the
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fire from inside it was a complicated
00:05:22
operation
00:05:23
made more so by the fact that the hotel
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did not have signs in the stairwells
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indicating which floor was which
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firefighters were often uncertain
00:05:32
exactly where they were in the building
00:05:34
at any given time
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furthermore there were only a small
00:05:38
number of radios available with
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firefighters spread throughout the
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building communication became difficult
00:05:45
to help answer the constant calls for
00:05:47
more resources caches of firefighting
00:05:49
and rescue equipment were established
00:05:51
within the burning building
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the fire was eventually brought under
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control by 1 16 am
00:05:58
less than an hour after emergency
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services had arrived on scene a
00:06:02
systematic search of the building ensued
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during which it was established that 28
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people had perished in the fire the
00:06:08
one-time owner of the building harold
00:06:10
steinfeld and his wife were included in
00:06:13
this number
00:06:14
one further person would die later in
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hospital bringing the total death toll
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to 29 the single biggest loss of life in
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a building fire in the entire history of
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tucson
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an investigation followed and it was
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quickly established that the fire had
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been started simultaneously in two
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separate locations on the fourth floor
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leading investigators to conclude that
00:06:37
it had been a deliberate arson
00:06:40
soon after tucson police arrested louis
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taylor a 16 year old of mixed black and
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mexican descent who had been at the
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hotel that night
00:06:49
tucson police accused him of starting
00:06:51
the fire so that he could use the
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diversion to steal possessions from the
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hotel rooms which taylor denied he
00:06:58
admitted that he had instead been
00:06:59
quietly gatecrashing the hughes aircraft
00:07:01
christmas party to try and score some
00:07:03
free drinks when the fire began taylor
00:07:06
had been seen by several people
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assisting with the evacuation and
00:07:10
putting his own life at risk in an
00:07:12
unsuccessful attempt to extinguish the
00:07:14
flames
00:07:16
despite this taylor was convicted of
00:07:18
starting the fire he was ultimately
00:07:19
given 28 life sentences and remained in
00:07:23
prison for decades despite constantly
00:07:25
maintaining his innocence
00:07:27
many people were sympathetic to taylor
00:07:30
noting that some evidence against him
00:07:31
had been admitted unlawfully that the
00:07:34
evidence that the cause of the fire was
00:07:35
arson was flimsy and that the police had
00:07:37
made no efforts to investigate other
00:07:39
suspects once taylor had been arrested
00:07:43
finally in 2012 the arizona justice
00:07:46
project asked the court to dismiss
00:07:47
taylor's case they claimed that it would
00:07:50
not be possible to determine that the
00:07:51
fire was arson using modern forensic
00:07:54
methods and that taylor had been treated
00:07:56
unfairly his arrest had come at a time
00:07:58
when racial and class tension in tucson
00:08:01
were high and this had contributed to
00:08:03
his conviction despite very little
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legally admissible evidence of guilt
00:08:08
finally in 2013 taylor was released
00:08:12
after agreeing to a no contest plea
00:08:15
in the years which followed the fire
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many changes were made to fire safety
00:08:19
regulations in arizona
00:08:21
at the insistence of the tucson fire
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department tucson adopted a standardized
00:08:25
fire code in 1975. the code required all
00:08:29
buildings over a certain height to have
00:08:31
sprinklers and smoke alarms smoke-proof
00:08:33
stairwells panic doors and non-flammable
00:08:36
carpet wallpaper and furniture
00:08:39
these new standards were applied to high
00:08:41
rises across the city including the
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pioneer hotel the fire and smoke damage
00:08:46
were repaired and the entire building
00:08:48
was refurbished for a few more years it
00:08:51
operated as a hotel but with the fire
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still fresh in the minds of local
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residents it was no longer the desirable
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destination it once was
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in 1975 it was sold and converted into
00:09:03
an office building it remains in place
00:09:05
to this day
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the tucson fire department itself also
00:09:09
underwent numerous changes
00:09:11
in the wake of the fire their budget was
00:09:13
significantly increased allowing them to
00:09:16
acquire new equipment and new staff and
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to provide emergency medical training
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for firefighters
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as a direct result of the fire the
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tucson fire department became stronger
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better equipped and more ready to face
00:09:28
disasters that might take place in the
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future
00:09:32
in the words of the tucson fire
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department chief
00:09:35
many of the practices in place today
00:09:37
within the tucson fire department are
00:09:39
directly related to this event
00:09:42
helping make tucson a safer community in
00:09:44
which to live
00:09:45
work and play
00:09:47
for all
00:10:11
you

Description:

"On the 20th of December 1970, hundreds of people were attending a Christmas party at the Pioneer Hotel in Tucson, Arizona..." As always, THANK YOU to all my Patreon patrons: you make this channel possible. https://www.patreon.com/fascinatinghorror TRANSLATIONS: ► This video is also available in German (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsZSBtPlzPY) SOCIAL MEDIA: ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/TrueHorrorTales ► TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fascinatinghorror ► Suggestions: [email protected] CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:36 - Background 02:26 - The Pioneer Hotel Fire 06:26 - The Aftermath MUSIC: ► "Glass Pond" by Public Memory ► "Underworld" by Myuu SOURCES ► "The Pioneer Hotel Fire of 1970" by Jaynie Adams, published by the Arizona Historical Society, December 2020. Link: https://arizonahistoricalsociety.org/2020/12/18/the-pioneer-hotel-fire-of-1970/ ► "The Pioneer Hotel - Tucson’s Most Tragic Fire" by Bob Ring & Al Ring, published by the Tucson Fire Department, October 2015. Link: http://www.tucsonfirefoundation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/The-Pioneer-Hotel-Fire.pdf. ► "Survivors, firefighters remember deadly Pioneer Hotel fire four decades later" by Bud Foster, published by KOLD, December 2019. Link: https://www.kold.com/2019/12/21/survivors-firefighters-remember-deadly-pioneer-hotel-fire-four-decades-later/ ► "Man held 42 years in deadly Tucson Pioneer Hotel Fire to be released" by Kimberely Matas and Kim Smith, published by tucson.com, March 2013. Link: https://tucson.com/news/local/man-held-years-in-deadly-tucson-pioneer-hotel-fire-to/article_984a194e-7c21-53d6-946e-ae1a1a53d303.html. ​​​​​​​

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