On 17 September 1989, a fire was deliberately lit at a hotel in Sydney’s Kings Cross, just before dawn in the entry foyer. Its location prevented residents from escaping and enabled it to spread quickly up the stairwell. Six people died from smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning, and another 18 were hospitalised. Approximately 50 people were rescued by firefighters or escaped uninjured by jumping from windows.
Fire - Urban - Kings Cross
Quick Statistics
6
Fatalities
18
Injured
1
Businesses Destroyed
Information Sources
Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Boarding houses and government supply side intervention, March 2004, p 13, website viewed 19 October 2011
Ministry for Police & Emergency Services, 1989 September 17 Kings Cross fire, 18 September 2007, website viewed 19 October 2011
Petherick W, Serial crime: Theoretical and practical issues in behavioural profiling. 2nd edn. San Diego, California: Elsevier Academic press, 2009
Parliament of New South Wales, Hansard Legislative Assembly: Fire safety regulations, 19 September 1989, p 10110, website viewed 19 October 2011
The Sun Herald, ‘Backpack hostel war’, 21 March 1993, website viewed 19 October 2011