stations in Brooklyn during the late 1940s and 1950s. In the 1960s the hotel fell into financial difficulties and was sold several times, usually with difficulty and under the threat of foreclosure. Its occupancy rates continued to dwindle and, by 1975, only about one-third of its 2,000 rooms were occupied, some sections or whole floors were unused and in poor repair, and the hotel employed only 40 full-time staff. Facing financial ruin, the owners of the hotel had contracted in 1992 with New York City to house the elderly, Russian emigres, Red Cross disaster victims and the homeless that had H.I.V. or AIDs; leaving only 371 of the original 2,632 rooms occupied. This lasted up until the devastating 1995 fire. 1995 fire Because of the hotels’ landmark status, the exterior of the buildings could not be changed. The interior however, did not need to follow those same rules. Many of the once independent structures had become connected on some or all of the floors- such as in the case of the Marquee and Clark buildings- which later caused much confusion to firefighters and Fire Command. The building complex at the time of the fire consisted of the following attached structures. The Clark Building: 10 stories; measured wide by deep The Grill Building: 10 stories; Tower Building: 30 stories; Crosshall Building: 6 stories; Pineapple Building: 8 stories; Original St. George Hotel Building: 8 to 12 stories tall; Weller Building: 4 stories; Marquee Building: 12 stories, New York City Subway; located underneath the St. George Hotel with direct access from the lobby to the station Covered courtyard; 1 story, unknown dimensions At 3:00 a.m. on August 26, 1995, many occupants called down to the front desk to report a smell of smoke. The phones in the hotel did not have the capability to call outside the hotel itself. The staff at the front desk noted that the alarm system for the building was not indicating a problem so they did not notify the fire department. At 3:31 a.m. the FDNY Brooklyn communications Center received a call reporting smoke in the area of the St. George hotel by Henry Street. A first alarm response consisting of three engines, two trucks and a battalion chief were on scene by 3:36 a.m. (E-224, E-226, E-207, L-110, L-118) Upon entering, they were told there was no problem in the hotel and that the fire alarm panel