12022-09-26T19:40:04-07:00Fire (Ralphs market at 3rd and LaCienega) Beverly Hills, 19514plain2022-12-02T10:52:23-08:00 This photograph shows a worried crowd of around 11,000 people standing around the scene of a burning Ralphs market at 8575 W. 3rd Street in Beverly Hills, California. The Ralphs Market Fire started on April 29, 1951 at 2pm, when witnesses saw a cloud of smoke coming from a storage room in the corner of the store. The initial cloud of smoke quickly grew thicker. Only two minutes later, the store’s 300 foot-long ceiling was covered in flames. All 300 customers had time to evacuate safely because the fire was identified in its early stages. However, only 65 of the 70 employees were able to leave the store. Five of them stayed inside, trying to fight the fire with a hose. As they were fighting it, the fire suddenly grew larger. Three of the five employees got away in time, but the assistant manager, Eldon Hedding, and a clerk Walker Sohn were engulfed by the flames and unfortunately burned to death. Firefighters, policemen, and investigators all arrived far too late, for traffic had jammed up multiple blocks around the scene. Their delayed arrival prevented them from doing their jobs. The cause of the of the fire is still unknown.
