Providential Deliverance of Colney Hatch Fire Victims

During a massive fire at the London County Lunatic Asylum (Colney Hatch) at New Southgate, 52 female inmates perished. The report notes that they were spared the agony of burning to death, as Providence allowed them to succumb to suffocation instead.

Fuller account of this event (the complete account as preserved in The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 65, No. 5, 29 January 1903, p. 78):

A terrible fire occurred at the London County Lunatic Asylum, at New Southgate, on the 27th inst., by which fifty-two of the female inmates lost their lives. The victims were mostly aged and infirm, and were confined in a wooden structure, which was quickly consumed. It is stated that they were spared the agony of burning to death, as they were suffocated by the smoke before the flames reached them.

The fire began around 5:30 a.m. on January 27, 1903, likely originating in a furnace room or attic due to faulty heating equipment. The affected wing was a temporary structure built in 1896 from Norwegian pine wood, which contributed to the rapid spread of the blaze, exacerbated by strong winds. Nurse Ada Woolford is credited with raising the alarm and attempting rescues during the tragedy, while patients were found to be trapped behind locked doors and barred windows.