On St Patrick's Day 1899, while people were gathered below to watch the parade, a fire destroyed the hotel within 90 minutes.

[4] Supposedly the fire started when someone threw an unextinguished match out of a second-floor window and the wind blew it against the lace curtains.

[5][6] Dora Duncan, leading a dance class in the hotel at the time, managed to get her students, including her daughter, Isadora, to safety.

[6] Firemen, some of them still in their dress uniforms from the parade,[5][7] made heroic rescues, but they were hampered by the crowds; the fire moved too fast for them to reach every window with ladders, and water pressure was inadequate.

[9] The operator of the hotel, Warren F. Leland, was unable to identify his 20-year-old daughter, Helen, who had jumped from the 6th floor.