Located at 176 Peachtree Street in Atlanta, Georgia, the Winecoff Hotel was advertised as "absolutely fireproof".

While the hotel's steel structure was indeed protected against the effects of fire, its interior finishes were combustible and the building's exit arrangements consisted of a single stairway serving all fifteen floors.

Corridors on guest floors were arranged in an H-shape, with two elevators and the upward flights of stairs opening into the cross halls, and opposing downward runs of stairs converging on a single landing from the legs of the H. The single stairway, of non-combustible construction, was not enclosed with fire-resistant doors.

[2] Interior partitions, including the walls between corridors and guest rooms, were hollow clay tile covered with plaster.

[3] The hotel had a central fire alarm system, manually operated from the front desk, and a standpipe with hose racks at each floor.

[4] The Winecoff Hotel was within two blocks of two Atlanta Fire Rescue Department engine and two ladder companies, one of which was within thirty seconds of the building.

[9] Open transoms between the rooms and the corridors admitted fresh air for combustion, eventually creating a flue-like effect with the fire climbing to all but the two top floors.

Once established in the corridors, the fire fed on the burlap wallcoverings and ignited room doors and transoms.

The fire investigation revealed that an open transom was closely associated with the ignition of a given guest room and its contents.

Others misjudged the ten-foot-wide alley between the rear of the Winecoff and the Mortgage Guaranty Building and attempted to jump across.

[12] Thirty-two deaths were among those who jumped, or who fell while trying to descend ropes made of sheets tied together to reach the ground or too short fire ladders.

[18] The students had mostly been placed two to a room at the back of the hotel next to the alley, where many of the windows had been covered by louvered shutters for privacy.

[21] Among the casualties were:[citation needed] Arnold Hardy, a 24-year-old Georgia Tech graduate student, won the 1947 Pulitzer Prize for Photography, capturing the fall of Daisy McCumber[22] from the building with his last flashbulb.

[23] Atlanta Journal photographer Jack Young, suffering from pleurisy, checked into Grady Memorial Hospital at 3:30 a.m. on December 7.

[29]Fireproof construction was a term primarily originating with the insurance industry, which was chiefly concerned with property loss claims.

A "fireproof building" could withstand a severe fire and be returned to service once its interior finishes were replaced, without total loss due to collapse or damage to adjoining structures.

The Winecoff was cited as a notable example in which multiple flashovers served to propagate the fire at each successive level.