Greenwich To Mark 50th Anniversary Of Deadly Fire At Gulliver's

GREENWICH, CT — Greenwich will mark the 50th anniversary of the deadly fire at Gulliver's that claimed the lives of 24 people with a ceremony on Sunday, June 30, at 1 p.m.

"For those of us who lived in Greenwich at the time, this tragedy is something we will always remember," First Selectman Fred Camillo said in his weekly newsletter to the community on Friday.

Camillo said that right now, the plan is to hold the ceremony at the historic Thomas Lyon House on the western side of town near the former site of Gulliver's, the nighclub which straddled the Port Chester, N.Y., border.

The ceremony could be moved to where the club stood, Camillo noted. Police officers will be on hand to direct people where to go.

In the early morning hours of June 30, 1974, a fire broke out at the crowded nightclub as the rock group, Creation, was performing.

Two Greenwich police officers who were investigating a burglary in the area saw smoke and called for help, according to the Connecticut History website.

Three-hundred firefighters from New York and Connecticut, including many from central Greenwich, Sound Beach, Cos Cob and Byram, responded to the scene, but the building was quickly engulfed in flames and smoke.

"The fire at Gulliver’s was the deadliest dance club fire in the United States in more than a generation. Killing 24 people, mostly from smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning, it called attention to the dangers of herding young people into windowless underground rooms without smoke alarms, sprinklers, fire-resistant walls, or limits on occupancy," the CT History website noted.

Peter Leonard, a 22-year-old Greenwich resident, was arrested and accused of setting a fire to the bowling alley adjacent to Gulliver's to conceal his burglary of cigarette machines.

Leonard's convictions were overturned, and he pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 1986. He was released on time served, which was about 12 years, the New York Times reported in a piece on the 25th anniversary of the blaze.

Read more on the fire here.