
Survivors of the deadliest nightclub fire in US history gathered on Saturday with families of the victims killed in the decades-old Boston blaze to share their stories of how they escaped the horror of the blaze.

Tuesday will mark the 75th anniversary of the November 28, 1942, fire at the former Cocoanut Grove club that claimed the lives of 492 people. An estimated 1,000 people were in the building at the time.

Two survivors, Joyce S. Mekelburg, 93, of Brockton, and Marshall Cole, 92, who escaped the blaze joined former Boston Mayor Raymond Flynn and others at the Revere Hotel on Saturday afternoon.

Mekelburg and Cole are two of eight living survivors from the tragedy.

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Two survivors, Joyce S. Mekelburg (left), 93, of Brockton, and Marshall Cole (right), 92, who escaped the blaze joined former Boston Mayor Raymond Flynn and others at the Revere Hotel on Saturday afternoon

Tuesday will mark the 75th anniversary of the November 28, 1942, fire at the former Cocoanut Grove club that claimed the lives of 492 people

Two people, Joyce S. Mekelburg, 93, of Brockton, and Cole, 92, who escaped the blaze joined former Boston Mayor Raymond Flynn and others at the Revere Hotel on Saturday afternoon ahead of the anniversary. Pictured is the interior of the club after the bodies were removed

Dead, dying and injured lie in street outside Cocoanut Grove while civilians and doctors administer aid. This tragic scene was the aftermath of the fire

This photo shows a guest being carried to a waiting ambulance by one of the many civilians who helped police and firemen on that tragic night

Mekelburg, then 18, went to the nightspot with her fiance, Justin Morgan, according to the Boston Globe. She said a man lit a match to change a light bulb before flames broke out.

Morgan told her to leave and promised to meet her outside, she said, but he didn't make it.

'Everybody around me was screaming and crawling,' she said. 'Nobody knew where to go or how to go and everybody was crawling in a different direction.'

Cole, who was a tap dancer at the club, told the Globe that he was waiting for his second performance of the night when the fire broke out.

'The place was just mobbed. It was standing-room only,' he said, adding that because of the crowd he waited in his dressing room.

'And that saved my life because I would have been in the Melody Lounge.'

A documentary about the fire, 'Six Locked Doors,' premiered at the Saturday afternoon event on Stuart Street, where the nightclub was located.

The film features accounts from the survivors. The fire at what had been one of Boston's foremost nightspots led to new requirements for sprinkler systems and exits.

Cole also shared his story during a street sign unveiling in 2013. The street was named after the Cocoanut Grove nightclub

A documentary about the fire, 'Six Locked Doors,' premiered at the Saturday afternoon event on Stuart Street, where the nightclub was located. Two men are pictured carrying a victim out of the nightclub to safety

This photo was taken within half an hour before the tragic Cocoanut Grove fire by a photographer who escaped being a probable fire victim by going out to develop the films a few minutes before the disaster. Mickey Alpert (center) was master of ceremonies. He fled the club uninjured and the other three soldiers in this photo left before the fire started

This photo of the Melody Lounge bar in the Cocoanut Grove night club, was taken after it opened, before roaring flames swept throught the club

Barnett Welansky, the Cocoanut Grove's owner, had apparently hired unlicensed electricians to install electrical fixtures, according to the Globe.

The cause of the fire has never been officially determined, but faulty wiring was one of the many suspected causes of the fire.

Welansky was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, but was later pardoned by Mayor Maurice J. Tobin, who had become governor.

A 16-year-old busboy by the name of Stanley Tomaszewski was blamed by many for starting the blaze.

While the teen was trying to replace a bulb inside the club, he lit a match so he could see. He then extinguished the match by stepping on it. A short time later, flames were seen in the area.

Barnett Welansky, the Cocoanut Grove's (pictured after the fire) owner, had apparently hired unlicensed electricians to install electrical fixtures, according to the Globe

Welansky was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, but was later pardoned by Mayor Maurice J. Tobin, who had become governor. A 16-year-old busboy by the name of Stanley Tomaszewski was blamed by many for starting the blaze. Two unknown victims are following the tragedy

While the teen was trying to replace a bulb inside the club, he lit a match so he could see. He then extinguished the match by stepping on it. Not long after, flames were seen in the area. Victims are seen being helped outside the club

High heels and sheets of music were among the debris found on the sidewalk after the fire

United States Army Signal Corps took this photo on November 30, 1942, of the main dance floor. In 2012, The National Fire Protection Association released the stories of survivors, Marshall Cole, Ann Gallagher and Dr Saul Davis, on the 70th anniversary of the fire. Gallagher said she was on the dance floor with her boyfriend, Fred, when the fire broke out

Clouds of smoke are seen on Shawmut Street side of the club. Davis, who was interviewed for the video in 2007, said he was a 21-year-old intern at Brockton Hospital when the tragedy occurred. He was visiting the club with his wife and friends when they 'heard a lot of commotion and people running'

In 2012, The National Fire Protection Association released the stories of survivors, Marshall Cole, Ann Gallagher and Dr Saul Davis, on the 70th anniversary.

Davis, who was interviewed for the video in 2007, said he was a 21-year-old intern at Brockton Hospital when the tragedy occurred.

He said he was visiting the club with his wife and friends. They were all inside the Terrace area of the club and had just about finished their meals when they 'heard a lot of commotion'.

'People running up the stairs and away from the lounge entrance toward the front door. But by that time the lights went off and then a cloud of dense smoke invaded from that front area right through the whole of the ballroom.

'All we could hear was tables being turned over, dishes being broken, people yelling and it was total panic,' Davis said.

Davis died at the age of 89 in 2008, a year after his interview.

Gallagher, who was a cheerleader, said during the interview at the time that she was 16 years old and had gone to the club with her boyfriend Fred Sharby Jr and their families.

Sharby was a Keene High School football star who perished in the fire. The two families had just attended the football game between Boston College and Holy Cross.

Gallagher, who was a cheerleader, said she was 16 years old and had gone to the club with her boyfriend Fred Sharby Jr and their families. Sharby was a Keene High School football star who perished in the fire. The two families had just attended the football game between Boston College and Holy Cross. Pictured is in the inside of the nightclub

The United States Army Signal Corps took this photo of the New Broadway Lounge on November 30, 1942, two days after the fire

Cole was in his dressing room at the time of the fire. He said he was gathering his things and contemplating how to get out of the club when 'all of a sudden this guy came charging through the door like a mad man'. Cole said he dropped everything and followed the guy out the window and to onto the rooftop (pictured) in order to escape

Red Cross rushed more than 370 units of plasma from Washington to Boston hospitals to replace supplies in the devastated area

Caskets are pictured days after the fire being prepared for the victims of the fire. The cause of the fire has never been officially determined, but faulty wiring was one of the many suspected causes of the fire

Gallagher and Fred were dancing when the fire broke out and Fred, his mother and Gallagher were able to make it outside.

'When we saw the fire. The last thing I know Fred said to me, "get down on your hands and knees and cover your face" and the next thing I knew I was in Mass General and he was gone,' Gallagher recalled.

The football star made the heroic decision that night to go back in for his father and Ann's parents. Tragically, Fred, his father, and Ann's parents, perished in the blaze.

Gallagher died earlier this year in May at the age of 90.

Cole, one of the last living survivors, was in his dressing room at the time of the fire. He said he was gathering his things and contemplating how to get out of the club when 'all of a sudden this guy came charging through the door like a mad man'.

'He's running through the dressing room and I've got all my stuff in my hands and he goes through this glass window.'

Cole said he dropped everything and followed the guy out the window in order to escape. He said some of the chorus girls and dozens of other people soon came behind him and the guy through the window.

He said while they were on the roof of the building, someone found a ladder and he and a few others helped the chorus girls down to safety.

A short time later, the fire department arrived and helped all of the survivors from the rooftop.

The building was a former complex of garages and warehouses. It had been converted to dining rooms, bars, and lounges with fake palm trees, rattan and bamboo trim, leatherette sofas and blue satin canopies suspended from the ceilings.

The flimsy, flammable decorations disguised side exits. Other exits were bolted shut to prevent patrons from beating their checks.

The Boston Fire Department authorized the club’s seating capacity at 460. That night at least 1,000 people had flocked to Cocoanut Grove.

The building was a former complex of garages and warehouses. It had been converted to dining rooms, bars, and lounges with fake palm trees, rattan and bamboo trim, leatherette sofas and blue satin canopies suspended from the ceilings

The flimsy, flammable decorations disguised side exits. Other exits were bolted shut to prevent patrons from beating their checks