Federal Transient Bureau Fire

The deadliest fire in Lynchburg history occurred here at a Federal Transient Bureau shelter on 24 March 1934. The Bureau, opened by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration as part of the New Deal, housed out-of-work men passing through town during the Great Depression. The two-story building was overcrowded when an early morning kitchen fire spread rapidly and claimed the lives of at least 19 inhabitants; about 70 others were injured. The federal government returned many bodies to their families, but seven were buried locally in the Old City Cemetery. National attention was focused on Lynchburg, and federal guidelines for homeless shelters were improved as a result of this disaster.