1973 Miami Beach firebombing

Attack in Miami, Florida January 2026 February 2025 1973 Miami Beach firebombing Miami Beach, Florida, U.S. 1973 2 2 Firebombing, arson 3 139 Charles Reardon On February 2, 1973, a man walked into the crowded Concord Cafeteria in Miami Beach, Florida, poured gasoline out of a large jar, lit a match, ignited the gasoline, and ran out of the cafeteria. Three people were killed and 139 were injured, including many people who were severely burned. Location The Concord Cafeteria was located at 1921 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach. It was founded in 1947 by Morris Himelstein, who also owned and operated six Concord Cafeterias in New York City. It had 250 seats and served inexpensive, home style food to about 3000 diners a day, many of them retirees. It functioned as an informal social center as well as a restaurant.Archives The day this beloved South Beach restaurant was firebombed in a deadly attack Miami Herald January 28, 2019 https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-beach/article225177600.html July 4, 2021 The attack On the night of February 2, 1973, a man walked into the cafeteria which was crowded with diners, poured gasoline out a jar, ignited it with a match, and ran out of the restaurant. Intense flames spread very rapidly. People attempted to escape but were obstructed by the turnstiles used to control access to the restaurant. Explosive Is Set Off In Cafeteria, Injures 90 in Miami Beach The New York Times February 3, 1973 https://www.nytimes.com/1973/02/03/archives/explosive-is-set-off-in-cafeteria-injures-90-in-miami-beach.html July 4, 2021 A witness who was a worker at an adjoining restaurant said that he had "rushed out into the street and scores of old people were lying on the sidewalks and in the road moaning and screaming in lots of pain." Another witness said that he saw the interior of the restaurant in flames and "all the glass was broken and the front was gone." Victims were taken to four different hospitals suffering from burns and smoke inhalation, and fourteen people were in critical condition two days later. Floridian Charged With Setting Blaze That Injured 139 The New York Times February 4, 1973 https://www.nytimes.com/1973/02/04/archives/floridian-charged-with-setting-blaze-that-injured-139.html July 4, 2021 Three people died. The aftermath Twenty-two minutes after the fire began, 49-year-old Charles Reardon of Bal Harbour, Florida, walked into a police station, and said, "I've done something terrible. I've made a lot of people scream." After being questioned for 12 hours, Reardon was charged with arson and use of a destructive device. He was never prosecuted because he was found incompetent to be tried due to mental illness. After several months of renovations, the Concord Cafeteria reopened. It was the last cafeteria in Miami Beach when it closed ten years later, in June, 1983. Many lawsuits against the cafeteria were filed by victims, which were consolidated into a case called Concord Florida, Inc. v. Lewin. The trial court found the restaurant liable in 1975 and a district appeals court agreed in 1977, ruling that by "failing to adequately protect its patrons from fire by providing proper safety measures such as emergency exits and signs indicating the location of said exits, appellant-Concord assumed the foreseeable risk that fire might someday trap its patrons leaving them without an escape route."https://casetext.com/case/concord-florida-inc-v-lewin https://web.archive.org/web/20210709190652/https://casetext.com/case/concord-florida-inc-v-lewin dead July 9, 2021 Concord Florida, Inc. v. Lewin: District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District January 17, 1977 Casetext: Smarter Legal Research July 4, 2021 References 25.7952 -80.1291 title Category:Arson in Florida Category:Arson in 1973 Category:Attacks on restaurants in the United States Category:History of Miami Beach, Florida Category:1973 fires in the United States Category:1973 building bombings Category:Restaurant fires Category:February 1973 in the United States Category:1973 in Florida Category:1973 murders in the United States Category:1973 mass murders Category:1970s mass murders in the United States Category:Building bombings in Florida Category:Mass murders in Florida Category:Restaurant bombings