Fire at the Cunard Steamship Line Pier (#54) at the foot of West 13th Street; May 6, 1932.

The fire, which likely began in the pier's boiler room, caused an estimated $2 million in damage. The sole fatality, in a touch of dark irony, was Lt. Col. Ralph A. Kluge, the architect and engineer who had designed the purportedly fireproof pier. Kluge, who had come to view the fire, was struck in the back of head and killed when a fire hose came uncoupled from its hydrant.