One of the people burned in a horrific fire that raced through a Knights of Columbus building in St. John's decades ago, killing 99 and injuring hundreds of others, still recalls many of the details of that night.

Mary Thistle took part in a solemn vigil on the weekend that remembered the people, many of them soldiers, who died on Dec. 12, 1942.

Thistle and hundreds of others were attending a Saturday night dance at the Knights of Columbus Hostel located on Harvey Road in the downtown area of St. John's, when fire broke out.

Thistle, who was 19 at the time, said she was enjoying the band Uncle Tim's Barn Dance when chaos erupted.

"Chairs went, and people were yelling and screaming, trying to get out," she said.

Thistle doesn't remember getting out of the building. She believes some of the men who were at the dance tossed her out a window.

She said she woke up a short time later on the ground, a short distance from the burning building, her arms, legs and face badly burned.

Thistle spent a year in hospital recovering from the injuries and reconstructive surgery.

"I was one of the lucky ones. The doctor told me that he could do a lot of work for me, to me. If I would go along with him and listen to him," she said.

In 1991, the Knights of Columbus organization built a memorial to the people who died in the fire.

Howard Dyer, the chair of the vigil committee, said since then annual memorial ceremonies have been held at the site.

"People were saying, after that, 'We will have it again next year,' because it is nice to remember the people who were lost — a number of who were armed forces fighting for our country — and there was a fair number of civilians."

Investigators concluded the fire had been deliberately set, but it was not known who was responsible.