Our Lady of Angels: Tragedy in Chicago

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December 1st, 1958 tragedy comes to Chicago, the catholic school Our Lady of Angels is a blase a fire has started in the basement of the north wing of the school at the bottom of the stairwell and is roaring through the north wing in a matter of minuets despite the best efforts of the Chicago fire department the north wing is nearly a total loss resulting in the death of 90 people died in the blaze and 5 more were critically injured resulting in deaths. Through my research I have sought to find the role that the construction of the building has played in the precipitation of this tragedy.
The Our Lady of Angels school house was a type 3 construction. The school was divided into two wings the north and south wings. The fire started in the basement of the north wing near the boiler room and burned undiscovered in a stairwell until the heat of the fire became too great and broke a window adjacent to the staircase under demolition by fire and caused an influx of new oxygen to fuel the flames. Some important things to note about the construction of the school are: One, that all major exits and the stairwells were made of combustible materials. Two, that there was only one fire exit located at the end of the hall on the second floor in an unprotected corridor Near the stairwell close to the source of the fire. Lastly, there was no fire protection, there were no sprinklers or fire pull stations located in the north wing and all of the 5 extinguishers that were present were located seven feet off of the ground which made access to them incredibly difficult even for adults.
The fire started at approx. 1415 hours and burns slowly for the first few minuets carrying heat and smoke up the unprotected stairwell and into a hole leading t...

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...ome of the tragedy, sweeping changes in school fire safety regulations were enacted nationwide, no doubt saving countless lives in subsequent years. But for the innocent victims of the Our Lady of the Angels, it was too late.”

Works Cited

"On December 1, 1958 a Fire Broke out in a Catholic Elementary School in Chicago, Illinois." Our Lady of the Angels School Fire December 1 1958 Chicago Illinois. 2004. Web. Apr. 2014.
"Our Lady of the Angels School Fire - Reprint from NFPA Quarterly, 1959." Our Lady of the Angels School Fire - Reprint from NFPA Quarterly, 1959. NFPA, 1959. Web. Apr. 2014.
"Our Lady of the Angels School Fire." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Apr. 2014. Web. Apr. 2014.
"Tragedy at Our Lady of the Angels School." Our Lady of the Angels Fire Kills 92 Children and 3 Catholic School Nuns 50 Years Ago in 1958. Chicago Tribune. Web. Apr. 2014.

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