On July 6, 1944, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus came to Hartford, Connecticut. It was recorded to be a hot, sunny afternoon, and though an accurate temperature for the day wasn’t taken, Hartford tends to average 81 degrees during July (WeatherUnderground, 2014). The circus had travelled the country and had stopped at other New England towns before settling into Hartford. It had even been to Hartford previous years. Everything was set up as usual: the seating arrangement, the performances, the location of the tent; so if this were the case, what happened in Hartford to cause it to be named the largest circus fire in history (Kimball, 1944)? Prior to the fire, Hartford held the title of “best governed city in America” and …show more content…
It measured out to 425x190 feet and spread out over an acre and a half and weighed around 19 tons (Kimball, 1944). It was held up by numerous poles that were roughly a foot in diameter. There was enough seating in the tent to hold 9,000 people, excluding the circus staff. At the time of the fire, the circus had sold enough tickets to indicate there was roughly 7,000 patrons in the tent, plus the number of employees, however, it is unknown how many employees were in the tent at any given time (Kimball, 1944). The tent was waterproofed using 3-4 parts gasoline and 1 part paraffin. Fireproof material wasn’t used because it was exclusively a war material and the only way for the circus to have access to the material was to pay a military tax, which they obviously opted out of. The waterproofing had taken place the previous April, over a year before the fire had occurred (Hartford Circus Fire, 2014). In the center of the tent were three main rings and the seats lined the outer area of the tent. According to the National Fire Protection Association, there were a total of nine exits from the tent (Kimball, 1944). The first exit was on the west end and was measured at 20 feet wide and increasing to 30 feet at the outside. Two more exits were located on the east end at either side of the band stage. These both were 14 feet at the narrowest point and opened up to 19 feet. The north and south side each contained three exits that were 9 …show more content…
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The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire not only affected the city of New York, but also the rest of the country. It forever changed the way our country would look at safety regulations in factories and buildings. The fire proved to America what can and will happen if we over-look safety regulations and over-crowd buildings. Unfortunately, 146 lives are taken before we fully understand this concept.
In West Warwick Rhode Island, on February 20th, 2003, during the performance of the band Great White, a fire broke out that eventually claimed the lives of 100 people and injured an additional 200. The band’s tour manager arranged for, and ignited pyrotechnic props, large fireworks designed to display a shower of sparks. The sparks ignited foam soundproofing near stage. The fire spread quickly. Most were killed either in the crush to exit the building or overcome by fumes while trying to find an exit. The immediate cause was well documented due to witness reports and a videotape that was taken during the concert. In the period that followed the tragedy there were many attempts to fix blame. Following a Grand Jury investigation, several of the parties involved plead guilty to violations of the law and served or are currently sentences in prison.
At the time of the fire the only safety measures available for the workers were 27 buckets of water and a fire escape that would collapse when people tried to use them. Most of the doors were locked and those that were not locked only opened inwards and were effectively held shut by the onrush of workers escaping the fire. As the clothing materials feed the fire workers tried to escape anyway they could. 25 passengers flung themselves down the elevator shaft trying to escape the fire. Their bodies rained blood and coins down onto the employees who made it into the elevator cars. Engine Company 72 and 33 were the first on the scene. To add to the already bleak situation the water streams from their hoses could only reach the 7th floor. Their ladders could only reach between the 6th and 7th floor. 19 bodies were found charred against the locked doors. 25 bodies were found huddled in a cloakroom. These deaths, although horrible, was not what changed the feelings toward government regulation. Upon finding that they could not use the doors to escape and the fire burning at their clothes and hair, the girls of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, aged mostly between 13 and 23 years of age, jumped 9 stories to their death. One after another the girls jumped to their deaths on the concrete over one hundred of feet below. Sometimes the girls jumped three and four at a time. On lookers watched in horror as body after body fell to the earth. "Thud -- dead; thud -- dead; thud -- dead; thud -- dead.
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On the fateful and unforgettable afternoon of June 17, 1972 Hotel Vendome experienced yet another fire. Actually it experienced several fires in different locations on this date. Electricians working on the first floor reported smoke coming from the upper floors, and a bartender reported smoke in the basement. All occupants in the basement café were safely escorted out, and 3 engine companies, 2 ladder companies, and 1 District Chief arrived on scene noticing ...
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Due to the size and age of the building (built before 1976), safety regulations said that the nightclub did not have to have a sprinkler system, and it thus did not have one. The fire originating on the stage quickly filled the club with toxic smoke from the burning polyurethane and other building materials. In the shear moment of panic, the people caused a scene of chaotic proportions: stampeding towards the only exit they knew--the way they got in. Over 400 people all trying to get out one door at the same time caused a massive pileup trapping the majority of people inside. Just prior to the fire department arriving on scene the super heated gases trapped in the building ignited causing what is called a “flashover." Temperatures exceeding 932 to 1112 degrees Fahrenheit inst...
The Chicago fire was a bad time and a good time in Chicago’s past. It destroyed a whole city, but in a way it rebuilt it as well. It led to many good things, it showed that even though you may not like the people you live by or with, when they need help, you should help them no matter what. It also led to industrialization, which helped Chicago become the metropolis it is today. Even though nobody knows who started the Great Chicago fire, whether it was old peg leg Sullivan, two random old men fighting in the barn, a comet falling from the night sky, or Mrs. O’Leary starting it herself for attention, it is still one of the worst, if not the worst disasters in Chicago’s great history. Chicagoans will always remember October 8, 1871, because it is a day that changed Chicago forever.
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This thrilling event happened in New York on the late afternoon of March 25, 1911. The tendentious Max Blank and Isaac Harris owned the top three floors in the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in the Asch Building. Most of the workers were Italian and European Jewish woman immigrants. It was near closing time for the young workers until that calm afternoon quickly turned into a frightening moment for everyone. At this moment people’s lives were flipped upside down forever when the fire broke out on the eighth floor in the Asch Building. To this day, there is no set cause as to why the fire started. All they have is that people heard an explosion that came from the eighth floor followed by bundles of clothes falling from the sky. The people soon noticed that not only were there bundle of clothes falling but those ‘bundles of clothes’ were actually some of the young workers jumping and falling from the window seals. The outburst of the fire was horrible, woman were falling through the ceiling while other taking their lives by jumping out the windows. Female workers found themselves in trouble when they tried to open the ninth floor doors to the Washington Place stairs but the doors appeared to be locked. On the other ...
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Throughout recorded history, fires have been known to cause great loss of life, property, and knowledge. The Great Fire of London was easily one of the worst fires mankind has ever seen causing large scale destruction and terror. Samuel Pepys described the fire as “A most malicious bloody flame, as one entire arch of fire of above a mile long… the churches, houses and all on fire and flaming at once, and a horrid noise the flames made.” (Britain Express 1).
October 8th, 1871 has been commonly referred to as “The Night America Burned.” This was really the first time that the dangers of fire were displayed on a national scale. The lack of effort for construction regulations, as well as no rain for three weeks, put Chicago at a great risk for a major fire. A delayed response time as well as many other factors caused the Great Chicago Fire to burn through the city for three days. By the time it was finally brought under control, more than $2 million in damage was caused. It also left 300 people without their lives, as well as 90 thousand others homeless. As this fire started in a barn on the west side of the city, another major fire was raising just 262 miles north of Chicago in Peshtigo, Wisconsin. Although this fire was not quite as critically acclaimed as the Great Chicago Fire, it is well known as the most deadly fire in American history. As the summer progressed, the woods of Wisconsin had experienced a major drought and logging operations left pine branches covering the forest floor. A flash forest fire started and began to cover 2,400 square miles of forest land. This fire left 2,200 plus people without their lives, and illustrated just how dangerous a wild land fire can become. The combination of these two fires left many communities in a state of desolation. As these communities began to rebuild, they enacted more strict building and fire codes. Soon after, the development of water pumping systems, advances in firefighting equipment, and improvement in communications as well as alarm systems were flourishing to try to help prevent fires of this magnitude from