On the anniversary of this tragic fire, we are reminded that many of our code changes come out of the ashes and serve as a guardian to protect future lives. The our lady of angles fire, an extreme tragedy, where the City of Chicago Mourns and hearts are broken all across the world.
On December 1, 1958, a tragic fire broke out in a catholic school in Chicago which claimed the lives of 92 school children and three nuns. At the anniversary of this tragic event, it is important that we look at how this fire claimed so many lives and what can be done to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
The original building, a two story school house, was built around 1910 with several additions. The building could house up to 1600 students in K-8th grade and the building lacked many of today’s fire safety features such as enclosed stairways, multiple egress points, automatic sprinkler systems, automatic fire alarm systems, and good fire protection practices. The fire started in the basement approximately 20-30 minutes before it was detected in the cardboard waste basket. This fire sent smoke and heat up the stairwell and unprotected openings up to the attic. It cut off the only way for students and nuns on the second floor to get out. The first arriving fire department unit arrived in under four minutes and began rescuing children from the second floor, but the unbearable conditions had mad many children jump or were overcame by the smoke and heat.
The school had passed its inspection [click to continue…]
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