Ohio
Related: About this forumMarch 4th, 1908 Collinwood school fire
The Collinwood school fire (also known as the Lake View School fire) of Ash Wednesday, March 4, 1908, was one of the deadliest disasters of its type in the United States. The conflagration in Collinwood, Ohio, a community that has since been absorbed into the city of Cleveland, resulted in the deaths of 172 students, two teachers and a rescuer.
While the Lake View School was built with load-bearing masonry outer walls, much of the four story building's floor structure system used wooden joists. It was one wooden joist that caught fire when it was overheated by a steam pipe. The buildings main staircase extended from the front doors of the building, up to the third floor; without benefit of fire doors. The stairwell acted like a chimney, helping to spread the fire quickly. Oiled wooden hall and classroom floors also fueled the fire.
Flames quickly blocked escape routes, leaving many students pressed against doors that were locked or opened inward. The flammable construction gave only minutes for evacuation. Though one fire escape was accessible at the rear of the building, not all the children found their way to the exit.[1] Doors to the building were equipped with common door knob latches, not the more modern crash bar type latch. As panic leading to the crush of a large number of students in stairwell vestibules contributed to the death toll, students also died as a result of smoke inhalation and the fire itself. Some children died jumping from second- and third-story windows. Community members watched as victims trapped in the building were burned beyond recognition.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collinwood_School_Fire
tblue
(16,350 posts)What a tragedy. Not sure if I ever heard of it. Oh my gosh how sad.
Victor_c3
(3,557 posts)safety regulations are written in blood.
All of those pain-in-the-ass annoying safety rules are there for a reason and it is often because a lot of people died. Most people lose sight of that.
every one of the rules that we live with today came about because of one tragedy or another.
FailureToCommunicate
(13,989 posts)happened (Boston 1942) she was with the Red Cross and worked with victims and families recovering from that disaster. Even when fires cause new regulations to be put in place...greed of club owners or... can override them (doors locked or barricaded so staff couldn't sneak out...(Shirtwaist Fire) or patrons sneak in. Then more recently (ten years ago) the Station Nightclub fire (RI)...
Fire regulations - like many 'onerous' regulations - are in place because of loss of life.
JohnnyRingo
(18,581 posts)It sounds like a lot of today's regulations were the result of this preventable tragedy, especially the doors that opened inward.
Thanx for posting.