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Sherman A1

(38,958 posts)
Mon Mar 4, 2013, 05:39 AM Mar 2013

March 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 building’s 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

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March 4th, 1908 Collinwood school fire (Original Post) Sherman A1 Mar 2013 OP
Safety regulations weren't established for nothing. tblue Mar 2013 #1
I was basically going to echo what you just said above Victor_c3 Mar 2013 #2
Precisely Sherman A1 Mar 2013 #4
My mother grew up knowing about this tragedy. When Coconut Grove fire FailureToCommunicate Mar 2013 #3
I'd never heard of this tragedy. JohnnyRingo Mar 2013 #5

tblue

(16,350 posts)
1. Safety regulations weren't established for nothing.
Mon Mar 4, 2013, 06:46 AM
Mar 2013

What a tragedy. Not sure if I ever heard of it. Oh my gosh how sad.

Victor_c3

(3,557 posts)
2. I was basically going to echo what you just said above
Mon Mar 4, 2013, 07:31 AM
Mar 2013

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.

Sherman A1

(38,958 posts)
4. Precisely
Mon Mar 4, 2013, 05:28 PM
Mar 2013

every one of the rules that we live with today came about because of one tragedy or another.

FailureToCommunicate

(13,989 posts)
3. My mother grew up knowing about this tragedy. When Coconut Grove fire
Mon Mar 4, 2013, 08:52 AM
Mar 2013

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)
5. I'd never heard of this tragedy.
Mon Mar 4, 2013, 05:53 PM
Mar 2013

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.

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