Triangle Shirtwaist Fire 99 years ago today

[CPAGE 2]

99 years ago today 146 people perished in Manhattan Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in New York City on March 25, 1911, was one of the largest industrial disasters in the history of the city of New York, causing the death of 146 garment workers, almost all of them women, who either died from the fire or jumped from the fatal height. It was the worst workplace disaster in New York City until September 11, 2001. Most women could not escape the burning building because the managers would lock the doors to the stairwells and exits to keep the workers from taking cigarette breaks outdoors during their shifts. Women jumped from the ninth and tenth stories as the ladders on the fire trucks could not reach these. The fire led to legislation requiring improved factory safety standards and helped spur the growth of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, which fought for better and safer working conditions for sweatshop workers in that industry. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was located inside the Asch Building, now known as the Brown Building of Science. It has been designated as a National Historic Landmark and a New York City landmark.

The Happy Lands fire was on the anniversary of this fire.

Add info. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire

[bad box 371]

Terrible incidents such as this (as the post mentions) spurred the growth of unions. Nowadays, the well paid commentators on talk radio as well as certain cable news shows bash unions and blame them for many of our Nation's financial woes. It's true that some unions got out of control over the years and have some very costly clauses in their contracts, but there are many unions whose main function is to insure a safe work place along with fair wages and benefits. It's very apparent how these 'media experts' blame the unions but never mention why unions were formed nor do they bash greedy corporate types who stuff their own pockets while underpaying and laying off hard working people.

God bless all of the victims of both of these tragedies and remember all of the Firefighters who had to deal with the victim recovery. If you've never had to perform that function, I can assure you that it is very sad and it stays with you.

[efermann 28]

I've just finished reading the book "Triangle" which is, obviously, the story of this fire. But, the book begins with a look at the social conditions in NYC that led up to the fire and summarizes the legal impacts and development of unions and fire codes that were implemented as a result of this fire. It was a good book. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in 1) fire history or/or 2) US social & labor history.

[SRS131EMTFF 471]

I've just finished reading the book "Triangle" which is, obviously, the story of this fire. But, the book begins with a look at the social conditions in NYC that led up to the fire and summarizes the legal impacts and development of unions and fire codes that were implemented as a result of this fire. It was a good book. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in 1) fire history or/or 2) US social & labor history.

I read Triangle for my AP US History class in 11th grade several years ago great book...

[ny10570 745]

Here's a summary of the fire from the Landmarks Preservation Society application for the designation of the building. Please excuse the length, but I don't have a link and I'm not e-mailing the PDF to everyone.

The Triangle Fire

On Saturday March 25, 1911, about ten minutes before closing time at 4:45 pm, a fire erupted in one of the huge piles of scraps stored beneath the cutting tables on the eighth floor of the Triangle factory. The table, piled high with combustible fabric, began to burn. Tissue paper patterns suspended from a clothes line above the table ignited, spreading fire throughout the room. Several people threw buckets of water on the flames. A manager ran to the stairwell for a fire hose, only to realize that the hose had rotted and the water valve had rusted shut.

Soon, the room was engulfed with flame and smoke. Most of the occupants of the eighth floor escaped. A few young panic-stricken women, who had not been able to fit into the elevator or reach the crowded fire stairs and fire escape, jumped out of the windows to their deaths. Before she escaped the eighth floor, the company bookkeeper telephoned the executive offices on the tenth floor alerting them to the fire. Someone called the fire department, but no one contacted the 260 workers on the ninth floor.

All but one of the seventy-some people who worked on the tenth floor managed to escape. Some crowded into the elevators. Most exited to the roof via the Greene Street staircase. Students from the neighboring NYU (Main) Building lowered ladders onto the roof of the Asch Building, where relay teams lifted people onto the roofs of the taller adjacent buildings. Only one woman, overcome by hysteria, panicked and jumped. On the ninth floor, the closing bell sounded. Sewing machine operators, most young women in their teens and twenties, collected their pay envelopes and began putting on their coats in the cloakroom on the Washington Place side of the building, unaware of the growing fire on the floor beneath them. One of the few survivors recalled, “all of a sudden the fire was all around. The flames were coming in through many of the windows.”

As the frightened workers tried to exit down the Washington Place stairs, they found that the doorway was locked. Unprepared for the fire since the company had never had a fire drill, workers began trying to cross the room to the Greene Street exit, threading their way in the smoke through a maze of work tables, chairs, and wicker baskets filled with fabric. Many tripped and fell, preventing escape. A few reached the stairs and safety on the roof. Then, a barrel of machine oil stored in the vestibule near the stairs exploded, cutting off the exit. Only a few workers knew there was a fire escape in the courtyard since the iron shutters on the courtyard windows were routinely closed. One woman succeeded in getting a pair of shutters open and several workers found their

way onto the rickety seventeen-inch-wide iron fire escape. But, the drop ladder that would have brought them safely to the courtyard below had never been installed. As the workers crowded onto the fire escape, the heat of the fire and the weight of the

fleeing workers made it buckle and collapse, sending a group of terrified women plunging to their deaths. Soon, the only means of escape were the two small (4'9" x 5'9") passenger elevators on the Washington Place side of the building. As the fire raged, some

occupants slid down the cables or jumped on top of the elevator cabs. When the elevators became inoperable there were only two choices, jump or be burned.

Captain Dominick Henry of the Eighth Police Precinct saw “a scene I hope I never see again. Dozens of girls were hanging from the ledges. Others, their dresses on fire, were leaping from the windows.” The Times reported that the fire engines arriving at the scene had trouble getting near the building because of the bodies strewn on the street and sidewalk. “While more bodies crashed down among them they worked with desperation to run their ladders into position and spread their fire nets.” But the fire department’s life nets were utterly useless to withstand the force of bodies falling from the ninth floor and their ladders were too short to reach the fire floors. About twenty-five minutes after the first alarm sounded, the firemen had the blaze under control. One hundred-forty-six workers died in the blaze or succumbed to their injuries in the days that followed.

[wraftery 1,275]

. We had a Town Judge in the 1980's and '90's. He was a rather liberal fellow for most cases, except when it came to violations of fire codes. He would impose hefty fines on defendants for even minor violations that were not corrected in the fire inspction process. Obstructed or locked fire exits were always sure to bring down his wrath on the violator.

I never understood why this was until one day, I heard his grandmother had some personal involvement in the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, possibly as one of the survivors.

No other comments. Just something I thought you would like to know.

Edited March 26, 2010 by wraftery

[efermann 28]

I visited the NYC Police Museum with my 3 year old son yesterday. On the way out, I picked up a postcard advertising a web site: rememberthetrianglefire.org which was set up to commemorate the fire that occurred March 25, 1911 (100 years ago). At any rate, I thought I would share that there's apparently going to be a ton of stuff happening that can be found on the web site. But, in case anyone doesn't have time to go through the site, there's going to be two TV documentaries about it. Both will probably be interesting to anyone who's a bit of a history buff with a fire twist.

First, tomorrow (Feb 28 @ 9PM) on PBS: American Experience -- link

Second, March 21 on HBO: link

[SageVigiles 1,194]

I've just finished reading the book "Triangle" which is, obviously, the story of this fire. But, the book begins with a look at the social conditions in NYC that led up to the fire and summarizes the legal impacts and development of unions and fire codes that were implemented as a result of this fire. It was a good book. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in 1) fire history or/or 2) US social & labor history.

I certainly wish this was required reading at UNH. I'm going to have to go pick it up. Is it usually in stock at Borders and/or Barnes and Noble, or is it usually an order thing?

[firecapt32 282]

This fire was also the start of the labor movment in New York State YES labor was born out of a tragic event. Thats why firefighters are so entrenched with labot in NY.