On Dec. 1, 1958, as many school children no doubt were looking forward to their Christmas break in a few weeks, a fire in Chicagos Our Lady of the Angels School in killed 92 children and three nuns who died trying to save their students. The Catholic school, built in 1910, was home to around 1,200 students. The rebuilt school closed after the Class of 1999 graduated. The fire started in a paper-filled trash barrel at the bottom of a stairwell, and the flames shot up the stairwell. The schools fire alarm system was not connected to the fire department, so there was a relatively extended period of time before the fire department even received word of the fire. By the time the fire department arrived, the building was immersed in flames, and children were jumping from windows (there were no fire escapes in the upper floors). There were brave teachers/nuns who saved quite a few children, however, 92 children and three nuns perished that day. During the following months, five more children died from their wounds. In the aftermath of the Our Lady of the Angels fire, it was then ordered that all schools have sprinkler systems installed. While one former student admitted to starting the fire, he later recanted, and there was not enough proof to convict him (although he had started fires elsewhere). How the fire started was never officially determined.
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 04:47:58 +0000