Lady Of Angels School Fire Essay
The Lady of the Angels fire was the worst school fire from Illinois history. This fire taught other schools in the future how to prepare for fires, and what is not safe to have in a school in the event of a fire. The fire killed many children and nuns in just two hours.
It was December 1 1958, at 2:40 pm a small fire started in the basement of Our Lady of Angels School in Chicago, Illinois. The school was a two-story building and was recently remodeled. At the time the school was up to code with the fire safety laws, but the school was greatly unprepared for any kind of fire. The school had no sprinklers, automatic fire alarm, smoke or heat detectors, fire-resistant stairwells, and fire safe doors from the stair wells to the second floor, …show more content…
Even though the buildings outer layer was brick, the inside was made almost entirely of wood (stairs, doors, roofs, walls, floors- all wood). Also earlier that day the floors had been waxed with chemicals that were likely to catch on fire. There were only two fire alarm switches to the whole school, and both of them were located in the south wing. Even though there were many problems with the school before the fire started, the biggest problem was that the school only had four fire extinguishers. They were hung seven feet off the floor, out of reach for many adults and all children.
The fire began around 2:40 in the basement of Our Lady of the Angels School. It had burnt unnoticed for 20 to 30 minutes, while it slowly filled the staircases with toxic gases and smoke. While the fire was burning in the basement, and the heat rising , the intense heat shattered a window giving the fire a new supply of oxygen to feed off. The staircase from the basement to the first floor burst into flames and smoke swirled up the stairwells. The first floor had heavy wooden doors that blocked the fire and heat, but the second floor had no doors at all, letting the fire and
It was December 1 1958, at 2:40 pm a small fire started in the basement of Our Lady of Angels School in Chicago, Illinois. The school was a two-story building and was recently remodeled. At the time the school was up to code with the fire safety laws, but the school was greatly unprepared for any kind of fire. The school had no sprinklers, automatic fire alarm, smoke or heat detectors, fire-resistant stairwells, and fire safe doors from the stair wells to the second floor, …show more content…
Even though the buildings outer layer was brick, the inside was made almost entirely of wood (stairs, doors, roofs, walls, floors- all wood). Also earlier that day the floors had been waxed with chemicals that were likely to catch on fire. There were only two fire alarm switches to the whole school, and both of them were located in the south wing. Even though there were many problems with the school before the fire started, the biggest problem was that the school only had four fire extinguishers. They were hung seven feet off the floor, out of reach for many adults and all children.
The fire began around 2:40 in the basement of Our Lady of the Angels School. It had burnt unnoticed for 20 to 30 minutes, while it slowly filled the staircases with toxic gases and smoke. While the fire was burning in the basement, and the heat rising , the intense heat shattered a window giving the fire a new supply of oxygen to feed off. The staircase from the basement to the first floor burst into flames and smoke swirled up the stairwells. The first floor had heavy wooden doors that blocked the fire and heat, but the second floor had no doors at all, letting the fire and