http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/triangle/trianglefire.html
http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/primary/
Check out these primary source links to learn more about the New York Triangle Building Fire of 1911. Use this blog to share what you learn and/or react to this tragedy. Do we still have these type of work place disasters in the USA? Why/why not? Examples?
The Triangle Building Fire of 1911 was one of the most horrific events in America's history, injuring or killing many innocent people. From reading both websites that provided information on the fire, I have learned many things about that terrible day. In June of 1909, the Triangle Shirtwaist Company received a letter that told the Company to hold a meeting to discuss safety precautions for the workers, but they ignored the letter. Unbelievably, the building passed a routine fire inspection on October 15, 1910! Then on March 25, 1911, at 4:45 P.M., a fire started on the eighth floor of the building. This large fire will later have killed about 146 people, mostly young women. Finally on April 2, 1911, a meeting is held to discuss the unsafe conditions in New York City's factories, which later creates many safety laws. After knowing many facts about the Triangle Building Fire, I thought it could easily have been prevented. To prevent the fire, the Company should have addressed the letter and make the conditions safer for their workers. Also, I sympathize all the families who lost someone due to the fire, in which escape plans and precautions should have been established.
ReplyDeleteThe Triangle Building fire of 1911 was a very preventable and awful tragedy. Many of the people who were killed in the flames were young teenage girls who were working for a dollar or so a day. The building was insufficiently inspected and it was thought that the doors that could have been used to escape were locked. By doing so, the company doomed almost 150 people to die. After the fire had started, people were trapped from all possible exits. Their choices were to suffocate or burn to death or jump the eight or more stories down to their deaths. Many chose to jump, leaving 30 or so bodies of young women laying out on the sidewalk. The blame could be put on a number of people, including the owners of the company for locking those doors (they were tried on man slaughter but found not guilty). With all of this swirling aroudnt the tragedy, some good did come of it. The workers were all given more pay, less work and better working environments.
ReplyDeleteThe fire at the Triangle Building took the lives of 146 people. Out of the 146 dead 125 of them were girls. The building itself was one of the most modern of its time and was classified as fireproof. Shortly following the fire it was hard to tell if there was a fire at all because of its fireproofing. The only things that burned in the fire were the furniture, the supply of cloth, and the countless number of girls and women. The people on the ninth floor had two options on how they could die, stay in the building and burn or suffocate to death, or jump out of the building. A mound of bodies of those that jumped lay on the sidewalk for more than an hour because the fire department was to busy putting out the fire. The firemen did have fire nets to jump into but because the people that were stuck were on the eighth floor and higher the nets were useless. The bodies that were scattered all over the ground made it hard for the firefighters to setup their firefighting apparatuses. People on the tenth floor were able to get to the roof and go to other buildings. Out of this tragedy came safety precautions that could have prevented even worse accidents.
ReplyDeleteThe Triangle Building Fire of 1911, with its kill count of 146, is an especially appalling event. When reading the articles I was surprised to learn how poorly prepared the building was for a fire. Almost everything that could have gone wrong on the eighth and nineth floors did. On the these floors there were tons of very flammable objects that caused the fire to spread very quickly. Objects such as: cans of oil, piles of cloth, tables, and even the floor. Another big problem was their telephone, it worked fine for just enough time to call the tenth floor; after that it was silent. One of the biggest problems that day was the lack of an escape route for the workers. They literally had nowhere to go, the stairs were locked, the fire escape had fallen off, the elevator was suck at the bottom. The only exits were the windows, close to 30 of the workers chose this escape route and all of them died at the bottom. Considering all the buildings issues, it is a wonder that the fire had not occurred sooner. On the other hand, I agree with Gorman, some good did come of this event. It raised public awareness on the terrible conditions faced by many people at the time. For in my mind it is better to lose 150 lives and fix the problem than to let it be and lose hundreds more lives later on. Although, I do wish those 150 lives could have been saved.
ReplyDeleteHey gents! Nice job of reacting and overviewing the facts. Could you each add a thought re: TODAY, and if we still have these type of accidents? (I made this addition to the original blog just today and appreciate your paitence and efforts to tie this subject to our modern era.)
ReplyDeleteWe still do have workplace accidents just not as severe. The lessened severities of workplace accidents are due to mistakes in the past, like the Triangle Building Fire, have helped create safety rules and regulations the companies have to abide by. One such rule employees and companies have to abide by is that all loose materials have to be placed in an appropriate area. If this regulation existed in 1911 the fire in the Triangle Building probably would not have been as severe. Also today better safety equipment has been made to insure employee safety. The blog on unions can also deal with issue because a lot of regulations and safe working conditions have been the product of unions. Overall, major work place accidents that end in tragedies happen far less and are less severe.
ReplyDeleteI am wondering how aware we are of various workplace "accidents" today? Do you believe the press reports all these events with accuracy? I wonder if cover-ups ever occur? Or, perhaps, as Ian asserts, we are indeed just much, much safer today.
ReplyDeleteThere are still work disasters all over the United States but none of the disasters today are nearly to the extent of the triangle building fire. From reading these websites I have discovered that the triangle building did not have much defense for the building or its employees if a fire broke out. From my research I found out that the triangle building never conducted a fire drill or contained sprinklers. The fire escape, which is supposed to lead to something more substantial than a skylight, the architect’s plan showed the fire escape ended at the second floor skylight. The weight from the fleeing employees caused the fire escape to collapse. I know that in 2011 building codes are extremely strict. I watched the construction of my father’s office building and I saw some of the building codes. Some were as extreme as elevators to the height of the toilet paper role holder. A lot of building codes are for safety and also comfort. If it were not for building codes work disasters would be much more costly. One of the most recent workplace disasters was the oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010. Eleven workers were killed in the oil rig explosion, not even close to the amount of deaths in the triangle building where 146 people were killed. The oil rig incident was shown all over the world. I believe incidents that caused many casualties are very publicized but many of the smaller events are not as important. I agree with Ian and how says we are much safer today and that helps to prevent workplace disasters like the triangle building fire. We also learn from our mistakes so disasters can almost be eliminated.
ReplyDeleteWe have workplace tragedy’s today, but most aren’t as preventable as the Triangle Building fire. This fire could have been easily prevented. If the doors weren’t locked by the owners, over 100 people could have been saved. If the fire escape, or even the building itself, was constructed better, and the conditions in the factory were better, then this fire never would have happened. The factory was expected to be over 98 degrees at that time of day. Sufficient air conditioners were said to be to expensive by factory owners. The Triangle building, was almost set up for a disaster like this. Most workplaces today have very well construction and regular temperatures. The work place tragedy’s today are mostly unpreventable, or because of an accident. This is a horrible tragedy, and it made me think of 911. Most of my workplace tragedy research showed that not as many workers died, and the damage wasn’t that bad; but, as Mrs. Nelson said, “ Is the press using coverups”. Do they want us to feel safer? Do they want us to think America’s safety has improved?
ReplyDeleteThe Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire was a horrific tragedy that occurred on Saturday in New York City, March 25, 1911. This fire was especially terrible because of the conditions of the company. On the top three floors of the ten-story Asch Building just off of Washington Square, the fire started. The workers were just getting done with a hard day of factory jobs when someone on the eighth floor shouted fire, some of the men attempted to throw pails of water onto the fire but it did no help. The flames engulfed floor eight and went on to the floors above plus the floors below. The only way out was to go to the roof. Most of the workers in the building were teenage girls. Most girls continued to the roof if they were not dying in the flames. You basically had two choices burn in the flames or jump to your death. One hundred and forty-five employees died on the ninth floor alone. Some lucky ones who reacted quickly made it down a very dangerous, rickety fire escape before it collapsed. Others landed on top of an elevator shaft and the weight caused the shaft to move downward freeing them. It took only eighteen minutes to bring the fire under control, and ten more to basically put it out. After the fire was completely out many bodies lay strewn on the streets tons of others inside.
ReplyDeleteMany lives could have been saved if the factory had better conditions and safety measures. The fire marshal after all had just checked the building recently. It should have been in mint condition yet, one door that many could have used to get to safety was locked; the fire men had to break through. Another unsafe example was the fire escape on the side of the building. Few employees made it down the shaft before it collapsed. After the factory fire the destruction and injustice of factories led to the creation of a nine-member Factory Investigating Commission. The commission made a thorough examination of safety and working conditions in New York factories. They began to better check the factories, and as the years progressed we developed even newer ways to make the factories as safe and secure as possible. If the twin towers had the same conditions as the factories then millions more would have died on 9/11. I’m not saying that devastation is a good thing, but I think that sometimes it needs to happen to make new innovations. To take better care of the world we live in. What do you think? Do you think we have to have destruction before we can have better knowledge and to better prepare ourselves of what might happen?
I found some really interesting information on the Triangle Building fire of 1911. I found out that it was the worst industrial accident in New York City and it resulted in the highest loss of lives in an industrial event in the U.S. The actual factory occupied the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors of the triangle building.When the fire broke out on the eighth floor, a pedestrian noticed the smoke an raised an alarm. Luckily for the people on the tenth floor, they were able to be contacted via telephone by the workers on the eighth floor. Unluckily, the workers on the ninth floor had no ways of getting warned about the fire until the actual fire hit the floor. There were many means of escape that should have been available to them: a stairway leading down to Greene Street, a stairway to Washington Place, a fire escape stairway, and two freight elevators. However, the descending Greene Street stairway was blocked by flames, so workers were forced to escape up to the roof. The Washington Place stairway door was locked and the doorman who held the keys to the door had already escaped. Workers had to jam themselves into the freight elevators until the operators stopped operating because of heat and people jumping into the elevator shaft. Workers were then forced to try the old rusty fire escape, which collapsed under the heat and weight, spilling workers 100 feet to their deaths. Two of the bodies on the street, however, were found to be alive. Overall, a total of 146 workers were killed that day. I know this was the worst industrial disaster in U.S. history. THe elevator operators, however, I see as heroes because they kept making trips up and down to save people's lives until they were forced to stop. This heroism gives me hope, because they were risking their lives knowing that the elevators could have collapsed. Their bravery shows that there can be hope in the worst of times. On the contraire, the doorman was a corward, and I believe he should feel terribly sorry for escaping and leaving so many women to die. He could have at least left the keys or unlocked the door before he left, but he just saved himself instead. I believe that there were upsides and downsides to this disaster.
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