On Monday, December 1, 1958, a fire broke out at Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago, Illinois.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Thu Dec 1, 2022, 07:41 AM - Edit history (1)

I saw snowybirdie's post. I thought I'd expand on it.

Tue Dec 1, 2020: A. Sad day in Chicago history

Our Lady of the Angels School fire

Date: December 1, 1958
Location: Humboldt Park, Chicago, Illinois
Cause: Inconclusive
Deaths: 95

On Monday, December 1, 1958, a fire broke out at Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago, Illinois, shortly before classes were to be dismissed for the day. The fire originated in the basement near the foot of a stairway. The elementary school was operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago and had an enrollment of approximately 1600 students. A total of 92 pupils and 3 nuns ultimately died when smoke, heat, fire, and toxic gases cut off their normal means of egress through corridors and stairways. Many more were injured when they jumped from second-floor windows which, because the building had a raised basement, were nearly as high as a third floor would be on level ground (c. 25 ft.).

The disaster was the lead headline story in American, Canadian, and European newspapers. Pope John XXIII sent his condolences from the Vatican in Rome. The severity of the fire shocked the nation and surprised educational administrators of both public and private schools. The disaster led to major improvements in standards for school design and fire safety codes.

{snip}

The fire

Outbreak and reaction

The fire began in the basement of the older north wing between about 2:00 p.m. and 2:20 p.m CST. Classes were due to be dismissed at 3:00 p.m. Ignition took place in a cardboard trash barrel located a few feet from the northeast stairwell. The fire smoldered undetected for approximately 20 minutes, gradually heating the stairwell and filling it with a light grey smoke that later would become thick and black, as other combustibles became involved. At the same time, it began sending superheated air and gases into an open pipe chase very near the source of the fire. The pipe chase made an uninterrupted conduit up to the cockloft above the second-floor classrooms (see "Evacuation" below).

The smoke began to fill the second-floor corridor, but remained unnoticed for a few minutes. At approximately 2:25 p.m., three eighth-grade girls, Janet Delaria, Frances Guzaldo, and Karen Hobik, returning from an errand, came up a different staircase to return to their second-floor classroom in the north wing (only Delaria would survive the fire). The girls encountered thick grayish smoke, making them cough loudly. They hurriedly entered the rear door of Room 211 and notified their teacher, Sister Mary Helaine O'Neill.

O'Neill got up from her desk and began lining up her students to evacuate the building. When she opened the front door of the classroom moments later to enter the hallway, the intensity of the smoke caused O'Neill to deem it too dangerous to attempt escape down the stairs leading to Avers Avenue on the west side of the building. She remained inside the classroom with her students to await rescue. The fire continued to strengthen, and several more minutes elapsed before the school's fire alarm rang.

{snip}

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. There is also an entire book on the fire.

To Sleep With the Angels by David Cowan and John Kuenster. Excellent book.

[regnaD kciN]

2. There are actually two different books...

The first one was titled something like The Fire That Never Dies. From what I recall, the author, who was one of the students badly injured in the fire, wound up passing away from long-term complications of her injuries shortly after it was published.

Incidentally, the keyboard player for Journey, who wrote “Don’t Stop Believin’,” was a student at the school at the time of the fire, but was in a different wing and evacuated safely. (Sadly, he later turned full MAGA, and is now married to Trump’s insane “spiritual advisor.”)

[murielm99]

8. "The Fire That Will Not Die,"

by Michelle McBride. She was very badly burned.

Michelle died a few years ago. I met her, briefly. We have a friend who survived the fire.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

10. I'd forgotten that one.

And I read it also.

[honeylady]

3. I was 9 years old and living in Chicago when this happened

My mother sat in front of the T.V. with tears running down her face. The newscaster was reporting that some of the nuns were rolling children who were on fire in an attempt to put out the flames.

I've never forgotten that day. I was horrified about the images that I saw on t.v. and stunned at the grief my mother was displaying.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

5. I was 8 and lived in South Shore

It really was horrible.

[trackfan]

4. 3 of my cousins were at that school (all survived)

I didn't know about this until a few years ago - I'm younger than these cousins - when there was some talk about it on Facebook. It was a great trauma for for all.

[Demovictory9]

6. Never heard of this story. I would imagine that new fire safety requirements were implemented after

this fire.

[murielm99]

9. Yes, new fire regulations did come about.

It took a while for all the changes to be made, but they were made in Illinois.

There were no more open stairwells allowed. All stairwells had fire doors between each floor.

Our high school cafeteria had a large open lobby. Doors were installed in several places. I don't know what the rest of the country did, but the new regulations were very strict in my state.

I was ten when the fire took place. Horrifying.

[Demovictory9]

11. and many have those magnets that drop the doors closed if fire

[zeusdogmom]

7. 10 year old kid in rural MN and remember reading about

It in the newspaper. I was horrified by the pictures and glad the elementary portion of our school was single story with windows that actually opened. Funny what bubbles up when a memory is triggered. You can be sure we had an unscheduled fire drill. Those practice drills in MN were usually limited to warmer weather for obvious reasons