The Deadliest Industrial Disaster in New York City
Day 89 / 365
On March 25, 1911, The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York caught fire which causes the deaths of 146 workers. This fire is still the deadliest industrial disaster to occur in the city. The worst part is that most of those workers jumped to their deaths in a failed attempt to escape the fire.
The cause of the fire
The factory was located on the 8th, 9th and 10th floors of a building in Manhatten. The fire started on the 8th floor in a wooden bin that contained scraps of cut clothing. The cause of the fire was most probably a match or a cigarette butt.
Why couldn’t the workers escape?
All the exits and doors to staircases in the factory floors were kept locked. This was a common practice in those days to prevent the workers (most of who were immigrants) from stealing anything from the factories. The person who had the keys to the locked doors had already escaped.
This quote by a reporter who witnessed the fire paints a grim picture
“I learned a new sound that day, a sound more horrible than description can picture — the thud of a speeding living body on a stone sidewalk”
Those workers who remained trapped inside eventually died due to the fire and the smoke. Even the fire brigade couldn’t do much, as their ladders could only reach till the 6th floor.
Who’s to blame?
Interestingly the owners of the factory were at the factory when the fire happened. But they got to know about the fire way before the workers did and so were able to escape to the roof.
After the incident, they were charged with first and second-degree manslaughter. Unfortunately, the prosecutors could not prove that the owners knew that the doors are locked and so the charges were dropped. In the end, they only had to pay compensation of about 75$ per deceased victim. In comparison, the owners received 60,000$ from insurance, which is about 400$ per casualty.
This story is part of my 365 Day Project for 2019. Read about it here
Yesterday’s blog — How do cellphones work?