The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of New York City Essay

their possessions in to the street. Both the west and south side were cover in

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 was one of the largest disasters in American history. Practically overnight the great city of Chicago was destroyed. Before the fire there was a large drought causing everything to be dry and flammable, then a fire broke out in the O’Leary’s barn and spread throughout the city. Many attempts were made to put out the fire but there were too many errors and problems in the beginning. After the fire many people were left homeless and had to help build their city again (Murphy, 39)

Life in the early 1900’s wasn’t easy. Competition for jobs was at an all time high, especially in New York City. Immigrants were flooding in and needed to find work fast, even if that meant in the hot, overcrowded conditions of garment factories. Conditions were horrid and disaster was inevitable, and disaster did strike in March, 1911. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York set on fire, killing 146 workers. This is an important event in US history because it helped accomplish the tasks unions and strikes had tried to accomplish years earlier, It improved working conditions in factories nationwide and set new safety laws and regulations so that nothing as catastrophic would happen again. The workplace struggles became public after

I have no passion or desire to write about a thunderous destruction of a city or the death of hundreds of people. Yes, I have no connection to this topic, besides my home being 30 minutes from downtown Chicago, but that does not mean that this fire does not pertain to me or anyone who lives in a completely different state for that matter. So, just because I have never experienced a disaster of this magnitude does not mean that my lips should stay shut regarding the topic of the Great Chicago Fire. What must be done is to look at events and, for that matter, life in a certain perspective that is not always one-sided. This one-sidedness can come from focusing on a particular outcome without realizing what else

Triangle: The Fire That Changed America by David Von Drehle gives readers a look into one of the most significant tragedies to take place in the United States. Before writing this book, Von Drehle was an American journalist working with The Denver Post, Miami Herald, Washington Post, and Time. Von Drehle is a very accomplished writer as he has won several awards those which recognize his excellence in young journalism, among these are, the Livingston award and the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award. Triangle was written with amazing descriptions that transport you to the day in 1911 where the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire took place. The book gives its audience a chance to experience what not only that horrific day was like, but what most days were like for factory workers. Von Drehle believes that “the fire was a crucial moment in American history that forced fundamental reforms from the political machinery of New York and the whole nation.” (Von Drehle 3)

Smoke and flames were spewing out of gaping holes bored by American Airlines’ Boeing 767 that crashed between the 93 and 99 floors on the North face of the 110- story building. Each of the North Tower floors were roughly an acre. The top 20 floors engulfed in flames, he was staring at a 20- acre fire raging 90 stories above. He thought in his head that, This is the most unbelievable sight I’ve ever seen. Meldrum parked the fire truck on the West Street in front of the

After reading the novel Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix and watching the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire 1911 documentary it became apparent that there were several similarities between the two, however, there are also many differences. Haddix wrote Uprising from the perspective of three young girls over the period of a few years leading up to the fire; while the documentary simply covered the indecent of the fire and used first hand accounts of civilians that were around the building during the event. Although Uprising and the documentary on the fire may tell it a little differently, both tell the history of one of the worst disasters in New York’s history.

The Triangle Factory fire not only affected the city of New York, but also the rest of the country. It will forever change the way our country looked at safety religions in factories and buildings. 146 people died in this fire, 123 women and 23 men most of the victims were Italian and Jewish and were immigrants that we're happy to be in America and to have freedom. No one knows how the fire started it could have been intentionally or accidentally.

The Triangle shirtwaist factory fire on March 25, 1911, was one of the worst tragedies ever back then, causing the death of 146 workers. This company was owned by Max Blank and Isaac Harris. They had a little shop by 1900 and it grew quickly, they moved their business to the ninth floor of the new ten-story Asch building. There were approximately 500 workers, mostly immigrant women, worked at the Triangle shirtwaist company. Bessie Cohen, who survived was inside the building and wrote a short story of what had happened. Most women either died from the fire or jumped from a high height. They jumped because the fire trucks' ladders could only reach up to seventh floor. The doors were locked to prevent workers from stealing or leaving, thus, they had no escape. According to fire marshal, cigarettes were the cause of the fire. Cotton is even more flammable than paper, more like explosively. Plus, the factory had woods and there were oxygen. After the fire, they had an investigation.

Later on to this day, that fire impacted all of the U.S. citizens to work in more safe areas. Now we have sprinklers if smoke is detected, fire escapes, along with emergency exits. Other conditions not related to emergencies are working in clean areas, breathable places, and a limited amount of working hours. All across the U.S. buildings have changed, also immigrants and citizens work the same with similar wages.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911 was one of the most lethal workplace tragedies in American history. 141 young women died that day, because of their unsafe work conditions. If they had fire extinguishers and a sprinkler system, or even just a better fire escape, no one would’ve had to die. The girls did not have access to these things however, because they were not required by law.

At one point before the fire there were as many as 20 fires in one week. With how many fires there were, the fire department was exhausted daily. There also was a limited amount of paid firefighters and it was becoming harder to keep up with the extinguishment of fires in the city. The end results of this fire were about “300 people dead 100,000 others homeless.

After events such as Chicago Fire 1871, San Francisco Earthquake and fire of 1906, and the Triangle Shirtwaist fire of 1911 which had many deaths at each one, there was a change in codes that became more rigorous in preventing deaths and injuries in fire emergencies. Then Johnson states that John H. Lienhard the University of Houston’s College of Engineering says that mid nineteenth century buildings were not originally built for fire safety. It wasn’t until after tragic events happened that led to fire escape, fire escapes and fire safety in general. Then in 1968, New York banned all exterior fire escapes for new building projects because interior stairwells were considered safer. Then Johnson brings up Vincent J. Dunn who is a retired deputy chief with New York’s fire department. Dunn notes that there are only 200,000 fire escapes that remain in the city. Because of age and poor maintence, fire escapes susceptible to rust, corrosion and collapse. Even with fire escapes being banned or no longer mandated in new construction, they still exist as secondary emergency exits in historic

Imagine being at a dance concert and a fire happens in a split second. That is what happened in Oakland, California. On December 3, 2016 the fire kills at least 9 people and over a dozen injured. The heat from the fire was so intense it felt like your skin was melting. John Evanofski said, “ You could feel the heat of the flames.” All family members and friends waiting outside crying wondering about their loved ones inside. John Evanofski said, “Most of us were crying or unable to react. It was so hot and so terrible knowing that so many of us were still inside." Officials say that the death toll could go up to the dozens. Most of the victims were on the second floor because the fire started on the stairs and they couldn’t escape.

The video for this week’s application exercise was about the 1911 New York Triangle Fire where a factory caught fire killing many of the workers that were trapped in the building. The fire caused the people of New York to realize the women that died, could not die in vain. When the women went on striking, because of their working conditions, most were beaten up by hired people and sent to court where they potentially faced a fine, jail time, or they were sent to the workhouse on Blackwell’s Island. The women were ambushed by the fire, because no one thought to warn the women that a fire had occurred, everyone else was given time to leave, but the women. Everyone was horrified of the things they had seen during the fire, and were really trying to help the women that were trapped. The impact of the