 |
| Our Lady of the Angels School |
It was Monday, December 1, 1958. The past weekend had been the Thanksgiving holiday and students were counting down the minutes until this school day was over.
Just another half an hour and school would be dismissed at 3:00. But those next
thirty minutes would take a toll on the 1,600 students at Our Lady of the Angels
elementary school in Chicago; 92 would die from smoke inhalation, toxic fumes and
burns in one of the worst school fires in U.S. history.
The fire began in a trashcan near the stairway in the basement
of the school at around 2:00 p.m. The smoldering blaze went undetected for almost half an
hour. At 2:25 pm three eight-grade girls were returning to their class when
they encountered smoke on the second floor. They immediately told Sister Mary
Helaine O'Neill, a teacher in Room 211. She prepared her class to exit the
building in an orderly fashion and then decided it was too dangerous for them
to go down the stairs. Since the first floor was actually the basement, the
second floor was located at the height of a third floor – far too high for
children to jump to safety. O’Neill told her class to sit down and wait to be
rescued. (Twenty-four students were found still at their desks after the fire.) But rescue attempts would prove futile. Those located in the north
wing of that second floor were already doomed. |
| School Stairs to Second Floor |
Since there was no fire door to the second floor, the fire and
smoke raced past the first floor's protective closure and up to the next floor
spreading smoke, heat and fire as it burned.
 |
| Smoke and Fire |
The school janitor, James Raymond, saw the fire’s glow in a
basement window at 2:30pm as he walked past, and immediately ran to the church
rectory to get help. The fire
department was not called until 2:42pm – 12 minutes after Raymond told office
workers to summon help. (Raymond returned to the school where he saved 40 children and one teacher that day.)
 |
| Second Floor After Fire |
Three hundred ninety two students and five nuns were trapped on
the second floor with only one avenue of escape – to jump 25-feet to the
concrete below, hoping firemen and by-standers would catch them.
 |
| Roof Collapsed into Classroom |
Meanwhile, smoke inhalation was taking a toll, and the
temperature in the wing was increasing. At 2:55pm, a flashover occurred and parts
of the second floor exploded. Moments later, the school's roof collapsed onto
trapped students and teachers in the north wing.
 |
| Those Who Died |
Of the nearly 400 students involved, only 160 were rescued from
the inferno. Many jumped, some were caught, and others made a mad dash down the smoke-filled stairs. As a result of the fire, 92 children – 56 girls and 36 boys died,
along with three nuns. The cause of the blaze was never officially determined,
although in 1962, a 13 year-old boy claimed to have started the blaze, but
later recanted his statement. The boy had a history of starting fires in the
neighborhood and when questioned, provided evidence that he knew things about
the school fire that had not been released. But, in the end, a judge ruled that
there was not sufficient evidence to charge the teen with the crime of setting
the murderous blaze in which 95 people lost their lives.
 |
| Shell of the School |
At the time of the fire, Our Lady of the Angels had one fire
escape, no enclosed stairwells, and only the first floor had a protective fire
door. The school had only one manually operated fire alarm system. Two fire switches
were located in the north wing, a good six feet from the floor, making their use
difficult.
 |
| Chicago Firemen Fight the Blaze |
The tragedy resulted in new fire regulations for schools nationwide.
Within a year, more than 68% of older schools in the U.S. had seen improvements and were being brought up to
code. Sprinkler systems were installed, more fire escapes were added, and alarm
boxes were located for easier access. And schools began holding regular fire drills to
practice safely exiting a burning building.
 |
| Our Lady of the Angels Memorial |
It has been almost 60 years since that tragic day. Remembrances
are held annually, many attended by those who were students at the time of the
blaze, and by those who still remember that hellish afternoon when the skies of
Chicago turned dark with smoke as Our Lady of the Angels lost 95 souls to the
flames.
~ Joy
*Visit Our Lady of the Angels for personal stories and remembrances.
