The 1944 Hartford Circus Fire
Visual submitted by Aron showing the visual aid used in the Moments in History presentation.
This text was written and performed by Caroline Aron for Hamilton Forensics in the competition category of Moments in History this year.
Caroline Aron
Ladies and Gentlemen, children of all ages, welcome to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey circus! Here in our own Big Top, right before your very eyes, a fabulous array of acts has been assembled for your pleasure. Jest with our jaunty jugglers, and hold your breath at our handsome high-fliers. Let your worries of wartime fade away among the bright colors and lively music of the circus. After all, what could go wrong when you're at “The Greatest Show on Earth”?
On the hot afternoon of July 6, 1944, over 8,000 attendees made their way to Barbour Street in Hartford, Connecticut to see the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey circus performance. Going to the show provided patrons with a break from the troubles of World War II. Families enjoyed hotdogs and ice cream. Children’s faces were sticky with cotton candy. Unfortunately, that escape would be short lived when 168 circus-goers never went home and thousands of others were left with physical and emotional scars that would haunt them for the rest of their lives.
With the show starting at noon, fans made their way into the circus’s main attraction: the 500 foot high, 74,000 square foot big top. On the bill for the performance alongside the usual menagerie of animals, lion tamers, and clowns was a daredevil trapeze group known as The Great Wallendas. They were just beginning a daring high-wire act when a small fire was spotted near the entrance to the tent. Fans who saw it assumed that the flames would be put out promptly and went back to watching the show. Buckets of water were already being carried over by staff, but the blaze swiftly crawled up the walls of the tent, and grew to over 20 feet tall.
The bandleader noticed the spreading fire and cued up the song “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” Nicknamed the “Disaster March,” the tune had long been used to alert circus workers and performers that there was a problem, as well as to soothe the audience and lessen panic, which was unsuccessful.
Mayhem quickly ensued as the flames reached 100 feet high. In the mad rush to escape, some people fell and were trampled by oncoming crowds. Others were injured after leaping 12 feet off the bleachers to avoid the blaze. And still others were trapped as patrons scrambled down the stands, tossing folding chairs out of their way, creating a tangled barrier for those behind them.
The fire spread at astonishing speed, racing across the circus tent that had been waterproofed with a mixture of 1,800 pounds of paraffin wax and 6,000 gallons of gasoline. Eyewitness accounts spoke of lethal molten globs of burning canvas raining down on the terrified audience, igniting hair and clothing.
The panic, fire, and smoke, however, were just the beginning of the circus-goers problems. Horror ripped through the crowd when it was discovered that some exits were blocked by cages used to bring the show’s animals in and out of the performance. Show-goers alike struggled against the burning tent, cutting or even tearing at it with bare hands, trying to escape the asphyxiating smoke flooding the big top.
The inferno had been blazing for just 10 minutes when the mighty big top collapsed in a rush of flames and screams. There were people still trapped inside. By the time firefighters put out the flames, 100 children and 68 adults lay dead, with 700 more injured.
The deceased were found in piles, some three bodies deep, at the most congested exits. According to the Hartford Times newspaper, a small number of children were found alive at the bottoms of these heaps, protected by the bodies on top of them when the burning big top ultimately fell.
Unlike most fires, where smoke inhalation is the leading cause of death, the medical report stated that many of the victims died of severe burns, being charred so badly that they had to be identified by scraps of clothing, jewelry, or dental records. The identity of some victims were never discovered, one of them being Little Miss 1565. Known only by her morgue ID number, 1565 was a 7 or 8 year old girl who had been trampled to death in the rush of the crowd. No one came to claim or even identify her body, and her true name remains a mystery to this day.
Authorities deemed the fire a terrible accident, most likely caused by a carelessly tossed cigarette. An investigation into the blaze revealed that at the time of the performance, fire extinguishers were buried and inaccessible in a storage unit, and 5 out of the 8 exits were blocked. Within days of the fire, five Ringling Brothers officials were arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter. Four would be convicted, but eventually pardoned, with the organization forced to pay five million dollars in damages.
The tragedy of the circus fire led to significant changes in building codes and safety standards for large tents, including the use of fire-resistant materials and improved exit strategies.
The Hartford circus fire remains the deadliest tent fire ever recorded. On what should have been a joyous day at “The Greatest Show on Earth,” July 8, 1944 will forever be known as “the day the clowns cried.”
Sources
Remembering The Tragic Hartford Circus Fire 77 Years Later
The Deadliest Fires in U.S. History: The Hartford Circus Fire
