Okla-homey
7/6/2007, 05:54 AM
July 6, 1944 The Hartford Circus Fire
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/9271/circusfire6li.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
63 years ago today, while WWII raged, in Hartford, Connecticut a fire breaks out under the big top of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, killing 167 people and injuring 682. Two-thirds of those who perished were children. The cause of the fire was unknown, but it spread at incredible speed, racing up the canvas of the huge circus tent.
The fire began as a small flame about twenty minutes into the afternoon show, on the southwest sidewall of the tent, while the Great Wallendas were on. Circus Bandleader Merle Evans is said to be the person who first spotted the flames, and immediately directed the band to play Stars and Stripes Forever, the tune that traditionally signaled distress to all circus personnel.
http://aycu34.webshots.com/image/18593/2001490520455924922_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001490520455924922)
The Flying Wallendas in their contemporary incarnation
Ringmaster Fred Bradna urged the audience not to panic and to leave in an orderly fashion, but the power failed and he could not be heard. Bradna and the ushers unsuccessfully tried to maintain some order as the panicked crowd tried to flee the big top.
Scarcely before the over 8,000 spectators inside the big top could react, patches of burning canvas began falling on them from above, and a stampede for the exits began. Many were trapped under fallen canvas, but most were able to rip through it and escape. However, after the tent's ropes burned and its poles gave way, the whole burning big top came crashing down, consuming those who remained inside. Within 10 minutes it was over, and some 100 children and 60 of their adult escorts were dead or dying.
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/5430/circusemmetkelly28xt.gif (http://imageshack.us)
An investigation revealed that the tent had undergone a treatment with flammable paraffin thinned with three parts of gasoline to make it waterproof. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus eventually agreed to pay $5 million in compensation, and several of the organizers were convicted on manslaughter charges.
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/2786/circusgb261md.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
In 2005, Hartford dedicated a memorial to the victims
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/7997/circushartfordcricusfirememori.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
In 1950, in a late development in the case, Robert D. Segeeof Circleville, Ohio, confessed to starting the Hartford circus fire. Segee claimed that he had been an arsonist since the age of six and that an apparition of an Indian on a flaming horse often visited him and urged him to set fires. In November 1950, Segee was sentenced to two consecutive terms of 22 years in prison, the maximum penalty in Ohio at the time.
However, Hartford investigators raised doubts over this man's confession, as he had a history of mental illness, and it could not be proven he was anywhere within the state of Connecticut when the fire occurred. Connecticut officials were also not allowed to question Segee, even though his alleged crime had occurred in their state. Additionally, Segee, who died in 1997, denied setting the fire, as late as 1994 during an interview. Because of this, many investigators, historians, and victims believe the true arsonist—if it had indeed been arson—was never found
Among the survivors, was recently deceased TV, Broadway and movie personality Charles Nelson Reilly. At age 13 he escaped the Hartford Circus Fire, and as a result he never sat in an audience again through the rest of his life.
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/3590/insane7zo9bg.jpg
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/9271/circusfire6li.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
63 years ago today, while WWII raged, in Hartford, Connecticut a fire breaks out under the big top of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, killing 167 people and injuring 682. Two-thirds of those who perished were children. The cause of the fire was unknown, but it spread at incredible speed, racing up the canvas of the huge circus tent.
The fire began as a small flame about twenty minutes into the afternoon show, on the southwest sidewall of the tent, while the Great Wallendas were on. Circus Bandleader Merle Evans is said to be the person who first spotted the flames, and immediately directed the band to play Stars and Stripes Forever, the tune that traditionally signaled distress to all circus personnel.
http://aycu34.webshots.com/image/18593/2001490520455924922_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001490520455924922)
The Flying Wallendas in their contemporary incarnation
Ringmaster Fred Bradna urged the audience not to panic and to leave in an orderly fashion, but the power failed and he could not be heard. Bradna and the ushers unsuccessfully tried to maintain some order as the panicked crowd tried to flee the big top.
Scarcely before the over 8,000 spectators inside the big top could react, patches of burning canvas began falling on them from above, and a stampede for the exits began. Many were trapped under fallen canvas, but most were able to rip through it and escape. However, after the tent's ropes burned and its poles gave way, the whole burning big top came crashing down, consuming those who remained inside. Within 10 minutes it was over, and some 100 children and 60 of their adult escorts were dead or dying.
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/5430/circusemmetkelly28xt.gif (http://imageshack.us)
An investigation revealed that the tent had undergone a treatment with flammable paraffin thinned with three parts of gasoline to make it waterproof. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus eventually agreed to pay $5 million in compensation, and several of the organizers were convicted on manslaughter charges.
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/2786/circusgb261md.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
In 2005, Hartford dedicated a memorial to the victims
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/7997/circushartfordcricusfirememori.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
In 1950, in a late development in the case, Robert D. Segeeof Circleville, Ohio, confessed to starting the Hartford circus fire. Segee claimed that he had been an arsonist since the age of six and that an apparition of an Indian on a flaming horse often visited him and urged him to set fires. In November 1950, Segee was sentenced to two consecutive terms of 22 years in prison, the maximum penalty in Ohio at the time.
However, Hartford investigators raised doubts over this man's confession, as he had a history of mental illness, and it could not be proven he was anywhere within the state of Connecticut when the fire occurred. Connecticut officials were also not allowed to question Segee, even though his alleged crime had occurred in their state. Additionally, Segee, who died in 1997, denied setting the fire, as late as 1994 during an interview. Because of this, many investigators, historians, and victims believe the true arsonist—if it had indeed been arson—was never found
Among the survivors, was recently deceased TV, Broadway and movie personality Charles Nelson Reilly. At age 13 he escaped the Hartford Circus Fire, and as a result he never sat in an audience again through the rest of his life.
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/3590/insane7zo9bg.jpg