1 HARTFORD CIRCUS FIRE Samuel Strader

1 HARTFORD CIRCUS FIRE Samuel Strader History 300 VV: American Disasters April 19, 2016 2 Abstract The paper argues that the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus should be held accountable for not just the financial aspect of the Hartford Circus fire, but for the disaster occurring itself. It goes over the events that led up to the fire, the fire itself, as well as the two investigations that will thoroughly examine the cause and origin of the fire. The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus knew of possible imperfections or deficiency in this particular circus act but would elect to forego the needed attention it would require and continue on with the Hartford circus show. The families of victims from the Hartford Circus fire in 1944 deserve more than a lump sum of money to compensate for this horrible event. Since neither investigation was able to put sole blame on a person or an act, the fire should be the responsibility of the circus. 1 When one hears about the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, one thinks about the excitement that comes with the commercials informing the public that the circus will be coming to a local venue, not that the circus could be responsible for the death of 168 people and the injury of 484 more. This entire semester of studying disasters has consisted of many reoccurring themes. A common theme about disasters involves determining blame for each of these disasters and what their level of responsibility was. The day of the Hartford Circus fire on July 6, 1944, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus were responsible for this disaster occurring. This is evident as a result of the circus having known about shortages in personnel and equipment due to World War II, along with delays and malfunctions in an ordinarily smooth process becoming a normal occurrence in order to prevent loss of revenue. What was supposed to be a day of joy and wonderment, for a crowd consisting of mostly women and children, and a way to take each spectator's mind off of the hard times of World War II quickly turned into a tragic afternoon in Hartford, Connecticut.1 After the performance of the animal acts, the Flying Wallendas were preparing to begin their highflying show of performing high wire acts without the use of a safety net. Chutes for the animals to exit were placed surrounding the tent and extending outside from the floor through two exit points.2 As the animals were exiting and the Flying Wallendas began, there was a shout of “Fire!”3 There was not much panic until a football-sized ball of fire was seen from the west end of the tent that was advancing 1 Ballard Campbell, “Hartford Circus Fire,” Disasters, Accidents, and Crises in American History: A Reference Guide to the Nation’s Most Catastrophic Events, (Facts on File, 2008). 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. 2 towards the northeast corner. Soon after that was noticed, the entire top of the “big top” tent was engulfed in flames. The “big top” was universally known and the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey big top could not be left out in any conversation pertaining to a big top. This specific big top could seat around 9,000 spectators and was coated with 1,800 pounds of paraffin wax. The fire would burn the canvas, which then fell onto the many women and children, scrambling to escape the chaos, causing severe burns. The conductor instructed the band to play “Stars and Stripes Forever” when there was an event that needed to warn the performers and the circus employees to the fact that something had gone wrong and that action needed to take place.4 As the top of the tent became fully engulfed in flames, the band continued to play and proceeded to march from the tent in an attempt to encourage the crowd to do the same. Naturally, the estimated 7,000 women, children and families became frightened and rushed the exits causing hundreds of people to climb over circus wagons, stumble over the extended animal chutes, and become stuck in the metal over which they attempted to climb.5 This holdup forced parents to toss their own children into the open arms of strangers at the bottom of the grandstands.6 Some would be lucky enough to escape the black smoke unscarred and unscathed. Others were not so lucky and were trampled and burned throughout the pandemonium. Sirens screamed as the fire alarms triggered, and fire trucks raced to the scene, but not in time to rescue many of the people still trapped inside. Within ten minutes of the 4 Ballard Campbell. Disasters, Accidents, and Crises in American History, 288. 5 Ibid. 6 Ibid. 3 fire starting, 125 of the 168 fatalities occurred inside the tent.7 The first responders and bystanders that helped people escape were labeled heroes or villains within minutes, hours, days and weeks following the disaster. Some would throw chairs at others in their way to remove them from their own path towards the exits.8 Once they realized their options were limited, many jumped from the tops of the bleachers into seas of people not knowing whether their fall would crush someone.9 Others grabbed lonely, scared, and crying children and elected to stay with them until they could be reunited with a family member.10 Multiple accounts stated that attendees were seen exiting safely, but returning to the tent to help evacuate as many victims as possible. The aftermath of the fire would share little positive conclusion with anyone involved on that wretched day. Bodies piled up at the Connecticut State Armory while families filed through, lifting sheets in an attempt to identify charred remains of loved ones. State and city investigators followed leads about the possible cause of the fire, which included a tossed cigarette, a motor that was running near the base of the tent without oil, and even arson.11 The likely cause was determined to be a cigarette tossed in the dry grasses by the edge of the tent.12 The grasses caught fire, and the fire spread to the tent wall. The top of the tent was waterproofed in a gasoline-diluted paraffin, the likely cause of the immediate engulfing of the tent.13 The state investigation listed eight causes of the fire, as well as citations to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey for the 7 Ibid. 8 Ibid. 9 Ibid. 10 Ibid. 11 Ibid. 12 Stewart O’Nan, The Circus Fire: A True Story of an American Tragedy (Anchor, 2001), accessed March 3, 2015, Kindle edition, 76. 13 O’Nan. The Circus Fire, 76. 4 following: failure to flameproof, location of animal chutes, insufficiency of personnel, failure to maintain an organization to fight fire, lack of firefighting equipment, failure to adequately distribute firefighting equipment, absence of supervision, and location of supply wagons. Four of the five circus employees charged with manslaughter were convicted, which would eventually led to them being pardoned entirely. Legal claims against Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey totaled $3,916,805.14 It was obvious that Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey would accept financial damage responsibility, but not for the disaster itself, as they should have done. Arguably the most important component of this disaster was the canvas tent. Before the July 6 show, there were multiple tests on the canvas of the tent to determine the optimum way to waterproof the canvas of the tent. In May 1944, circus workers would boil a mixture of four parts Texaco White Gasoline and one part Standard Oil Company Yellow Paraffin Wax.19 Paraffin wax is a white and translucent wax solid that consists of a mixture of saturated hydrocarbons, obtained by distillation from petroleum or shale and used in candles, cosmetics, polishes, and sealing and waterproofing compounds.20 After the mixture was created, it was applied to the canvas by watering cans and then spread with brooms.21 This treatment would undeniably make the canvas rooftop more flammable, which would in turn aid the fire in spreading more quickly. This common waterproofing method at the time would be banned in direct correlation of this 14 Campbell, Disasters, Accidents, and Crises in America, 288. 19 The Hartford Circus Fire ~ July 6, 1944, accessed February 21, 2016, http://www.circusfire1944.com 20 Michael Skidgell, The Hartford Circus Fire: Tragedy Under the Big Top (Charleston, SC: History Press, 2014). 21 The Hartford Circus Fire, “Paraffin – Treated Canvas Burn Test: Preparing the canvas.” 5 fire. After the second investigation it was determined that the origin of the fire was in the area of the men’s bathroom, which was also a canvas structure bordering the big top.22 There were contradicting witness accounts of whether the fire started at the base of the sidewall or the top of the sidewall due to the fact that the men’s bathroom sidewall was sufficiently burning by the time it had spread to the big top wall in multiple locations. The Connecticut State Police Detective William Lewis did not officially list the cause of the fire as “undetermined” until 1993, after initially being believed by investigators in 1944-1945 to have “likely been caused by a cigarette.”23 On June 30, 1950, Robert Dale Segee, age 21 of Circleville, Ohio, signed statements admitting to his guilt of the fire set at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus in Hartford, Connecticut. Segee had been employed by the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus from June 30, 1944 to July 13, 1944, to work in the lights department.24 Segee was about fourteen, at the time of the fire, and claimed to have had multiple dreams of an Indian riding on a “flaming horse” instructing him to set the fires and then stated that his confession was in response to a dream that he had of a woman standing in flames telling him it was okay for him to confess.25 In November 1940, Segee was convicted of forty unrelated arson charges in Ohio and was sentenced to forty years in prison.

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