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HARTFORD CIRCUS FIRE

Samuel Strader

History 300 VV: American Disasters

April 19, 2016

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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.

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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. The investigators raised doubts over his confessions after it was known that Segee was under psychiatric care for multiple previous incidents. This would lead to Segee’s confession being retracted later in 1950 and would continue to maintain his innocence to

22 Ibid. 23 Ibid. 24 “Robert Segee 1993 interview Hartford Circus Fire,” YouTube video, 1:23:56, posted by circusfire1944dotcom, October 5, 2015, accessed March 15, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgjK5xyRnTs 25 Ibid. 6

Connecticut detectives in 1993 during an interview he had with them, four years before his death in 1997.26 If the fire was indeed arson, it left investigators believing that the accurate arsonist had never been found.

There were two investigations that would attempt to discover the cause and origin of the circus fire. The original investigation lasted from 1944-1945 and began with the deputy chief of the Hartford Fire Department and local Fire Marshall Henry G. Thomas contributing his sworn testimony to Coroner Frank E. Healey and Commissioner of the

State Police and State Fire Marshall Edward J. Hickey.27 After Thomas had viewed the scene he concluded,

[T]hat I have determined the approximate location . . . of where the fire started . . . to the right of the main entrance, about 20 feet, at the base of the side wall, and probably on the outside of the tent…the big top . . . I would also like to qualify that . . . we found a section of the uprights — frame upright that supports the seat section — showing a concentrated burning. . . . It is my opinion that there was other material in addition to the tent sidewall at the base of that frame structure to give it that amount of burning. In my opinion, a fire starting at the base of the side wall, and the side wall canvas being light and more inflammable than the wood, that the fire would go up the side wall . . . From the investigation and the evidence that we have found. . . . I have not yet exactly determined the cause of the fire. I am not prepared to say whether or not it was an incendiary fire or accidental fire.28

This led to Commissioner Hickey’s bringing about his results of the investigation into the origin of the fire.

We determined that the fire originated in the southwest corner of the main tent, back of the blue bleachers section, and that there had been located beyond the main tent at this point the men’s toilet . . . and the northeast section of the canvas which comprised the men’s toilet was adjacent to the southwest side wall canvas of the main tent back of the bleacher seats . . .one of the props that held up the top row of the blue bleacher seats . . . showed evidence of severe burning at the bottom of the frame, and the ground immediately surrounding this area was

26 Ibid. 27 The Hartford Circus Fire, “The Original Investigation, 1944-1945.” 28 Ibid. 7

slightly burned. There was intensified fire at this point, which is in evidence on the picture taken July 7 . . . from the evidence found on this ground and at this point, it is my opinion, as State Fire Marshal, that the origin of the fire was at this point . . . this is the only prop that was severely burned in this particular section, and that the fire centered on this prop and climbed upward from the side wall to the top.29

Under further questioning by Coroner Healey, Commissioner Hickey offered his own conclusion:

In my investigation as State Fire Marshal, and as quickly as I could reach the scene where I had first seen the fire, I made an examination of the premises in that area. I saw where the jack supporting the blue bleachers stand had, about 25 to 30 feet from the front entrance, severely burned at the bottom. . . . I find that the fire originated in back of the blue bleachers in the southwest corner on the ground, burning a jack holding up that grandstand, and on the testimony before me, as State Fire Marshal, I find that the cause of the fire was the result of carelessness of some unknown person, who threw a lighted cigarette underneath these bleachers.30

In Hickey’s “Report of Commissioner of the State Police as State Fire Marshall to State’s

Attorney for Hartford County concerning The Fire in Hartford on July 6, 1944 at the

Ringling Bros. – Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows, Inc.” contained his final conclusion:

[T]his fire originated on the ground in the southwest end of the main tent, back of the ‘Blue Bleachers,’ about 50 feet south of the main entrance, and was so caused by the carelessness of an unidentified smoker and patron who threw a lighted cigarette to the ground from the ‘Blue Bleachers’ stand. The evidence before me does not disclose this to be the act of an incendiary. It indicates this ground fire at the point described above burned the immediate grass area, the wooden supports for the ‘Blue Bleachers’ structure, the side wall canvas upward, then the tent top, and traveled quickly under and over the tent top northeastward, causing panic, an immediate loss of 125 lives, personal injuries to 538 persons, and destruction by fire of considerable circus property.31

29 Ibid. 30 Ibid. 31 Ibid. 8

After reading all of these reports, one would analyze and come to the conclusion that although the origin of the fire was determined with a substantial amount of evidence, the cause of the fire being more or less pinpointed on a less than satisfying culprit shows that the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey should be held accountable for this disaster in multiple ways.

One of the main reasons that the second investigation occurred was because of the mystery surrounding the identity of one of the best-known victims, “Little Miss 1565”.

Her identity became one of the larger reasons the Hartford area would grow frustrated with the circus. The second investigation took place during 1991-1993 and disparaged the conclusion of the first investigation that a stray, lit cigarette was the cause of the fire.

Approaching the fiftieth anniversary of the fire, Connecticut State Police Detective

William Lewis, from the Investigation and Enforcement Unit, was assigned by the

Department of Public Safety / Division of Fire and Building Safety to lead a three-person team to re-examine the origin and cause of the 1944 Hartford Circus Fire. Although the reinvestigation was set secondary to all current investigations, it was given substantial attention by this three-person team. Detective Lewis stated in 1992 that he had “reviewed all available material concerning the origin and cause investigation, including, but not limited to reports, photos and eye witness statements.”32 The team supported the initial investigation in where the origin of the fire was located but would disagree with the fire’s cause, leading them to come to the conclusion that

[T]he origin of the July 6, 1944 Hartford Circus Fire was more probable than not within the confines of the men’s toilets which was located on the southeast side of the main entrance to the main tent. All indications are that a cigarette thrown into the grass could not have alone started this fire. [However] there is not enough

32 The Hartford Circus Fire, “The Re-Investigation, 1991-1993.” 9

evidence to positively determine the exact source of ignition. Thus the cause of the Hartford Circus Fire is undetermined.33

Two main components of the reinvestigation were the interviews with Robert

Segee and the cigarette burn tests. Detective Lewis was able to uncover evidence, that was part of Commissioner Hickey’s 1945 determination, of the cigarette burn testing on

July 25, 1967, in which lit cigarettes were dropped into grass. “The report concluded that cigarettes would not start grass fires when the humidity was above 22% and matches would not start grass fires above 78%.”34 Lewis then arranged for Dr. Henry Lee of the

State Police Forensic Science Laboratory to confirm these results. The conclusion of

“these results and our own studies with the records indicating the humidity on July 6,

1944 was approximately 60% suggest that the ignition of the fire by a cigarette on or in the grass would have been difficult.”35 Following the interview between Lewis and

Robert Segee, on March 16 and 17, 1993, there was “no new evidence that [Segee] could have started the 1944 Hartford Circus Fire. No new information was obtained from

Robert Dale Segee that shed any light as to the origin or cause of this fire.”36 Detective

Lewis’s executive summary stated that:

[A]ll available information was examined and reviewed and the team concluded that the July 6, 1944 Hartford circus fire started in or just to the outside of the men’s toilet (tent) which was located to the south of the main entrance into the big top, against or very close to the tent sidewall. A carelessly discard cigarette thrown into the dry grass would not alone have started this fire, but other accidental ignition sources could not be eliminated. . . . The re-examination did not reveal any indication that this was an intentionally set fire. . . . Case closed.37

33 Ibid. 34 The Hartford Circus Fire, ”Cigarette Burn Testing.” 35 Ibid. 36 Ibid. 37 Ibid. 10

Similar to the first investigation, it would agree with the concluded location of the fire but would contrast the conclusion of the fire’s cause coming from a carelessly discarded cigarette. As well as stating that there was no more evidence that pointed to the fire being caused intentionally. This investigation would hold more closure for the families of victims.

The horrifying event of the Hartford Circus fire would draw multiple parallels with the Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire in Boston in 1942 and the Iroquois Theatre Fire in Chicago in 1903. Each of these fires had similar consequences in that the owner of the nightclub was sentenced to prison time, and the manager of the theatre was arrested and charged as well. In the case of the circus fire, it was well known that the circus wanted to avoid punishment for this disaster because it was on a tight schedule for the rest of the summer and needed all of its employees. Which led to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum

& Bailey Circus filing a motion on March 29, 1945, to suspend the sentences of the circus personnel who had been tried and found guilty of the case. The appeal stated that,

[T]here is no disagreement as to the approximate point within the tent at which the fire started. It is our view that if it was an accidental fire, it started in some readily combustible material, such as a paper bag dropped by a patron which in turn ignited the sidewall at a point where it touched the ground. However, this explanation is far from satisfactory . . . we feel very strongly that the fire was of incendiary origin and on trial we will have substantial evidence to support such a possibility. Anyone who would deliberately set the circus afire might well be aware of various means of creating a quick and an intense fire.38

A trial never occurred where the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus would present this evidence, along with it never being released to the press. The circus paid out almost $5,000,000 to the 600 victims and families who had filed claims against them,

38 Ibid. 11 forcing the circus to set aside all profits from the time of the fire. Another similarity of these fires was the exit routes, or lack thereof, available for the victims. Exits of the tent were blocked by the animal chutes, and were rushed, which resulted in patrons piling up at the exit routes, causing higher death tolls. In the nightclub and theatre fires, people were found piled up at the exits as well due to spinning doors and in-swinging doors. The problem of the rising of the fire from the ground was present in each fire, with the canvas siding of the tent to the big top, the muslin curtain to the fly gallery high above the stage, and the fake palm trees to the drapes hanging from the ceiling. There are many other similarities, but most importantly were the reactions to the fire. The story captured the attention of America in 1944, ranking tenth among all stories that year, according to the

Associated Press, and the only one not related to the war.15

Fortunately like the other disasters, many new regulations were put into place to help prevent these horrible disasters from ever happening again. The city of Hartford enacted seventeen corrective measures for large events, including adequate exit routes, improved signage, better fireproofing and positioning of extinguishing materials, a ban on gasoline-diluted paraffin as a waterproofing material, and prohibition of smoking.16

Municipalities across the country also enacted improved fire-safety measures, including higher standards for fireproofing tent materials. More than sixty years later, a circus fire support group that was formed specifically for the Hartford Circus fire still exists and meets annually to discuss their memories and how they still cope with the disaster.17 The relief from this support group only extends so far when some discuss the smell of the burning flesh, the image of disintegrating bodies, or the memory of watching the big top

16 Ibid. 17 Ibid. 12 flare during what was supposed to be an interruption from the world in 1944.18 In closing, due to all of the investigative material that would not put a full blame on one person in either investigation, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus should accept full responsibility for this disaster.

18 Ibid. 13

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