Today I wanted to write about the Hartford circus fire of 1944. This fire affected many families, including patients in which I cared for while working in an assisted living facility and as a certified nurse aide. Patients I helped were either hurt or had brothers, sisters, or mothers who were either hurt or died in the fire. When choosing a statue, the topic of choice is the Hartford Circus Fire Memorial. The memorial was built on July 6, 2005, and lies behind Fred. D Wish Elementary School. The memorial is laid out to mark the exact location of the tent that burned on that day.
It was a steamy Thursday afternoon, and the gigantic Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Baily circus tent were packed with seven thousand people, most of them children who were enjoying their summer vacation with their mothers. This took place during World War II, so many fathers were either at war or creating war machinery to defend our country. Bandleader Evans saw the first sign of trouble, with a small flame near the canvas’ main entrance, but because there wasn’t water handy, it was not doused in time. A small flame became one of Hartford, Connecticut’s worst disaster. Flash forward to July 6, 2005, on a previously empty field behind Fred D. Wish Elementary School lies a beautiful center ring, four granite benches and a bronze disc bearing the names of the victims of their ages (Flood, 2015).
The Hartford Circus fire was the worst disaster in Hartford’s history. There were four hundred and eighty-seven people who were injured. One hundred and sixty-seven people were killed, and one hundred of the dead were older than fifteen. It began with a small flame, which escalated to a deadly fire because of the gasoline-paraffin soaked canvas which was used to waterproof the tent. In those days there weren’t fire codes, which established rules on tents being waterproof yet fireproof. After the disaster, fire codes were used to prevent future tragedies like this one, but it was too late (Hensler, 2012).
On July 6, 2005, in the middle of Barbour Street, Cleveland Avenue, Hampton Street, and Kensington Street near the site of the Stowe Housing Project hundreds of people attended a dedication ceremony on a field behind Fred D. Wish Elementary School. The dedication is laid out to mark the exact location of the tent that burned on that day. In the middle of the dedication, lies a center ring, which has four granite benches, and a bronze disc bearing names of victims and ages. This dedication took four years of the hard world by the Hartford Circus Fire Memorial Foundation, and one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars from seven hundred private donations (Flood, 2015). DuBose Associates designed the memorial, and TO Design, alongside granite benches, the memorial has pedestrian walkways which have bricks that have the victims’ names on them. The center of the memorial has a bronze medallion where the center of the ring was located (Unfinished Business, 2004).
In visiting the memorial, it has a very simplistic design, and it lies in a beautiful field behind the elementary school. It is impressive to see how big the tent was, which is marked by trees which mark where the tent stood. When you’re in the middle of the memorial, there are bricks which state all the victim’s names, and tablets which give a timeline of what happened during the fire. The location of the memorial is not in a great area; times seem to have changed since the circus fire. People were hanging out, smoking, and loud music nearby, and there was litter everywhere. The grounds where the memorial sits seem a bit unkempt. The grass was tall, full of weeds, and relatively not well maintained. It is a real shame that the city does not take care of such a memorial that means so much too many.
References:
It was a steamy Thursday afternoon, and the gigantic Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Baily circus tent were packed with seven thousand people, most of them children who were enjoying their summer vacation with their mothers. This took place during World War II, so many fathers were either at war or creating war machinery to defend our country. Bandleader Evans saw the first sign of trouble, with a small flame near the canvas’ main entrance, but because there wasn’t water handy, it was not doused in time. A small flame became one of Hartford, Connecticut’s worst disaster. Flash forward to July 6, 2005, on a previously empty field behind Fred D. Wish Elementary School lies a beautiful center ring, four granite benches and a bronze disc bearing the names of the victims of their ages (Flood, 2015).
The Hartford Circus fire was the worst disaster in Hartford’s history. There were four hundred and eighty-seven people who were injured. One hundred and sixty-seven people were killed, and one hundred of the dead were older than fifteen. It began with a small flame, which escalated to a deadly fire because of the gasoline-paraffin soaked canvas which was used to waterproof the tent. In those days there weren’t fire codes, which established rules on tents being waterproof yet fireproof. After the disaster, fire codes were used to prevent future tragedies like this one, but it was too late (Hensler, 2012).
On July 6, 2005, in the middle of Barbour Street, Cleveland Avenue, Hampton Street, and Kensington Street near the site of the Stowe Housing Project hundreds of people attended a dedication ceremony on a field behind Fred D. Wish Elementary School. The dedication is laid out to mark the exact location of the tent that burned on that day. In the middle of the dedication, lies a center ring, which has four granite benches, and a bronze disc bearing names of victims and ages. This dedication took four years of the hard world by the Hartford Circus Fire Memorial Foundation, and one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars from seven hundred private donations (Flood, 2015). DuBose Associates designed the memorial, and TO Design, alongside granite benches, the memorial has pedestrian walkways which have bricks that have the victims’ names on them. The center of the memorial has a bronze medallion where the center of the ring was located (Unfinished Business, 2004).
In visiting the memorial, it has a very simplistic design, and it lies in a beautiful field behind the elementary school. It is impressive to see how big the tent was, which is marked by trees which mark where the tent stood. When you’re in the middle of the memorial, there are bricks which state all the victim’s names, and tablets which give a timeline of what happened during the fire. The location of the memorial is not in a great area; times seem to have changed since the circus fire. People were hanging out, smoking, and loud music nearby, and there was litter everywhere. The grounds where the memorial sits seem a bit unkempt. The grass was tall, full of weeds, and relatively not well maintained. It is a real shame that the city does not take care of such a memorial that means so much too many.
References:
- "10 human panic factors that made a circus fire deadly." Fire Rescue 1. Bruce Hensler, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2017.
- "The Hartford Circus Fire." The Hartford Circus Fire. Kevin Flood, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2017.
- "Unfinished Business." Tribune digital-courant. N.p., 16 Feb. 2004. Web. 27 Apr. 2017.