Introduction
This paper is a review of the book named To Sleep with the Angels: The Story of a Fire, written by David Cowan and John Kuenster. It is based on the events that took place in Chicago in December 1958, where an awful fire in Our Lady of the Angels school took the lives of ninety-two children and three nuns. The cause of the fire remains unknown; however, several pre-requisites before the event were discovered during the investigation, such as inadequate fire alarm system in the school, absence of fire exit, and unpreparedness of the teachers and staff.
The fire had a significant impact on the community – many parents who lost their children have not recovered for many years since then. This tragedy also pointed out the floss of the fire alarm system in the old school and caused the renovation in many buildings. Lots of schools across the country learned this lesson and upgraded their fire alarm system according to the latest requirements. However, many other facilities remained working with the existing old type of fire alarm system and kept putting lives in danger. Therefore, it is essential to remember what hard lesson this tragedy taught people and learn from it. It is crucial to consider safety first when building a facility, especially schools and kindergartens, for there is nothing more important than a child’s safety.
Fire in Our Lady of the Angels School
The book narrates a dreadful tragedy in Our Lady of the Angels school. It happened on December 1st in 1958 and took the lives of 92 children and three nuns (The Story Behind Another ‘Great Chicago Fire’, 2016). The fire started in the trash pile in the school basement and was not noticed until 20 minutes later. When the heat broke the window, the fresh air exaggerated the fire, making it bigger and uncontrollable. The light went up the stairwell to the second floor, and the students were trapped in the smoke and gasses (Taylor, 2019). It is clear that air circulation only exaggerated the fire, making it more durable and more prominent.
Firefighters’ arrival was delayed because at first, they were sent to the wrong address, and when they finally arrived, they had to get through the eight-foot-high iron fence that was locked at the time. The steam and smoke were so overwhelming that the rescue screw was unable to get through it; the only way was to get through windows (Taylor, 2019). They had to drag students out and drop them to the ground from 25 feet in height (Cowan & Kuenster, 1998). However, their effort was not enough due to the strength of the fire. Out of 340 children and teachers trapped on the second floor, 95 did not make it out alive (Cowan & Kuenster, 1998).
The Our Lady of the Angels school was built in Chicago city, Illinois (Cowan & Kuenster, 1998). It was located at 909 North Avers Avenue, on the West Side of the town, near Humboldt Park. People who lived there were mostly immigrants from Poland, Germany, Italy, Ireland, and other countries in a few generations, and there most of them were Roman Catholics. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago was operating the school (Cowan & Kuenster, 1998).
The school was a part of a Roman Catholic parish and included a church, rectory, a convent, where kindergarten and primary school were situated. The north wing was built in 1910 and reconstructed several times before the fire, and consisted of the church on the first floor and the school on the second floor (Cowan & Kuenster, 1998). In 1939 the south wing was built, and after the church was put in the building across the street, the whole building became functioning as a school (Cowan & Kuenster, 1998).
The school did not update the fire alarm system; thus, there were pre-existing conditions to the hazardous situations occurring. The school was claimed to be well-maintained and clean by the State of Illinois and the city of Chicago fire codes (Cowan & Kuenster, 1998). Moreover, the school only had one fire escape on the first floor, every classroom had a glass window for air ventilation, and no fire alarm that would detect the rising of the heat level (Cowan & Kuenster, 1998). Unlike newly opened schools that had fire alarms directly connected to the fire department, the Our Lady of the Angels did not follow those requirements. The school neglected the necessary fire code requirements and, thus, created an unsafe situation, which could have been avoided.
The Impact of Fire on the Lives of People, Community, and the City
Despite the investigation started by Chicago authorities and the following confession of one of the students to start the blaze in 1968, the cause of the fire was never found. The court judge concluded that evidence against the boy was insignificant, so the case never went through. Even after the fire, another old school was not required to update its fire alarm system according to the latest requirements of the Chicago city (The Story Behind Another ‘Great Chicago Fire’, 2016).
The fire took the lives of 92 children and three nuns and left an unrecoverable trail in the hearts of their relatives and friends. It gave a push to many changes in the community and city structure. For a start, safety regulations were upgraded to new standards in many schools around the country. The government passed new amendments to fire codes in Illinois and other states in the United States. After the fire in Our Lady of the Angels school, the city council required the mandatory installation of the fire alarm box in every school, and the fire alarms system must have been connected to the fire alarm box on the main street. Among new requirements, there also was the installation of water sprinklers inside the halls and classrooms (Brashler, 2018).
The families and relatives of the victims of that terrible night were devastated with grief. It took many decades and two generations for the community to recover and move on. Every year on the anniversary of the tragedy, the whole community gathers to honor the memory of young children who died in the fire (Taylor, 2019). However, many parents who lost their children still live with tremendous grieve from their loss.
Most Important Factors Facing the Fire and Lessons Learned
The teamwork of the community and the firefighters the night of the tragedy is remarkable. They all united in the face of the danger to help the children stuck in the building and save them. The fear that people feel in a situation like this is beyond understanding. Many were frightened for their own lives, and those who were terrified for the lives of their children. There were more than 1600 people in the building when the fire started, and despite those who died, the lives of many others were saved (Cowan & Kuenster, 1998).
The actions of the firefighter’s team were fast and right, they installed ladders to reach the top floor where most of the children were locked. They reacted to the situation accordingly, and their actions minimized the loss. However, by the time the team got to the school, it was already too late, since the fire was too strong to stop (Krauser & Krauser, 2018). Despite this, their united actions made it possible for many children to get out of the burning building.
The existing regulations of the fire code in Chicago city were crucial factors in this situation. Our Lady of the Angels school was only one of many examples of neglecting the safety regulations and requirements. According to existed law, a building that was built before 1948 did not have to follow the new fire code of Chicago city, they were “grandfathered” (Cowan & Kuenster, 1998). It means that they followed the old regulations that did not demand the installation fire alarm system of the new type. It created hazardous conditions not only in Our Lady with the Angels school but also in many others. Fortunately, after the fire, authorities learned their lesson and reviewed the fire code.
After, all the educational and hospital facilities needed to follow new regulations of the fire code. Many schools upgraded their fire alarm system, including increasing the number of fire exits and connecting the school fire alarm to the fire department (Cowan & Kuenster, 1998). These measures would help to many safe lives in the future.
The Building’s Age and Construction
The tragedy of Our Lady of the Angels school made clear that the fire code system and regulations should be reviewed. It was clear that something should have been changed to prevent such a situation from happening again. It revealed that the system was imperfect, and all the changes to be made in the future must exclude the possibility of repeating history. First of all, the building was ancient, even though well maintained, but still quite early. It did not follow the latest fire code requirements from the government (Cowan & Kuenster, 1998). Therefore, the possibility of a dangerous situation occurring was always there, but nobody paid attention to it.
Moreover, there were many widows in the school; every classroom on the second floor had additional windows on top for better air circulation. That was the crucial factor for the faster spreading of the fire. On the other hand, the accessibility of windows allowed the rescue team to get to the top classrooms and help more children to find their way out (Taylor, 2019). The important fact was also that neither teachers nor children knew how to act in an emergency. After the accident with Our Lady of the Angels school, in every educational facility, the pamphlets with instructions were put (Cowan & Kuenster, 1998). It helped to educate people on measures and actions to be taken in case of fire.
Conclusion
The tragedy that happened in Our Lady of the Angels school almost a century ago left a painful trail in many people’s hearts. The impact on the community and the whole city was significant. The book To Sleep with the Angels: the Story of Fire by Cowan and Kuenster presents not only facts and recurring events but also makes it possible to understand what happened that terrible night. Authors help readers to see how the fire occurred, what were the pre-requisites to it, and, most importantly, how to avoid it in the future. It was clear that the terrible lesson needed to be learned to prevent such a disaster from happening again.
The book is, without a doubt, a masterpiece, and everyone should read it. Angelo (2012) writes, “Cowan and Kuenster masterfully cover every imaginable aspect of the tragedy, which is seen, at times, through the eyes of the children, the nuns, the neighbors, the rescuing firefighters, the doctors and nurses, and the lawyers and investigators who poured over the case” (para. 11). Cowan and Kuenster did an incredible job telling people about events that took place that night and highlighting the most critical problems that let that happen.
References
Angelo P. (2013). Book Review: To Sleep with the Angels. Daily Journal. Web.
Brashler, B. (2018). A Tragedy Remembered. Chicago Tribute. Web.
Cowan, D., & Kuenster, J. (1998). To sleep with the angels: the story of fire. Ivan R. Dee.
Krauser, M., & Krauser, M. (2018). Our Lady Of The Angels School Fire Remembered 60 Years Ago. Web.
Taylor, A. (2019). Jamestown woman recalls surviving 1958 fire that killed 95. The Jamestown Sun. Web.
The Story Behind Another ‘Great Chicago Fire’. (2016). Web.