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Triangle Factory Fire Essay

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On March 25, 1911, one of the most deadliest fires in American industrial history occurred at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory in New York City. The fire killed about 145 of the factories workers. The deaths could've been prevented easily but, due to not following safety procedures they weren't.
The Triangle factory was located in the top three floors of the Asch Building, on the corner of Greene Street and Washington Place, in Manhattan. The factory was a true sweatshop that hired young women who were immigrants that worked in a cramped space at lines of sewing machines. Almost all of the girls who worked there were in their teens and did not speak any English. They worked 12 hours a day, every day. In 1911, the factory only had …show more content…

The owners of Triangle Shirtwaist, Blanck and Harris, already had a suspicious history of factory fires. The Triangle factory was burned twice in 1902, while their Diamond Waist Company factory also burned twice, in 1907 and 1910. It was as Blanck and Harris torched their workplaces on purpose, before business hours so they can collect the large fire-insurance policies. This was very a common practice in these times. Even though this wasn’t what cause the fired that occurred in 1911, it sure did help the tragedy happen. Blanck and Harris refused to install sprinkler systems and take other safety measures in case they needed to burn down their shops …show more content…

There were strikes held two years before the fire occurred to demand a higher pay and less hours. The Triangle Shirtwaist was one of few companies who resisted and paid off certain people to look the other way. On a Saturday afternoon, March 25th, 600 workers were at the factory when the fire began in a rag bin. The manager tried to put it out but it wasn't successful. As the fire grew so did panic. The workers all rushed to the elevator but it only held 12 people at a time and the operator can only make a couple of trips before it broke down due to the heat of the flames. Being desperate to escape the fire, the girls that were left behind waiting for the elevator decided to jump down the shaft to their deaths. The girls who fled to the stairwells also met awful demises–when they found the door at the bottom of the stairs were locked, many were burned alive. Workers and owners on the levels above the fire, escaped on the roof and jumped to other

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They weren't forced into having fire safety laws or fire drills so that didn't help either. So why was Isaac Harris charged with murder? The Triangle Factory had a few errors in

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Most of the people who were working in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory were on a strike before the fire for working rights and safety precautions. If the owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory followed the safety precautions the strike was proposing, the fire could have been prevented, and would have saved many lives. According to source 5, the doors were locked, long wooden tables became obstacles, and boxes crowded the exit. All of that could have easily been prevented. Also, higher class people were also involved in the strike which made it bigger and more popular to people.

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Many people might say, why was the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire so important? The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire was so important because it was a tragedy that opened the nation's eyes to poor working conditions in garment factories. Other question might be ask why were the doors locked in the Triangle Shirtwaist fire? The building had only one fire escape, Long tables and bulky machines trapped many of the victims. Panicked workers were crushed as they struggled with doors that were locked by managers to prevent theft, or doors that opened the wrong way.

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When looking more closely at the structure of the building the most obvious design flaw was the fact that the exit doors opened to the inside. When fire exits have a design like this, it deters how fast large quantities of people can exit at any given time. The text highlighted mitigating tools that can reduce risk to people and their property and if these tools were utilized before this fire some individuals that lost their life that day would have been minimal if any at all. One of the mentionable tools is taxation and fiscal policies. The owners stated in multiple investigations that the cost was just

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The investigation involved thousands of factories across New York and eventually uncovered a serious need for reform. “They dealt with specific aspects of the Triangle fire, providing more stringent requirements for fire escapes and fire drills and stronger regulations against locked doors, blocked exits and aisles and the presence of combustible material (Argersinger p32).” The reform

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Despite the death and destruction it caused, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire ultimately benefited America by opening the eyes of mistreated factory workers and inspiring them to fight for better working conditions. Though it was unbeknownst at the time, the fire would inspire mistreated workers to rise out of the ashes and work tirelessly not for a factory, but for their own wellbeing. The history, the fire, and the trial that are all connected to the Triangle Shirtwaist Company are the events that led to the exploration for better working conditions. While we may not wish to remember all of the suffering the conflagration caused, we see its imprint it left on society whenever we see someone at work. This just imprint is one of safety.

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It was later discovered that the fire had probably started when a worker disposed a cigarette or match into a rag bin containing three hundred pounds of thin, oxygen-rich, cotton fabric. It was also estimated that there was a total of more than one ton of those cotton scraps in the upper three floors of the factory. “In that brief span, the fire did more killing than any other workplace disaster in New York City history up to that time, or for ninety years afterward.” It was considered “the worst industrial fire in American history.” The fire was one of the most important and biggest factors in the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment.

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Another result of the fire was the creation of the American Society of Safety Engineers. Which was Designed for all buildings to fall under the code to make them safer? The American Society of Safety Engineers did just that, and there has not been any other building tragedy fire not caused by arson as severe as the shirtwaist fire. I will now like to return to the original question.

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To determine this, many sources and ideas must be recognized and appointed. One of the ideas that has come to mind was that a cigarette butt from the workers who had secretly been smoking had made it's way into the cloth bin and, because of the highly flammable material the blouses were made of, it set the bin and the building ablaze. Another idea that has come to mind is that maybe the owners of the establishment, Max and Isaac, burned the building down on purpose, making this an even more interesting topic. Some of the evidence that has risen up from the possible dark truth below is that the doors leading out of the building on the ninth floor, where the doors were supposedly locked and/ or were designed to be pushed outwards instead of inwards. Max and Isaac claim that this was because of a theft concern, and that this would keep minimal thefts happening (Martin par 8).

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On March 25, 1911 in New York City, one of the most tragic disasters on record in the history of American industry transpired. This horrendous event will forever be known as The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. Somewhere near closing time on that horrific Saturday afternoon, a fire broke out on the top three floors of the Asch building which were being occupied by the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. Within minutes chaos arose, everything had erupted into madness, forever disrupting the lives of hundreds of young workers. When the fire was over, 146 of the 500 employees had died an extremely miserable death during the disastrous event.

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The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire was a devastating fire that killed 146 girls in New York City (Leap for Life, Leap for Death). At this time, citizens of New York were furious and demanded that the government do something to prevent future tragedies. The government responded and the reforms that the government made, it changed the future of New York industry. The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, one of history’s deadliest fires, came as a result of outrageously unsafe working conditions, led to a high death toll and injury total, but, ultimately resulted in reforms that helped safeguard future factory workers.

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In 1902, the Triangle Factory was burned twice and Blanck’s and Harris’s other company, Diamond Waist, was scorched twice; once in 1907 and in 1910 (1 “Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire” 3). Those fires were purposely started by them before work hours to collect large fire-insurance policies (3). That was a common act in the early 20th century (3). Though they didn’t cause the fire in 1911, it contributed to the disaster, because Blanck and Harris refused to install a sprinkler system and other safety measures in case they needed to burn down their shops again (3). This would only add to the severity of the upcoming event.

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In addition, the fire also had a lasting impact on the insurance industry. Companies began to recognize the need for employers’ liability insurance to cover the costs of workplace accidents (McEvoy, 1995). As a result, new policies were introduced to protect both employers and employees in the event of an injury. The lasting impact of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire is clear; it led to the establishment of laws that protect workers and the introduction of insurance policies that provide compensation for workplace

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The detrimental Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire is considered to be one of the most tragic disasters in history. On March 25th, 1911, a fire broke out and killed 146 garment workers who were mostly women. These women worked countless hours with low wages and inhumane working conditions in a factory. Even though this event was tragic, the triangle shirtwaist fire helped to shape the new world for the better. The multitude of workers trapped within the inferno to their demise was the final straw for the mistreatment of America’s workers.

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