Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Essay

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. In 1911, the 275 girls died that day had only 27 buckets of water (Leap for Life, Leap for Death). The wildfire was spreading quickly on the ninth and eighth floor and the fire departments hose could not reach all the way. “19 bodies were found charred against the locked doors. 25 bodies were found huddled in a cloak room” (Leap for Life, Leap for Death). Most of the girls also decided to jump out of the

Firemen searched the building searching if their was any evidence on how the fire was started and discovered something even more important. They figured out that during the fire the doors were locked which prevented the girls to get out of the building. “... we never went out the front door. We always went one by one out the back. There was a man there searching, because the people were afraid we would take something, so that door was always locked” (Leap for Life, Leap for Death). The front doors of the factory would always be locked because the owners Isaac Harris and Max Blanck thought one of the employees might steal something from the factory. When they tried to go downstairs, the flames of the fire burned them that prevented them to try leave the building. The factory owners were charged for manslaughter after the fire. A few years later they were acquitted and let out of