ipl-logo

Triangle Waist Factory Fire In The Early 1900's

857 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Impact of Triangle waist factory fire

In the early 1900’s worker’s did not have a lot of rights and as a result work had to work in unsafe environments, they worked long hours, and had to endure horrible work conditions. Two years before the fire the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU) Local 25 assisted more than 15,000 workers to achieve better wages and safer work conditions. Isaac Harris and Max Blanck, who owned the Triangle Shirt Waist factory in New York City refused to let their employees organize a union and actually ended up firing over 500 people for supporting a union although some that were there at the time of the fire were a part of the ILGWU. There were roughly 500 people working in the Triangle Waist Company and were mostly made of immigrant women. …show more content…

On March 25, 1911 at 4:45pm a fire started on the 8th floor. The fire doesn’t have an official cause but most speculate it was either a cigarette butt thrown in a waste basket or possibly an electrical short. The fire spread very quickly due to the paper and fabric that we piled in the factory. While some employees were trying to put the fire out with buckets of water other employees tried to make calls to the 9th and 10th floors. Attempts were made to use fire hoses that were located in the factory but when they went to turn the water on nothing came out. The ninth floor did not get the phone call and only realized something was wrong when they saw flames. The 10th floor on the other hand did receive the call in time and most workers were able to escape to the roof of the adjoining building including the owners, Isaac Harris and Max Blanck. 146 people died in the fire or succumbed to their injuries later on. The fire spread so fast that the fire started and was extinguished within 30 minutes. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire was the most deadly incident in New York City until the terrorist attack on September 11, …show more content…

The supervisors would lock the doors during the shift because they felt that it would stop theft and the doors on the work floor opened the wrong way, they swung in instead of out. Also, when they built the building they were given special permission to build only two stair cases in the building instead of 3 by using the fire escape at the 3rd staircase. When the fire broke out the two stair cases filled with smoke and were impassible. When the employees attempted to use the fire escape, it was so poorly made that it collapsed and sent 24 workers falling to the ground below. When the fire department arrived on the scene and tried to rescue those trapped, they extended their ladder and realized it only reached up to the 6th floor. The fire department’s hoses did not reach high enough either and were unable to put out the fire quickly on the 9th

Show More
Related
522 Words | 3 Pages

Eventually, the employees realized they would not win the battle, and returned to work. The founders of this company were selfish in their actions, only stopping to help it’s employees when they started to lack personal gain. After going back to work, a cigarette, still lit, was dropped onto the workroom floor of the 8th floor. The loose fabric and wicker baskets quickly wicked this up, creating a deadly fire. The stairwell was locked, and no one had the key to open

Read More
192 Words | 1 Pages

Some believe it could have been because of a cigarette that was thrown close to some flammable, a machine, or even a faculty in electricity. The outcome of this horrible disaster caused 146 deaths. Within the eighteen minutes it lasted, all of these workers tried to save their lives by trying to escape in different ways. Some tried using one out of the four elevators

Read More
1557 Words | 7 Pages

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.

Read More
125 Words | 1 Pages

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire begun on March 25,1911. The fire started because someone had dropped a cigarette and started the fire. The fire started on the 8th floor of the factory, it continued up to the 9th floor. The fire killed around 145 workers. Some people jumped and killed themselves rather than getting burned alive, one jumper survived the jump.

Read More
340 Words | 2 Pages

Through out the history of the United States, a number of incidents and disasters have occurred to influence safety and protection. In the aftermath of these events, valuable lessons are learned and steps are taken to ensure nothing like that happens again. One such incident is the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, one of the most influential and horrifying incidents in United States history. The fact that both the National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA) and National Safety Council (NSC) trace their history back to this incident speaks to that. Sadly, the tragic events that unfolded during the Triangle fire were not surprising.

Read More
864 Words | 4 Pages

One of the main reasons the fire took such a psychological toll on the New Yorkers was because of the workers jumping to there deaths. One witness even remarked the event saying quote 'I know a new sound a terrible sound the sound of a body hitting the pavement". The inferno was also not an uncommon occurrence the triangle shirt was burned before the tragedy to collect insurance money. Knowing this information, many Jewish and women workers went on strike to secure improved working conditions. There strike in fact proved successful with the New York state legislature creating the Factory Investigating Commission.

Read More
1304 Words | 6 Pages

On this day 105 years ago, 145 employees lost their lives (OSHA par 1). Because of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire and the people harmed, new regulations and machinery have been incorporated to ensure the safety of all workers. When the fire broke out, men jumped up to help, reaching for the fire hose however it had been rusted through being useless as was the fire escape. Only one out of the four elevators worked causing a traffic jam leading many women to jump out the windows to their deaths (History Staff par 2). By the time the fire department arrived, many women had already burned to death and the factory was on its way to ashes.

Read More
451 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More
1082 Words | 5 Pages

Because of the fire, many new safety regulations have been issued. “Every building has to have a enforced fire drill and fire alarms” to keep the workers safe (The Labor Law). In 1970, the government created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to make sure that the new safety regulations were being enforced. The girls in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire all died a horrific

Read More
1807 Words | 8 Pages

On March 25, 1911, The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City caught on fire and killed over a hundred workers. It is known as one of the most appalling incident to occur in factory history. There was many skeptical thoughts about how the fire started and how it caused innumerable amount of damage. This devastating incident caused the industry to realize what was going wrong in the workplace. Most of the factory owners were not making it a safe environment for their workers and caused this fire to occur.

Read More
1376 Words | 6 Pages

On March 25th, 1911, a fire broke out on the eighth floor of the Asch Building in Manhattan. In the top three floors there were around 600 employees, mostly all teenage girls. It is unknown why the fire started but they think it was because of a carelessly thrown out cigarette butt. The workers were trapped inside of the factory because the doors was locked from the outside to force them to keep working, lack of fire exits,

Read More
1576 Words | 7 Pages

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.

Read More
1428 Words | 6 Pages

The Triangle Fire The Triangle fire that claimed the lives of 146 people, most of them immigrant women and girls, caused an outcry against unsafe working conditions in factories. Firefighters arrived at the scene, but their ladders could only reach the 6th floor of the ten-story building, while the hose could only reach the 7th floor. Workers were trapped inside because the owners had locked the fire escape exit doors to prevent theft, so workers jumped to their deaths. The government could’ve prevented the Triangle fire earlier if they listened to the workers’ plea for a safety working environment. Union organization tried to address the employees’ working conditions but wasn’t recognized.

Read More
447 Words | 2 Pages

In the early 1900’s the workplace was not as safe as it is today. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire helped to create laws for a better workplace to keep employees safer. This accident was portrayed in a movie called The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal (1979), a book called Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix, and on a primary text called My First Job by Rose Cohen. Although the idea is the same the different forms had some minor differences. As previously mentioned, in the historic fiction book Uprising, the author took us through the lives of 2 young girls trying to brave it out in the land of opportunities, America.

Read More
865 Words | 4 Pages

In the meantime the triangle shirtwaist factory fire took the life of hundreds of people and had an estimated loss in millions, which distinctly showed the terrible workplace and the safety of the workers (The

Read More

More about Triangle Waist Factory Fire In The Early 1900's

Open Document