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The Fire That Invented the School Fire Drill — Transcript

by Stewart Hicks · 2,365 words · 365 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00It's 2:30 in the afternoon and Miss
0:02Tristano, a rookie teacher, she's
0:04watching over her classroom of 60 fifth
0:06graders. That's twice as many as this
0:08room is designed to hold. It's the late
0:101950s and it's the peak of the baby
0:12boom. Chicago simply has not been able
0:13to build school buildings fast enough.
0:16As everyone awaits the final bell, two
0:17girls volunteered for the daily ritual
0:19of emptying the classroom's waste
0:21basket. Back then, every school had an
0:23incinerator down in the basement for
0:25garbage. Only minutes before, a boy on
0:27the same route decided to light a quick
0:29cigarette. When he was through, he
0:30absent-mindedly flicked the contraband
0:32into a bin on his way back upstairs. The
0:34girls didn't notice as they passed on
0:36the way down, but as they headed back,
0:38the stairwell was full of thick, dark
0:40smoke and flames. They were spreading
0:42fast. At that moment, due to that
0:44building's construction, its fate was
0:45sealed. The question now was whether
0:47students and teachers would be able to
0:48make it out alive. But without having
0:50ever done a fire drill, where people are
0:52trained what to do, time was of the
0:54essence. So, in a panic, the pair ran
0:56back upstairs to tell their teacher. But
0:58Miss Tristano, she didn't know what to
0:59do either. She had her student stay put
1:02while she went and checked next door in
1:03room 207 with the more experienced
1:05teacher. Turns out that at this school,
1:07only the principal had the authority to
1:09call for an evacuation. So, Miss
1:11Tristano sprinted down the hallway to
1:12the principal's office, got permission,
1:14and rushed back to her class. She
1:16quickly lined everyone up and led them
1:17out through the nearest exit. That was a
1:19door that happened to be right next to
1:21an outdoor staircase. At that exact same
1:24time, on the other side of the building,
1:26a janitor had spotted the red glow
1:28coming from the basement windows. He
1:29immediately told the housekeeper to go
1:31call the fire department while he ran to
1:32get a ladder to help. With her students
1:34finally safely outside, Mr. Stano ran
1:37back into the burning building to pull
1:39one of the school's only two fire alarm
1:41switches. Both of them were mounted 6 ft
1:43off the ground in order to discourage
1:45any student mischief. Once pulled,
1:47however, these alarms don't
1:48automatically notify the department.
1:50They only ring bells inside of the
1:52building. So, even though everyone
1:53inside heard the alarms ringing, for
1:55many classrooms, it was already too
1:57late. The hallways were already
1:59impassible, they were completely filled
2:00with smoke. The only chance for kids
2:02trapped in the northeast side of the
2:04building was to await rescue through the
2:06outside windows, almost three stories
2:08above the ground. Meanwhile, the
2:10housekeeper finally reached a phone and
2:12dialed the fire department at 2:42 p.m.
2:16But in her panic, she gave the wrong
2:18address, 3808 Iowa Street. The school
2:21was actually located at 9:09 North Avers
2:23Avenue. Despite all that confusion, the
2:25first fire brigade actually arrived 2
2:27minutes later, 2:44 p.m. They had to
2:30smash through a locked 6 ft iron gate
2:32just to get to the school grounds. And
2:34over the next 11 minutes, they rescued
2:37160 children. But at 255, the building's
2:40roof finally collapsed, leaving 92
2:42children and three nuns who never were
2:44able to make it out. News of this
2:46tragedy spread until it was the main
2:48topic of news across the globe. In fact,
2:51the response to this disaster was
2:53probably the fastest and the most
2:55sweeping reaction to any single fire in
2:58American history. People were horrified
3:00by the sheer scale and loss of just
3:02innocent lives. And the newspaper ran
3:04these heartbreaking photographs were
3:06taken by local journalists that were
3:08able to effectively humanize the toll.
3:11Immediately, cities started taking
3:12threats from fire seriously. Los Angeles
3:15was particularly vigilant where
3:17officials began staging drills called
3:19Operation School Burning. The school
3:21district donated a soon-to-be demolished
3:23building to the fire department for them
3:25to be able to perform testing on. They
3:27set over 150 fires inside and they
3:30included a wide array of sensors and
3:32documentation so that they were able to
3:34model the effects of smoke and
3:36survivability in a multitude of
3:38different scenarios. For example, the
3:40effects of different finish materials on
3:42classroom walls and how it affects
3:43temperature over time. Meanwhile, the
3:45National Fire Protection Association
3:47launched an investigation in Chicago
3:49trying to piece together exactly why so
3:51many died. They found a clear pattern in
3:53the fatalities. They were clustered
3:55around a very specific set of classrooms
3:57that were near the stairwell where the
3:58fire first started. All except room 207,
4:01which even though it's right in the
4:03middle of the highest of danger zones,
4:05all students got out safely. That room
4:07happened to have a back door leading to
4:08the same exit that Miss Tristano's class
4:11took to escape. The rooms further away
4:13filled with smoke last and they were
4:15close enough to the other exits though
4:17so that the students were able to get
4:18out safely. But rooms 208, 209, and room
4:21210 had no easy way out once they
4:23realized the danger. These details
4:25helped the investigators understand
4:26exactly how the fire spread inside of
4:28this building. But the real problems
4:30that led to so many deaths were already
4:32obvious. The NFPA quickly blamed the
4:35Chicago Arch Dascese for keeping kids in
4:37what they call quote a fire trap.
4:39Honestly, it's almost exactly what it
4:41was. There were dozens of problems here.
4:43Basic safety issues that wouldn't pass
4:44even the most casual inspection today.
4:46Just look at the main stairwell where it
4:48all started. It acted just like a giant
4:50chimney. The wooden stairs were perfect
4:52fuel. The hallway and windows below
4:55provided oxygen and the open stair shaft
4:57above facilitated a stack effect which
4:59pulled smoke upward rapidly spreading it
5:02throughout the building. If the school
5:04had been built according to the building
5:05codes that were in place since 1948,
5:08over a decade before the fire, things
5:09would have looked very different. For
5:11starters, the stairwell would have been
5:13enclosed by fireresistant walls, and the
5:15stairs themselves would have been made
5:16of materials that don't easily burn.
5:18Each floor would have had fire rated
5:20doors that automatically close based on
5:22heat sensors detecting danger and
5:24keeping smoke contained into smaller
5:26areas instead of letting it spread
5:28throughout a floor. Those same heat
5:30sensors would have instantly sounded
5:31alarms both inside the building and
5:33directly to the fire department,
5:35triggering sprinklers to douse the
5:37flames before they grow out of control.
5:39It would have also signaled an external
5:41box to show arriving emergency personnel
5:44exactly where the fire is located inside
5:45of the building. But none of those
5:47protections were in place, even though
5:48it was mandatory by law a full 11 years
5:51at that point. A fire inspection just
5:53weeks before the tragedy declared this
5:54building perfectly fine for occupancy.
5:57And technically that was true because it
5:58was built all the way back in 1903, long
6:01before anyone fully understand just how
6:03dangerous all of these design decisions
6:05would be. When new safety codes come
6:06along, older buildings usually get a
6:08free pass and something that's called
6:10the grandfather clause. Basically says,
6:12"Hey, your building's old. You don't
6:14have to change it right away. But after
6:15this fire, when people realized just how
6:17dangerous that loophole was, the entire
6:20country said enough. Over the next year
6:22alone, more than 16,500
6:25schools across the US, schools that had
6:28previously dodged safety upgrades were
6:30finally brought up to code. In Chicago,
6:32things were even more intense. The fire
6:34commissioner at that time, Robert Quinn,
6:36he immediately put firefighters on guard
6:38duty at dozens of public and private
6:40schools that he considered to be high-
6:41risk. They literally stood watch around
6:44the clock until the buildings were made
6:46safe. And on top of that, the city
6:47ramped up inspections everywhere,
6:49quickly checking every single school in
6:51the city. But it wasn't just the
6:53buildings themselves that needed fixing.
6:55Before the fire at Our Lady of the
6:57Angels, teachers weren't really trained
6:59for these kinds of things. Remember how
7:00Mr. Stano had to run to the principal
7:02first just to get permission to
7:04evacuate? That cost precious minutes.
7:07Afterwards, schools changed their
7:08approach so that teachers had clear
7:10instructions. If you see smoke or fire,
7:13pull the alarm immediately. Do not wait.
7:15Don't ask permission. Just get everyone
7:17out safely right away.
7:18>> Don't hesitate even for a second.
7:21>> This marked a huge shift in how schools
7:23handled fires. Just trust teachers.
7:25Trust their judgment rather than waiting
7:26around for someone hired to say go.
7:29>> Do you know where that is or indeed what
7:32it is or how to operate it? Or will you
7:34be running around in circles trying to
7:36find it or looking for someone to do the
7:38job for you? Schools and fire
7:40departments started working closely
7:41together, giving teachers training in
7:43how to act during a fire, to close the
7:45classroom doors, to keep out smoke,
7:47don't open doors if the hallway looks
7:48dangerous, and most importantly, how to
7:50calmly get kids out of the building.
7:52Another immediate change, and one of the
7:54more iconic, I think, came by way of
7:56fire drills. Before 1958, a lot of
7:58schools barely ever practiced
8:00evacuations. Some didn't do it at all.
8:02But after this tragedy, cities and
8:03states across the country passed laws
8:05making regular fire drills mandatory.
8:08Illinois, for example, requires three
8:10fire drills per year. A practice that
8:12quickly became standard across the
8:14United States. And that's a direct
8:15result of what happened at Our Lady of
8:17the Angels. The influence goes even
8:19further because firefighters also
8:21realized how important it was to
8:23practice evacuating in less than ideal
8:25conditions. Fire blocks exits. So,
8:28schools began doing a blocked exit
8:30drills, intentionally blocking the main
8:32escape routes during practice. That way,
8:34students and teachers could learn to
8:36think quickly and find alternate ways
8:37out. All these changes, better codes,
8:39regular drills, and teacher training
8:41came together in reaction to this single
8:44event. And it wouldn't be long before
8:45these new approaches would be put to the
8:47test. Only 2 weeks after our Lady of the
8:50Angels fire, an eerily similar one broke
8:52out in nearby Kennallorth, Illinois. It
8:54too was an older school building with
8:55combustible construction, you know, with
8:57wooden interiors and things like that.
8:59This fire started in a closet at the
9:01base of a basement stairwell where it
9:03had the potential to grow and spread
9:04rapidly. It was almost the exact same
9:07setup. The main difference in
9:08Kennallorth is that the school had
9:10practiced a successful fire drill
9:11rehearsal following the new procedures.
9:13They even practiced a blocked exit
9:15scenario. And by sheer coincidence or
9:17maybe some other force, the stairwell
9:19where the fire occurred was the very
9:21same one that was blocked during the
9:22drill. Not a single life was lost. In
9:25fact, since 1958, there's not been
9:26another school fire with more than 10
9:28lives lost. So, the mandatory changes
9:30enacted a reaction that seemed to have
9:32worked. That doesn't mean that we're out
9:34of the woods, though. New pressures on
9:35school buildings to protect against
9:37shootings or other dangers can create
9:39direct conflicts with fire safety. You
9:41know, for instance, I think safety for
9:42one means susceptibility for the other.
9:44More doors for fire offers more points
9:47of access that are difficult to monitor
9:48and control. Even so, today in an
9:51average year, we'll see about 5,000
9:52building fires across the US. But they
9:54rarely result in fatalities. The
9:56majority of these incidences are arson
9:59or students playing with lighters in the
10:01bathroom. Safer building design and
10:03training for students and staff has come
10:05a long way. But there's another shift
10:07that I think is relevant. The idea that
10:08you can just trust the way that a
10:10building looks to tell you if it's safe
10:11or well-built is always worth
10:13questioning. While an old brick church
10:15and school might look enduring because
10:17it's old, that doesn't necessarily mean
10:19that we shouldn't question whether it
10:20should stay that way. In fact, our next
10:22video goes into how our homes evolve in
10:25response to various pressures to change.
10:27Fire codes are one of them, but our home
10:29is impacted by social and behavioral and
10:32market forces. And we trace the
10:34formation and disappearance of the
10:36parlor and the dining room in this
10:37fascinating video which is available
10:39right now 3 weeks before YouTube on
10:41Nebula. In fact, if you only catch me
10:43here on YouTube, you're missing out on a
10:45ton of stuff, like building tours and a
10:47behind-the-scenes look at our new
10:48studio, which is only available on
10:50Nebula. But it's not just my videos on
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