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The Iroquois Theater Fire in Chicago, Illinois, claimed 602 lives on December 30, 1903. It is currently the worst single-building fire in U.S. history, claiming over 100 more fatalities than the Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston.

The exterior of the theatre was only lightly damaged as indicated in this photo taken after the blaze was extinguished

The Iroquois Theater, at 24-28 West Randolph St., was advertised as "absolutely fireproof." That day, over 1,900 people were in attendance at a matinée showing of the popular musical Mr. Bluebeard. At about 3:15 P.M., a light ignited a curtain. The firefighting equipment on hand was ineffective and the protective asbestos curtain failed to drop completely. Actors and dancers fled through a backstage door, and the influx of air fueled a huge fireball. Locked exits, doors that opened inward, and unfinished fire escapes prevented many people from escaping. Of the 500 or so actors, dancers, stagehands, etc., a tightrope walker died. Comedian Eddie Foy was hailed as a hero for attempting to calm the crowd. Foy's role in this disaster is recreated by Bob Hope in the film The Seven Little Foys.

After the fire, it was revealed that fire inspectors had been bribed with free tickets to overlook code violations. Accusations began to appear that the asbestos curtain wasn't even asbestos. The curtain had "disappeared" which meant it was either viewed as incriminating evidence and removed or had burned up, in which case it could not have been asbestos (which does not burn). Regardless, the Mayor ordered all theaters in Chicago closed for a week after the fire.

As a result of public outrage, many were charged with crimes, even Mayor Carter Harrison, Jr., but most charges were dismissed. The only person convicted was a tavern keeper charged with robbing the dead.

A horse-drawn ambulance is filled with the bodies of victims.

The exterior of the Iroquois was largely intact and reopened as the Colonial Theater, which was torn down in 1926 to make way for the Oriental Theater.

Anonymous. Lest We Forget: Chicago's Awful Theatre Horror. Chicago: Memorial Publishing, 1904.

Fire Portal

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• The Station nightclub fire--a 2003 fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island that killed 100
• Collinwood School Fire--a 1908 fire that killed 175 in Cleveland, Ohio
• 2006 Kolkata leather factory fire--a 2006 fire in West Bengal, India that killed at least 10
• Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire--a 1911 fire in New York, New York that killed 146
• Stardust disaster--a 1981 fire in Dublin, Ireland that killed 46
• 1991 Hamlet chicken processing plant fire--a fire in Hamlet, North Carolina killing 25
• Summerland disaster--a 1973 fire on the Isle of Man that killed 51
• Happy Land Fire--a 1990 fire in New York, New York that killed 87
• Cocoanut Grove fire--a 1941 fire in Boston killing 491
• Our Lady of the Angels School Fire--a 1958 fire in Chicago, Illinois that killed 95
• 2006 Moscow hospital fire--a fire in a Moscow hospital killing 46

All of the tragedies above involved people being trapped behind locked doors or windows, or doors that could not be pushed open.

• http://www.chipublib.org/004chicago/disasters/iroquois_fire.html
• http://www.inficad.com/~ksup/iroquois.html
• http://www.failuremag.com/arch_history_iroquois_theatre.html

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Coordinates: 41°53′5″N, 87°37′43″W