To sleep with the angels

To sleep with the angelsPAD 5398-16 By: mia simon

OUR LADY OF ANGELSIn 1894, our lady of angels was chartered as a parish under archbishop Patrick feehanIt was desperately needed following the massive European immigration to America in the late 19th century In 1900 the first church building openedIn 1903 the first parish school was builtIn September 1904, our lady of the angels school began educating all children

(Chicago Tribune, 1958).(Cowan & Kuenster, 1996)

Start of the schoolIn order to meet the needs of the local community, the second year it was opened the parish had to convert neighboring chapels second story into additional classroomsIn june 1906, the school saw its first graduating class of 17 studentsThe chapel was eventually converted and attached to the original school structure, as were six small apartment buildingsthe school was designed with the old English styleIt was built of brick and timber joist constructionThe interior was made of wood, wood lathe, and plasterThe ceilings were finished acoustical tile

(Cowan & Kuenster, 1996)

Chicagos 1949 municipal codeIn 1949, Chicago updated its municipal codesPart of the updates required that new school buildings be built of noncombustible materialsNew school buildings were to also contain closed stairways and fire doors to prevent fires from being able to easily spreadSprinkler systems were also required new featuresThe law was not retroactive and did not effect schools already built, including our lady of angels(Cowan & Kuenster, 1996)

Fall of 1958By fall of 1958, our lady of angels exceeded capacityThere were 1,668 students from kindergarten through eighth grade The main school building contained 24 classroomsThe building had six exits, but its only fire escape was at the rear of the buildingThe school had no sprinkler system, only a series of pressurized water fire extinguishers The local fire alarm rang inside the school, but it did not transmit a signal to the local fire department (Cowan & Kuenster, 1996)

The tragic dayIn the north wing, at the bottom of the buildings northeast stairwell, a fire in a cardboard trash can in the basement began burning Experts estimate that the fire had been burning for almost 20 minutes before it was noticedOnce it was noticed, it took approximately 5 10 more minutes for emergency departments to be notified because the proper procedures were not in placeThe practiced evacuation route was unable to be accessed because the fire spread so quickly and aggressivelyChildren began jumping from windows trapped in classrooms two storys high 92 children and three nuns passed away It is estimated that fire departments and law enforcement did not begin to arrive on scene until almost 30 45 minutes after the fire started (Cowan & Kuenster, 1996)

(Chicago Tribune, 1958).

Authors perspective part 1There is no doubt that the 1949 municipal code should have been retroactiveHad the new law applied retroactively:There would not have been as many flammable areas to contribute to the growth of the fireThe fire probably would not have grown as quickly and as severe as it didA fire sprinkler might have been able to put the fire out, or at least help the situation until help arrivedThere would not have been as many flammable areas to contribute to the growth of the fire

Authors perspective part 2The school did not have emergency management policies for evacuationsThe school had practiced evacuation before and thought that all students could exit the building in under 4 minutes, but they did not plan on exits routes being blockedThe school did not have emergency management policies for personnelwhat should we do? tristano asked, aware of the strict rule that permitted only the mother superior, the schools principal, to ring the fire alarm page 34they couldnt leave the room, certainly not until the fire alarm went off. That was the rule. pg 55Nor, he noted, could they reach the schools fire-alarm pull station, which resembled light switches and were located six feet off the floor page 138

Authors perspective part 3the city had no sense of urgencyThey were of the mind frame that nothing bad could happenA DISPATCHER WAS ANNOUNCINGSOMETHING WAS BREWING NO NEED TO WORRYENGINE 85S DISTRICT WAS NOT AN AREA WHERE THE DEPARTMENT EXPECTED SEVERE FIRES PG 75AFTER THE INCIDENT, THEY REFUSED TO TAKE BLAME STATING THAT THE SCHOOLS CONDITIONS WERE LEGAL BECAUSE THE NEW MUNICIPAL CODE DID NOT APPLY RETROACTIVELY

did this tragedy help shape emergency management planning and policy?ABSOLUTELY!!!THE ENTIRE INCIDENT WAS THROWN UNDER A MICROSCOPETHIS TRAGEDY CREATED A NEW SENSE OF URGENCY IN CHICAGO AND NATIONWIDE TO PRIORITIZE AND MAKE SURE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT POLICIES ARE IN PLACEinspectors all across the nation began inspecting schoolsWITHIN 12 HOURS INSPECTORS IN NEW YORK CLOSED FOUR SCHOOLS AND EVACUATED MORE THAN 1,000 STUDENTSHALLWAYS AND EXITS WERE FOUND BLOCKED WITH LUMBER, DESKS AND OTHER OBSTRUCTIONS THE WAY SCHOOLS AND OTHER INSTIUTIONS PLANNED FOR EMERGENCY SITUATIONS WAS CALLED INTO QUESTION THE INCIDENT ALSO FORCED THE PUBLIC TO CONFRONT THE GOVERNMENT AS TO WHY SAFETY PROCEDURES WITH THE NEW MUNICIPAL CODE WERE NOT APPLIED RETROACTIVELY

External source #1Thomas Cunningham currently serves as a career firefighter at the us naval academy fire departmentHe is also the state coordinator for the Maryland national fire academy alumni associationCunningham has examined the fire at our lady of the angels in great detail(Cunningham, n.d.).

Authors perspective Cunningham agrees with everything that the authors of the book lay claim to, but it lays the blame on a different perspectivethese structures were built with little or no fire protection the technology just did not exist most standards and codes did not exist at the time or their scope was very limitedThe author says that these conditions combined with the overcrowded school created a disaster cocktail (CUNNINGHAM, n.d.).

External source #2Adam groves is the archivist and metadata librarian at the Illinois Fire Service InstituteThey continue to study the cause and effect of the fire todayadam is well-known for studying this incident

(GROVES, 2008).

OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS SCHOOL FIRE: 50 YEARS LATER

By December 1964, all public and private schools in Chicago had enacted the new fire protection requirementsImmediately following the fire, the national attention to school fire safety created significant life safety improvements in public and private schools These were significant improvements compared the schools built in the old English styleFive decades later, there are no federal life safety codes or standards governing U.S. schoolsSafety requirements are not on par for what they should be for schools in this decadeCodes and standards for schools and other buildings are enacted only at the state and local government levels, with no national requirements for adherence or uniformity.

(GROVES, 2008).

Authors perspective Emergency management procedures need to be continued throughout the years, not just immediately following an incidentThe author argues that while the tragedy at our lady of angels did help shape emergency management policies and procedures, it was not a lasting impact

(Chicago Tribune, 1958).

External source #3Seven-year-old Dan Taglia heard the fire alarm bell from his classroom on Dec. 1, 1958, but hoped it was a signal that students were getting ice cream. It was too late in the day for a fire drill, and anyway the nuns wouldn't send the children out coatless on such a cold dayOn the first floor at Our Lady of the Angels School, where Mary Ellen Hobik was taking an English test, the nun in charge of her fourth-grade class dismissed the alarm as a mistake

(DALESSIO, 2008).

Survivors In Room 209, 13-year-old Gerry Andreoli climbed to a windowsill and jumped to the top rung of a ladder 2 feet below. The skin had burned off his hands, so he skidded down the ladder on his back, catching the rungs with his heels. now a chiropractor in Bloomingdale, IllVarnished wood with years' worth of wax residue, wooden stairs with flammable tiles ... they may just as well have built it out of tinder and kindling wood," said one survivor, Lt. Michael Mason of the Downers Grove Fire Department, who was a 6-year-old first-grader at the time of the fire

(DALESSIO, 2008).

Authors perspectiveThe personnel and the students were not prepared for an emergency situation One was going on and they just brushed it off as if the signals were a mistakeI think the author gave accounts of the children and survived and talked about what they did now to put an emphasis on how valuable the survivors areIm sure the author wishes that they could interview every single child that attended school that day and find out what career they had now

External source #4Craig morgan was a student 1,000 miles away from our lady of the angels schoolWhen the fire happened, he became worried that the same fire would happen at his school and he was determined to become an expert in fire preparedness and readinessIn addition, morgan studied the root cause of the fire: who and why did what they didThis external source by morgan closely evaluates the young boy that was suspected of the arson that took so many lives at our lady of the angelsMorgan is now a strong advocate for treatment of the mentally ill

Polygraph by examiner john e. reidOn January 12, 1962, a 13-year old boy was brought in for a polygraph test at the request of his mother and attorney to try and prove his innocence The boy was currently being investigated for a back porch fire which resulted in $5000 worth of damage and a Town Hall Bowling Alley Fire which resulted in several deathsThe boy had previously admitted to his parents that he set two additional alley fires and a basement fire The boys mother became concerned when she learned that he was experiencing sexual gratification from the fires

(Morgan, n.d.).

Results:During the polygraph, the examiner asked the boy if those were the only fires he had setExaminer reid uncovered that the boy had begun setting fires as young as five years oldThe boy also admitted to setting at least eleven total firesIt was eventually discovered that the boy attended Our lady of angels school when the fire was setAlthough he first denied involvement, the boy later admitted in the polygraph that he was responsible for setting the fireWhen the examiner left the boy alone in the room to talk to the mother, both parties returned to the room to find the boy masturbating to the picture of the crime scene he has drawn

(Morgan, n.d.).

Confession:

On the afternoon that it happened, I was coming back to school with a boyfriend of mine who lived on Springfield Avenue. I said I got some matches in my hand and I could burn down the school and we wouldnt have to go to school no more.

(Morgan, n.d.).

Q: What did you do?A: I asked my teacher if I could be excused and went to the washroom. After coming from the washroom I went to the chapel to see if anyone was in there. Then from the chapel I went back to this here can like janitors have, it was made out of cardboard like and had steel rims on it and I didn't see anybody no place and I used three matches and I lit the thing and I ran back upstairs to my roomQ: After you got to your room, what did you do?A: I went back to my seat and was talking and goofing around, bothering the kids and then my teacher opened the door and there was smoke coming and she ran to the fire alarm upstairs and she turned it in for the school so everybody could get out to know what it was. Then she got all us kids out over to the window and had to wait until the firemen could get through there first with the net and she pushed us out the window and she jumped herself.

(Morgan, n.d.).

No one to blametHe examiner turned the confession over to the police and the boy was placed in the Arthur J. Audy Juvenile HomeCharges were filed against him, but after a series of hearings that ended in March 1962, Judge Cilella tossed out the boy's confession,Judge cilella ruled that the examiner had obtained it illegally since the boy was under the age of 13 at the time of the fire, he could not be tried for a felony in IllinoisThe boy was charged with starting several other fires, and was sent to a home for troubled boys in Michigan The boy's identity has never been publicly released(Taylor, 2014).

Authors perspective Based on the series of event and the transcripts of the polygraph, the author believes that the boys parents were well aware that their child was suffering from a conditionThe amount of fires he had previously set and the sexual gratification he experience from the fires were all things his mother was aware ofHad his parents sought help from professionals earlier on, the child may not have set the fire at our lady of angels, if he was indeed the one to start itIt is also important to note that mental illness was not properly recognized as a disease during this timeThe author advocates for the continued advocacy to de-stigmatize mental illness

My perspective based on the bookNo one will ever know if the tragedy at our lady of angels could have been completely prevented, but steps could have been taken to mitigate the damages and protect human livesIt is crucial for buildings and facilities to be built and equipped with life saving qualities in the event of an emergencyIt is also crucial for personnel at these locations to be equipped with the proper knowledge, policies and proceduresPersonnel should also be prepared to handle alternative routes/situations in case the one they have practiced is unavailable New safety features should always be applied retroactively to protect the most amount of people and property

My perspective based on the external sourcesEmergency management policies and procedures should not just happen in reaction to an event, but they should also be constantly updated to prevent another eventThere are many outside factors that can impact emergency management events such as mental illnessMental illness can lead someone to do something horrific, whether it be arson or an active shooterWhile mental illness may not directly linked to emergency management, there are steps society can take to prevent emergencies from happening

APA Reference listChicago tribune. Photo gallery: Tragedy at Our Lady of the Angels School. (1958, December 2). Retrieved June 22, 2016, from http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/photo/vintage/ct-our-lady-of-the-angels-school-fire-vintage-photos-20151201-photogallery.htmlCowan, D., & Kuenster, J. (1996).To sleep with the angels: The story of a fire. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee. Cunningham, Thomas. "Our Lady of the Angels: A Historical Perspective on School Fires."Our Lady of the Angels: A Historical Perspective on School Fires. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 June 2016.D'Alessio, F. (2008, November 30). Survivors of 1958 school fire haunted by memories. Retrieved June 288, 2016, from http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705266953/Survivors-of-1958-school-fire-haunted-by-memories.html?pg=allGroves, A. (2008, December 01). OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS SCHOOL FIRE: 50 YEARS LATER. Retrieved June 19, 2016, from http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-161/issue-12/features/our-lady-of-the-angels-school-fire-50-years-later.htmlMorgan, E. (n.d.). Confession of alleged arsonist of Our Lady of the Angels School Fire December 1 1958 Chicago Illinois. Retrieved June 22, 2016, from http://www.olafire.com/confession.aspTaylor, T. (2014, December 1). INNOCENCE LOST: THE OUR LADY OF ANGELS FIRE. Retrieved June 25, 2016, from http://troytaylorbooks.blogspot.com/2014/12/innocence-lost-our-lady-of-angels-fire.html