This will be a five-installment post over the next few days. To access the entire story, visit the Ridge Historical Society Facebook page.
Part I. RHS usually shares upbeat stories, but the Ridge also saw its share of tragedy. As we enter the New Year, this entry is a reminder that every day is a gift.
The holidays didn’t always bring “glad tidings of comfort and joy.” On December 30, 1903, one of the biggest tragedies in Chicago’s history occurred. The Iroquois Theater caught fire, resulting in an estimated 602 deaths. This remains the deadliest theater fire and deadliest single-building fire in U. S. history. There were twice as many fatalities with this fire as with the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
The theater had opened to much fanfare just the month before. It was considered architecturally beautiful and was advertised as “absolutely fireproof.” But in reality there were numerous safety deficiencies that were known by the builders and owners, city officials, fire inspectors and fire department.
The afternoon matinee of the musical play “Mr. Bluebeard, Jr.” on that fateful Wednesday was packed with almost 2,200 people. Most were women with children, enjoying an outing during school break.
Sparks from a stage light, believed to have been caused by a short circuit, ignited a curtain. Seeing the fire, the audience panicked. Many people were trapped – just one safety flaw among many was that the doors at the Iroquois opened inward with locks the people could not operate. The crush of people trying to exit kept the doors pushed shut. People were trampled, asphyxiated and/or burned.
There isn’t space here to recount the horrors inside the theater, or the many acts of heroism that occurred. There are numerous accounts of the fire that can be accessed on-line.
A police officer on patrol saw people running from the theater with their clothes on fire and raised the fire alarm. After the fire was extinguished, the gruesome task of recovering and identifying the victims began. Many were burned beyond recognition.
Investigations led to criminal charges that were later dismissed. Numerous new safety laws were implemented throughout the world as a result of this fire. Just one example that we take for granted today is that exit doors are required to open outward, with crash bars to deactivate the locks.
The Iroquois Theater later reopened as the Colonial Theater and was demolished in 1925. Today, the Oriental Theater occupies that site on Randolph St. between State and Dearborn Streets.
The next installments will cover some of the connections between the Ridge and the Iroquois Theater fire.