The Hartford Circus Fire: Tragedy Under the Big Top

by Michael Skidgell

Through firsthand accounts, interviews with survivors and a gripping collection of vintage photographs, author Michael Skidgell attempts to make sense of one of Hartford's worst tragedies. Almost 7,000 fans eagerly packed into the Ringling Brothers big top on July 6, 1944. With a single careless act, an afternoon at the Greatest Show on Earth quickly became one of terror and tragedy as the paraffin-coated circus tent caught fire. Panicked crowds rushed for the few exits, but in minutes, the tent collapsed on those still struggling to escape below. A total of 168 lives were lost, many of them children, with many more injured and forever scarred by the events. Hartford and the surrounding communities reeled in the aftermath as investigators searched for the source of the fire and the responsible parties.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook

176 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 25, 2014

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember my parents telling me of a big circus fire when I was growing up. I think this is the incident they were talking about. I remember hearing about the tent roofs being coated in paraffin and gasoline which aided the fire to burn out of control. I also recall many were hurt and killed.
Needless to say, we never went to any circuses in my formative years.

There definitely were mistakes made. Either by people or design. Tragically, There were many injured and many others who died. This event has set the stage for policies and laws concerning future circus safety.

Even though it was quite sad to read, I felt an attachment by seeing the photos of the circus attendees and their own personal stories. They were no longer a number in the temporary morgue, they were people. People who had been alive and had families and were living their lives until this disaster occurred.

[Jill Crosby · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are two elements saving this book from total mediocrity and appearing to be an extended "book report" on the Hartford Circus Fire. One is the extensive collection of diagrams and photographs which appear on nearly every page and help the reader picture the time frame and severity of the events which occurred on July 6, 1944. The other is a "roll call" of the fire's victims, presenting a thumbnail description of the life and circumstances of each and how each came to attend the circus on that day. Otherwise, for a clearer understanding of this disaster, Stuart O'Nan's book is unparalleled in its thorough presentation of this horrific event.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew nothing of the Hartford Circus Fire. Very easy to read and understand. Such a horrible tragedy. Thanks Mike for paying tribute to all those that were lost in this fire, and those who survived.

[MMF · Rating 2 out of 5]

You are better off visiting the author's extensive website on the fire and reading Stewart O'Nan's book on the tragedy. There is little to no information here not provided in those two sources, and the book is not as well-written, organized or compelling as O'Nan's account.

[Judith Holley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only thing keeping this from being a two star review was the roll call in chapter 4. The rest felt very “book report”-y. Not a lot of structure to the information given. I did this via audiobook, so maybe it’s better hard copy?

[Reneda Baer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting !

This is a very interesting and detailed telling of the Hartford Circus Fire story. As a former firefighter / EMS personnel myself, I can't believe there wasn't more replanting by the Fire Department. And as a former Deputy Coroner, I can't imagine dealing with a tragedy of that magnitude.

I liked that each person killed was represented individually and there weren't just names lumped together.

[Susan Atwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read. Having heard of the disaster but knowing few facts about it, I found the book informative. I found this book was worth my time. Appreciated the personal tributes to all the victims. It was a tragedy waiting to happen, if not here in Hartford, surely elsewhere because of the lack of safety measures.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read, Such a terrible tragic story but fascinating in a car wreck sort of way. I found the list of people who died and the tidbits about them the most interesting. Who knew that the comedian Charles Nelson Reilly and Madge the Palmolive lady were survivors of The Circus Fire.

[Jacquelyn Breedlove · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book. I may be biased since my cousin wrote it, but I learned about this fire and all the people that were involved in it. It is a quick!

[Tony Poole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. But does seem like a copy of O'Nans book on the same subject

[Susan Olesen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short, brief read, but interesting. Took less than 30 pages for my town to pop up; for a small town, we certainly show up in a lot of books. Thing is, there just isn't much information to talk about. A circus - in a city that required no inspection or permits of circuses - sets up a tent that's coated in 9,000 tons of wax and 6,000 gallons of gasoline (which, to be honest, evaporates and doesn't increase flammability), with wooden chairs for 7,000 people. Two of 8 exits are partially blocked by animal tunnels. All it takes is one careless match or cigarette, and in less than 7 minutes, 168 people are burned or trampled to death when the canvas goes up in an instant fireball.

Half the book is simply a list of the dead, which, over and over, underscores the tragedy. Eleanor Cook, forever known as the unidentified Little Miss (6 bodies were never claimed, most likely through lack of forensics and misidentification), was finally identified in 1991.

Needless to say, a lot of things changed for circuses, and for Hartford permits, after this.

Interesting trivia: Actor Charles Nelson Riley (of Match Game fame, and Lidsville) was 13 and in the audience that day, as well as the future Madge the Palmolive lady. Both, obviously, survived.

One of the very worst tragedies in Connecticut history (my mother was 3 at the time, not at the circus, but never took us to a circus because of the fire, even though they were no longer in tents), and a lesson to be learned. Always know your nearest exit, whereever you are.

Decent book, but more for those who like quick anecdotes.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

My mother had read a book on the Hartford fire years ago, and even though I have an inherent fear of clowns, I for some reason am drawn to circus related literature/film/history. About three quarters of the way through this book, I realized I had been reading a different one than my mom had recommended, but it presumably still touches on a lot of the same information. I wish Mr. Skidgell had come at it as more of a human interest piece, as opposed to a research paper. I had a hard time staying interested sometimes, since it was a lot of facts reiterated a number of times, but what I did appreciate was that there was a small blurb with information on every single victim of the fire, which was something I thought was unique, and gave you an idea of who just everyone was that perished. It isn't something you read, waiting until what happens next, but it is very informative.

[Paula · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed in this book which I had high hopes for, read approximately coinciding with the 75th anniversary of the event. From what I had previously known about the Hartford circus fire was that crowd trampling had contributed to most of the fatalities. In this book, the lack of proper egress was the biggest culprit. It was a little light on describing the actual event, as there didn’t seem to be a representation of survivor recollections. Mentions were made of other circus fires, but not enough was compared to make these mentions relevant. What I found fascinating were the photographic images - I expected to see fear, quick movements away from the fire - instead seeing people seemingly impassively looking on to the unfolding events. Also, in the photos, were a lovely depiction of race relations - where I expected more segregation, there was unity.

[Susan Carvalho · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well researched and well written book. Skidgell kept to the facts, not adding much in way of embellishment. I appreciated that each of the victims was mentioned in Chapter 4, giving some understanding of the magnitude of the losses. Based on the book, we learned that there were many mistakes made, but no one person to blame. While the fire is still considered ‘of unknown source’, it is generally accepted to be accidental. As Skidgell mentioned, there were many opportunities to have prevented the spread of the flames to the rooftop. It was amazing to learn that the fire had spread to the big top collapsed within 10-15 minutes. While there were more than 168 victims, there could have been many more based on the speed with which the fire spread.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently read a novel about this tragedy and learned that it was based on a true story. Wanting to find out more about what really happened, I decided to read this non-fiction account. Finding out the real details was horrifying and I couldn't stop thinking about all those people must have felt, how terrified they would have been. This book actually included a list of all the deaths along with their ages, where they lived and other brief notations...some included photos. I thought it was interesting that Charles Nelson Reilly, who used to be on The Hollywood Squares was at the circus when it burned but escaped with no injuries. It is an interesting read if you can avoid being overwhelmed by the facts.

[David Reichley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly researched

Woeful account of an appalling tragedy that should never have happened. Just the vision of dozens of hirelings with buckets of water ready to be flung at any fire that might break out (and often did) reveals that fires like this were expected to happen in these big flammable tents. Craziness!!

This is well researched and written, however, requiring a second or third reading to begin to comprehend it all. Fire resistant fabric coating made out of paraffin wax and gasoline? Exits blocked by wild animal runways? The mind boggles.

[Ski Croghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting story of the fire at the circus!

This fire happened a year before I was born and I had never heard of it until I came across this book on Kindle. It was very interesting. A complete list of all fatalities is provided. I don't know if there are any circuses still showing under canvas today but I haven't heard of any in years. If you are interested in this type of history don't miss this one. Highly recommended.

[Mortisha Cassavetes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had heard of this Hartford, Connecticut tragedy many years ago and so when I found this book, I knew I had to read it. I love nonfiction books that deal with anything about the travelling circuses of the past. This book not only goes into what happened the day of the fire but also goes into the lives of everyone by name who was involved, and what happened all the way up to present day. I Highly Recommend this book!

[The other Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not much information here. It felt like the CliffsNotes version of a book. The Wikipedia article was more informative.

The writing was not helped by the audiobook version having a narrator whose reading was so robotic that I was initially convinced it was an AI synthesized voice, but I checked Tantor's website and they have a little bio page for him with a picture of his real human face, so I guess he's just not that good at narrating audiobooks.

[janet a. perryman · Rating 5 out of 5]

cause unknown

I found this book very interesting and yet very sad!! There were so many coincidences and so much luck involved with location of the passengers!! How did some escape with non life threatening injuries an😥😥d others pass away? The book was very
Intriguing!!! And Hard to PUT DOWN❣️❣️😕😥

[Arlene Gutierrez · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sad story

I enjoyed reading this book, even though it was very tragic. What began as a good time, unfortunately ended in death for many circus-goers on a fateful day in 1944. How some lived and some died,was merely by luck and by chance.

[L.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting account of the tragedy. I really like how they included a list of the victims and information about them. That was very nice. The audiobook narrator sounded like he was doing a commercial, the enunciation was a little strange and a bit hard to follow.

[K · Rating 1 out of 5]

From other peoples reviews it sounds like there were pictures that added a lot to the story but from just listening to the audiobook and hearing the bios of the victims it felt like half the book was very repetitive.

[Heather Freya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book if you just want a factual account of what happened or if you are trying to understand the names, body numbers condition and birthdate of those that perished in the fire. For me, it was way too much of a log of the deceased than a story of the fire.

[Amanda Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but thorough accounting. A small synopsis of each victim was really powerful.

[Audrey S · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately this was incredibly dull. I was expecting a narrative but this is legit like reading a report. How you make a circus disaster boring I have no idea

[Beverly Duell-Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such devastation! The loss of life especially the children!

[Deedee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kindle audio.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Short Story

Good short book about a horrific tragedy that marked thousands of people into the future. We should all remember those who left by tragedy.

[Linda Whitney · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writer really did his research with this book. He covers all aspects of the tragedy. He even writes something about each victim at the end of the book and includes who they went to the circus with, who identified them, ehere they worked, and other things about their lives that makes the event more personable.