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The Circus Fire: A True Story of an American Tragedy
The acclaimed author of A Prayer for the Dying brings all his narrative gifts to bear on this gripping account of tragedy and heroism-the great Hartford circus fire of 1944.
Halfway through a midsummer afternoon performance, Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus's big top caught fire. The tent had been waterproofed with a mixture of paraffin and gasoline; in seconds it was burning out of control, and more than 8,000 people were trapped inside. Drawing on interviews with hundreds of survivors, O'Nan skillfully re-creates the horrific events and illuminates the psychological oddities of human behavior under stress: the mad scramble for the exits; the hero who tossed dozens of children to safety before being trampled to death.
Brilliantly constructed and exceptionally moving, The Circus Fire is history at its most compelling.
Halfway through a midsummer afternoon performance, Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus's big top caught fire. The tent had been waterproofed with a mixture of paraffin and gasoline; in seconds it was burning out of control, and more than 8,000 people were trapped inside. Drawing on interviews with hundreds of survivors, O'Nan skillfully re-creates the horrific events and illuminates the psychological oddities of human behavior under stress: the mad scramble for the exits; the hero who tossed dozens of children to safety before being trampled to death.
Brilliantly constructed and exceptionally moving, The Circus Fire is history at its most compelling.
384 pages, Paperback
First published June 20, 2000
138 people are currently reading
5805 people want to read
About the author
Stewart O'Nan
82 books1,344 followersStewart O'Nan is the author of eighteen novels, including Emily, Alone; Last Night at the Lobster; A Prayer for the Dying; Snow Angels; and the forthcoming Ocean State, due out from Grove/Atlantic on March 8th, 2022.
With Stephen King, I’ve also co-written Faithful, a nonfiction account of the 2004 Boston Red Sox, and the e-story “A Face in the Crowd.”
You can catch me at stewart-onan.com, on Twitter @stewartonan and on Facebook @stewartONanAuthor
With Stephen King, I’ve also co-written Faithful, a nonfiction account of the 2004 Boston Red Sox, and the e-story “A Face in the Crowd.”
You can catch me at stewart-onan.com, on Twitter @stewartonan and on Facebook @stewartONanAuthor
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April 8, 2023
“The burning tent settled on top of those left, pinning them. Under the pile by the northeast chute, Elliott Smith could hear people above him moaning and praying. At the bottom of the mound on the track, Donald Gale thought his leg was broken. He tried to push himself up and discovered he couldn’t budge…The fire came crackling over the paraffined canvas, a soft rushing whoosh like the approach of wind…The praying stopped, and then there was just screaming. People outside were stunned to hear women and children moaning and crying for their lives. Like howling, witnesses described it as. Terrible, eerie screeching…Several survivors said the one thing they will never forget as long as they live is the sound of the animals as they burned alive. But there were no animals…”
- Stewart O’Nan, The Circus Fire: A True Story
In the summer of 1944, death was all around.
American and British forces crashed ashore on Normandy Beach, beginning the long-awaited liberation of France. In the East, the Soviets unleashed Operation Bagration, which would ultimately put them within striking distance of Berlin. Adolf Hitler responded to developments by hurling V-1 flying bombs against England. On the other side of the world, U.S. Marines were taking the islands that would be used to launch a ferocious incendiary campaign against Japanese cities. Every day, an average of fifteen-thousand people had their lives cut short.
Meanwhile, in a quiet, untouched corner of a strife-torn world, the circus came to town.
And death followed.
In the unsettling, sometimes gruesome The Circus Fire, Stewart O’Nan tells the semi-forgotten tale of a catastrophe that took place in the midst of a much-larger cataclysm. On July 6, 1944, some 9,000 people turned out to watch the Flying Wallendas in the Big Top of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
A fire started, killing 167 visitors – all but ten of them women and children – and injuring 500 more.
Compared to the destruction then leveling large swaths of the globe, this is but a trifle. Nevertheless, it does not diminish the horror in any way. In The Circus Fire, Stewart O’Nan ably demonstrates that disasters are always intensely personal, intensely localized affairs. This is especially true when misfortune falls from the sky, at a place designed for fun and joy.
***
For a book about a single terrible day, The Circus Fire is actually pretty wide-ranging, stretching all the way from 1944 to 1991 to capture every aspect.
With that said, the bulk of this book – roughly 200 out of 350 pages of text – is given over to the eponymous conflagration.
As O’Nan recounts in this vivid sequence, the Big Top had been waterproofed with 24,000 gallons of white gasoline and paraffin. While this helped keep water out, it also turned the canvas into a bomb.
Somehow, a fire started – O’Nan devotes time to the various theories of ignition – and the potently flammable tent went up like a Roman candle. Unfortunately, the bleacher seats within the Big Top were fronted with steel railings with narrow openings, while one of the tent’s main exits was blocked by a cage chute.
O’Nan vividly describes the rush to escape, a brilliant pageant of courage and terror, heroism and selfishness. Like Wallace Hartley on the Titanic, band leader Merle Evans cued The Stars and Stripes Forever, a John Phillips Sousa tune known among circus folk as “The Disaster March.” As the fire raged, he played it over and over. A vendor inspector named Big Bill Curlee bravely handed children over the animal chute, until his foot slipped off a bar and he was trampled by the crowd.
Others behaved less nobly, recognizing that a lethal clock had begun an inexorable countdown, and that all tenets of human decency – compassion, charity, selflessness, and love – were potentially fatal weaknesses. All the things that made you good, also slowed you down.
***
O’Nan is a marvelous writer of spare, low-key novels that are exceedingly precise in their evocations of middle America. His protagonists are typically normal people: the kind who work at Red Lobster or sell real estate. Unlike many of his fellow writers, imbued with an almost unconscious coastal elitism, O’Nan doesn’t treat his characters like jokes, just because they live in Ohio.
For all his skill and acclaim, The Circus Fire is a very different bit of writing from what he’s done before. That makes it all the more impressive how well he combines meticulous research with an impactful narrative that is at various times thrilling, profoundly understated, and mournful.
***
It is hard to follow a set-piece as terrifying and heartbreaking as the Harford Circus Fire. Thus, I entirely expected that the book’s second half – roughly 150 pages – would be an emotional letdown at best, and unnecessary padding at worst.
Thankfully, O’Nan knows exactly what he’s doing. His excavation of the fire’s aftermath is just as vital as the fire itself. Much of this section coalesces around the identity of a victim known as Little Miss 1565. From the coroner's notes, Little Miss 1565 was a:
In a photograph taken at the morgue, Little Miss 1565 appears peaceful, in repose. Her body is remarkably preserved, save for a hideous 3rd or 4th degree burn on the left side of her face. Her eyes are closed; mouth slightly ajar. She might have been napping. Considering the circumstances, she should have been readily identified by her family.
That never happened.
Nameless, unclaimed, Little Miss 1565 became an obsession for investigators, who seemed to believe that by reconnecting this small, dead, lost girl with her family, they might somehow put a tilting world upright on its axis. O’Nan seems to channel the same impulse, and this unusual cold case – with false leads, wrong turns, and false families claiming her as their own – is enthrallingly presented.
***
When I was six or seven, a minor fire broke out in our house, caused by a clogged chimney. The memory is vivid, because it starts with me being pulled from bed in the dark of night, and then dragged along the floor, until I was outside. The firetrucks came. The neighbors gawked. Our house pulled through mostly unscathed.
From that moment, I have nurtured a mild fascination with fire. My shelves have far more fire books than a normal person should probably have. Books about burning nightclubs, burning theaters, and burning schools; books about burning forests and burning towns.
This subject, I realize, is not for everyone. Once upon a time, I loaned The Circus Fire to my buddy Colin. He brought it back a couple weeks later, shaking his head with disgust. To this day, fifteen years later, I will still get an occasional text from him consisting of a single line: “But there were no animals.”
I understand the response. There is nothing pleasant about children burning in a circus tent. There is nothing edifying in a human wave trying to escape a burning tide.
Still, as anyone who reads compulsively about disasters will tell you, it’s not about the fear, the suffering, the death. As Norman Maclean wrote in Young Men and Fire – the greatest of all fire books – it is actually about “the pain of others and our compassion for them.” It is, Maclean noted, an attempt at a rare knowledge, the belief that in examining a calamity “we may learn something about how it felt this near the end.” This is “the story of a tragedy, but tragedy would only be a part of it, as it is of life.”
- Stewart O’Nan, The Circus Fire: A True Story
In the summer of 1944, death was all around.
American and British forces crashed ashore on Normandy Beach, beginning the long-awaited liberation of France. In the East, the Soviets unleashed Operation Bagration, which would ultimately put them within striking distance of Berlin. Adolf Hitler responded to developments by hurling V-1 flying bombs against England. On the other side of the world, U.S. Marines were taking the islands that would be used to launch a ferocious incendiary campaign against Japanese cities. Every day, an average of fifteen-thousand people had their lives cut short.
Meanwhile, in a quiet, untouched corner of a strife-torn world, the circus came to town.
And death followed.
In the unsettling, sometimes gruesome The Circus Fire, Stewart O’Nan tells the semi-forgotten tale of a catastrophe that took place in the midst of a much-larger cataclysm. On July 6, 1944, some 9,000 people turned out to watch the Flying Wallendas in the Big Top of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
A fire started, killing 167 visitors – all but ten of them women and children – and injuring 500 more.
Compared to the destruction then leveling large swaths of the globe, this is but a trifle. Nevertheless, it does not diminish the horror in any way. In The Circus Fire, Stewart O’Nan ably demonstrates that disasters are always intensely personal, intensely localized affairs. This is especially true when misfortune falls from the sky, at a place designed for fun and joy.
***
For a book about a single terrible day, The Circus Fire is actually pretty wide-ranging, stretching all the way from 1944 to 1991 to capture every aspect.
With that said, the bulk of this book – roughly 200 out of 350 pages of text – is given over to the eponymous conflagration.
As O’Nan recounts in this vivid sequence, the Big Top had been waterproofed with 24,000 gallons of white gasoline and paraffin. While this helped keep water out, it also turned the canvas into a bomb.
Somehow, a fire started – O’Nan devotes time to the various theories of ignition – and the potently flammable tent went up like a Roman candle. Unfortunately, the bleacher seats within the Big Top were fronted with steel railings with narrow openings, while one of the tent’s main exits was blocked by a cage chute.
O’Nan vividly describes the rush to escape, a brilliant pageant of courage and terror, heroism and selfishness. Like Wallace Hartley on the Titanic, band leader Merle Evans cued The Stars and Stripes Forever, a John Phillips Sousa tune known among circus folk as “The Disaster March.” As the fire raged, he played it over and over. A vendor inspector named Big Bill Curlee bravely handed children over the animal chute, until his foot slipped off a bar and he was trampled by the crowd.
Others behaved less nobly, recognizing that a lethal clock had begun an inexorable countdown, and that all tenets of human decency – compassion, charity, selflessness, and love – were potentially fatal weaknesses. All the things that made you good, also slowed you down.
***
O’Nan is a marvelous writer of spare, low-key novels that are exceedingly precise in their evocations of middle America. His protagonists are typically normal people: the kind who work at Red Lobster or sell real estate. Unlike many of his fellow writers, imbued with an almost unconscious coastal elitism, O’Nan doesn’t treat his characters like jokes, just because they live in Ohio.
For all his skill and acclaim, The Circus Fire is a very different bit of writing from what he’s done before. That makes it all the more impressive how well he combines meticulous research with an impactful narrative that is at various times thrilling, profoundly understated, and mournful.
***
It is hard to follow a set-piece as terrifying and heartbreaking as the Harford Circus Fire. Thus, I entirely expected that the book’s second half – roughly 150 pages – would be an emotional letdown at best, and unnecessary padding at worst.
Thankfully, O’Nan knows exactly what he’s doing. His excavation of the fire’s aftermath is just as vital as the fire itself. Much of this section coalesces around the identity of a victim known as Little Miss 1565. From the coroner's notes, Little Miss 1565 was a:
6 year-old female, white, blue eyes, 3'10", 40 lbs., moderately well developed, head circumference 20 1/2", blond or light hair, shoulder length. Curly hair. All baby teeth present except lower central incisors, the incisal edges of which are even with the occlusal plane of the lower lateral baby incisors. Brown shoes (pair); flowered dress.
In a photograph taken at the morgue, Little Miss 1565 appears peaceful, in repose. Her body is remarkably preserved, save for a hideous 3rd or 4th degree burn on the left side of her face. Her eyes are closed; mouth slightly ajar. She might have been napping. Considering the circumstances, she should have been readily identified by her family.
That never happened.
Nameless, unclaimed, Little Miss 1565 became an obsession for investigators, who seemed to believe that by reconnecting this small, dead, lost girl with her family, they might somehow put a tilting world upright on its axis. O’Nan seems to channel the same impulse, and this unusual cold case – with false leads, wrong turns, and false families claiming her as their own – is enthrallingly presented.
***
When I was six or seven, a minor fire broke out in our house, caused by a clogged chimney. The memory is vivid, because it starts with me being pulled from bed in the dark of night, and then dragged along the floor, until I was outside. The firetrucks came. The neighbors gawked. Our house pulled through mostly unscathed.
From that moment, I have nurtured a mild fascination with fire. My shelves have far more fire books than a normal person should probably have. Books about burning nightclubs, burning theaters, and burning schools; books about burning forests and burning towns.
This subject, I realize, is not for everyone. Once upon a time, I loaned The Circus Fire to my buddy Colin. He brought it back a couple weeks later, shaking his head with disgust. To this day, fifteen years later, I will still get an occasional text from him consisting of a single line: “But there were no animals.”
I understand the response. There is nothing pleasant about children burning in a circus tent. There is nothing edifying in a human wave trying to escape a burning tide.
Still, as anyone who reads compulsively about disasters will tell you, it’s not about the fear, the suffering, the death. As Norman Maclean wrote in Young Men and Fire – the greatest of all fire books – it is actually about “the pain of others and our compassion for them.” It is, Maclean noted, an attempt at a rare knowledge, the belief that in examining a calamity “we may learn something about how it felt this near the end.” This is “the story of a tragedy, but tragedy would only be a part of it, as it is of life.”
October 22, 2018
This book about a community tragedy—the Hartford circus fire of 6 July 1944—is one grim read. It starts with an overview of the Cleveland fire of 1942 in which many animals died.
(Before they went defunct last year, Ringling Brothers decided to stop putting elephants in their shows. And Sea World is closing in 2019. That’s because we know so much more today about how animals think and feel; they are sentient creatures. The studies are extensive. What follows are a few of the more popular books on the subject. There’s Irene M. Pepperberg’s Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Discovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence—and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process about her extensive studies of an African gray parrot. See also Mason and McCarthy’s When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals; this one came out in 1995 but still contains much awe of truth for the reader. The Dolphin in the Mirror by Diana Reiss is much more recent. The mirror test for dolphins (and elephants) demonstrates their ability to recognize a live image of themselves, thus proving the animal’s self-consciousness, a sign of advanced cognition. Dolphins are actually the only animals on earth who have brains bigger than ourselves. See encephalization quotient.)
The Cleveland fire was a warning unheeded by the circus. In very flat language, O’Nan assembles the seemingly disparate facts that will combine to create tragedy on July 6, 1944—one month after D-Day. We learn about the particular topography of the lot in Hartford and how it dictated the configuration in which the circus’s animals cages, big top, dressing tent, sideshow tent etc. were laid out. We learn how the big top had been “waterproofed” beforehand with a mixture of “six thousand gallons of white gasoline and eighteen thousand pounds of paraffin,” and was then filled almost to capacity with 10,000 people on a miserably hot summer day. We learn about some of those in the audience members there on that day. We follow them across town on busses to the fairground. We watch them enter the big top and find their seats. Frankly, I want to avert my eyes. But I’m as much a rubbernecker as the next person. The white-shrouded corpses will soon to be littering the highway median, the ambulances flashing meaninglessly, the first responders standing helpless amid so much death.
As the fire consumes the big tent like a candle burning its wick, O’Nan cites unnamed psychologists on the nature of panic and mobs. Which psychologists? The lack of citation, even though this is not a scholarly work, seems a mistake. At one point a little earlier when the audience members are being shown to their seats, O'Nan mentions some wounded servicemen there in uniform. One or more are still dealing with the effects of what he calls a “dose” of malaria. The word stopped me. One doesn’t get a dose of malaria; he must be thinking of the clap. Anyway, it was a strange lapse and when the generic psychologists are mentioned later I found myself wondering how many more such untowardnesses were to come? The book fortunately contains few howlers.
That said, O’Nan’s moment by moment reconstruction of the action can be impressive. He quotes a number of survivors in effect moving the reader around the very large tent as the fire advances. Some audience members stay put when told that the fire will be extinguished shortly. A terrible bit of patriarchy there. The men in charge can't or won’t admit that things are out of control. As O’Nan notes, it’s wartime and the voice of male authority is the pervasive one. Generally speaking, those who lived were those who ran.
Many people were crushed under the rushing tide of running people, often mothers trying to save their children. Maniacally, the band kept playing “The Stars and the Stripes Forever.” Panic was rampant. O’Nan describes the crawl of the fire from the west side of the tent, where it originated, to the east. Outside some quick thinkers were able to raise the tent’s vertical canvas walls, which had not been fireproofed, so people could escape directly outward from where they sat on the high end of the grandstands, thereby avoiding the murderous crush in the exits below. In some instances, men waited below to catch children tossed down to them; adults however had to slide down splintery poles or contrive to use the side canvas as a kind of slide. Many simply were pushed over or jumped. Once outside it was quickly evident that many people were terribly burned.
The coroner’s portion of the tale is the hardest to get through. The odyssey of every burned body is followed from its first discovery at the scene until it is claimed in the morgue by distraught loved ones. The plight of the hospitalized burn victims is closely followed. Sometimes they rise from their beds and go home, or someplace they might call home, for often their immediate families were also claimed by the blaze. Those who do not go home go to the morgue. This is a grim part of the book and difficult to stomach. However, this account of enormous human suffering is meant to serve as a public record of an event that until now existed only in disparate form in newspaper morgues, interview transcripts and other archival materials. The book’s writing and publication therefore become a noble clarification of a regional tragedy just as it is about to vacate human memory forever. Moreover, the book is a tribute to the community that came together around the circus fire, and is deserving of exalted praise.
The book closes with the inconclusive investigation. A sad fellow, Segee, clearly pathological, is tagged with the crime in which some 165 people died, mostly children. The evidence is based mostly on his ambiguous rambling confessions, which were never fully substantiated. Nonetheless he was jailed for four years. After serving his time he was declared psychotic and committed to an institution for the criminally insane.
The cats looked up at [Dr. Henderson], licking their burned paws, wisps of smoke still rising from their fur. The doctor asked a detective for his pistol. The Coast Guardsmen were there with their rifles for the larger animals. Together they had to shoot three camels, three lions, and a puma. The thing he would never forget, Dr. Henderson said later, was how, throughout, the animals were completely silent.
(Before they went defunct last year, Ringling Brothers decided to stop putting elephants in their shows. And Sea World is closing in 2019. That’s because we know so much more today about how animals think and feel; they are sentient creatures. The studies are extensive. What follows are a few of the more popular books on the subject. There’s Irene M. Pepperberg’s Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Discovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence—and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process about her extensive studies of an African gray parrot. See also Mason and McCarthy’s When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals; this one came out in 1995 but still contains much awe of truth for the reader. The Dolphin in the Mirror by Diana Reiss is much more recent. The mirror test for dolphins (and elephants) demonstrates their ability to recognize a live image of themselves, thus proving the animal’s self-consciousness, a sign of advanced cognition. Dolphins are actually the only animals on earth who have brains bigger than ourselves. See encephalization quotient.)
The Cleveland fire was a warning unheeded by the circus. In very flat language, O’Nan assembles the seemingly disparate facts that will combine to create tragedy on July 6, 1944—one month after D-Day. We learn about the particular topography of the lot in Hartford and how it dictated the configuration in which the circus’s animals cages, big top, dressing tent, sideshow tent etc. were laid out. We learn how the big top had been “waterproofed” beforehand with a mixture of “six thousand gallons of white gasoline and eighteen thousand pounds of paraffin,” and was then filled almost to capacity with 10,000 people on a miserably hot summer day. We learn about some of those in the audience members there on that day. We follow them across town on busses to the fairground. We watch them enter the big top and find their seats. Frankly, I want to avert my eyes. But I’m as much a rubbernecker as the next person. The white-shrouded corpses will soon to be littering the highway median, the ambulances flashing meaninglessly, the first responders standing helpless amid so much death.
As the fire consumes the big tent like a candle burning its wick, O’Nan cites unnamed psychologists on the nature of panic and mobs. Which psychologists? The lack of citation, even though this is not a scholarly work, seems a mistake. At one point a little earlier when the audience members are being shown to their seats, O'Nan mentions some wounded servicemen there in uniform. One or more are still dealing with the effects of what he calls a “dose” of malaria. The word stopped me. One doesn’t get a dose of malaria; he must be thinking of the clap. Anyway, it was a strange lapse and when the generic psychologists are mentioned later I found myself wondering how many more such untowardnesses were to come? The book fortunately contains few howlers.
That said, O’Nan’s moment by moment reconstruction of the action can be impressive. He quotes a number of survivors in effect moving the reader around the very large tent as the fire advances. Some audience members stay put when told that the fire will be extinguished shortly. A terrible bit of patriarchy there. The men in charge can't or won’t admit that things are out of control. As O’Nan notes, it’s wartime and the voice of male authority is the pervasive one. Generally speaking, those who lived were those who ran.
Many people were crushed under the rushing tide of running people, often mothers trying to save their children. Maniacally, the band kept playing “The Stars and the Stripes Forever.” Panic was rampant. O’Nan describes the crawl of the fire from the west side of the tent, where it originated, to the east. Outside some quick thinkers were able to raise the tent’s vertical canvas walls, which had not been fireproofed, so people could escape directly outward from where they sat on the high end of the grandstands, thereby avoiding the murderous crush in the exits below. In some instances, men waited below to catch children tossed down to them; adults however had to slide down splintery poles or contrive to use the side canvas as a kind of slide. Many simply were pushed over or jumped. Once outside it was quickly evident that many people were terribly burned.
Rich black smoke rolled up from the canvas. Pieces fell and caught in women’s hair, ignited their light summer dresses. The unpyrolized paraffin became a flaming liquid that rained down like napalm, burning skin on contact, staying aflame until the fuel was gone. It sizzled as it hit the skin of children in sunsuits, blisters dotting their arms like chickenpox. (p. 90)
The coroner’s portion of the tale is the hardest to get through. The odyssey of every burned body is followed from its first discovery at the scene until it is claimed in the morgue by distraught loved ones. The plight of the hospitalized burn victims is closely followed. Sometimes they rise from their beds and go home, or someplace they might call home, for often their immediate families were also claimed by the blaze. Those who do not go home go to the morgue. This is a grim part of the book and difficult to stomach. However, this account of enormous human suffering is meant to serve as a public record of an event that until now existed only in disparate form in newspaper morgues, interview transcripts and other archival materials. The book’s writing and publication therefore become a noble clarification of a regional tragedy just as it is about to vacate human memory forever. Moreover, the book is a tribute to the community that came together around the circus fire, and is deserving of exalted praise.
The book closes with the inconclusive investigation. A sad fellow, Segee, clearly pathological, is tagged with the crime in which some 165 people died, mostly children. The evidence is based mostly on his ambiguous rambling confessions, which were never fully substantiated. Nonetheless he was jailed for four years. After serving his time he was declared psychotic and committed to an institution for the criminally insane.
September 6, 2016
The circus tent had been waterproofed with six thousand gallons of white gasoline and eighteen thousand pounds of paraffin--a disaster waiting to happen. The circus played to an afternoon crowd of 7,000 people in Hartford, Connecticut. It was July 6, 1944, and the circus and the city workers were both shorthanded since so many men were away fighting in the war. The largest exits were blocked by animal chutes where the lions and other big cats were exiting. A small fire of unknown origin quickly turned into an inferno raging out of control. The crowd, mostly women and children, was in a panic and over 168 people were killed from burns and being trampled. Many more were hospitalized with painful burns and other injuries. The disaster preparations that the state had made for the war were put to good use. Plasma had been stocked, stretcher crews had been trained, and hospitals were stocked with a large supply of bandages.
In the book Stewart O'Nan also covers some earlier fires, the legal aspects including compensation, the police investigations, and the unidentified victims. The only good things to come out of this horrible event were better regulations to prevent fires in the future.
The book has an enormous amount of documentation with hundreds of names. It follows chronological order so you might see the name of someone escaping from the circus, then encounter it again fifty pages later when they are in the hospital, then again seventy pages later when they receive compensation from the circus. So it's a book best read in a concentrated chunk of time so the reader remembers the people involved in the story. In some ways O'Nan has given a gift to historians by gathering up so much detailed historical information into this book. But a little less detail would have let the story flow more easily. The black and white photographs were terrific, illustrating important scenes without being lurid. Overall, I found it to be an interesting and moving book.
Several years ago, I was at an anniversary event remembering the Hartford Circus Fire where O'Nan was one of the featured speakers. I was impressed with his knowledge of the event and his compassion for the families who will never forget July 6, 1944.
In the book Stewart O'Nan also covers some earlier fires, the legal aspects including compensation, the police investigations, and the unidentified victims. The only good things to come out of this horrible event were better regulations to prevent fires in the future.
The book has an enormous amount of documentation with hundreds of names. It follows chronological order so you might see the name of someone escaping from the circus, then encounter it again fifty pages later when they are in the hospital, then again seventy pages later when they receive compensation from the circus. So it's a book best read in a concentrated chunk of time so the reader remembers the people involved in the story. In some ways O'Nan has given a gift to historians by gathering up so much detailed historical information into this book. But a little less detail would have let the story flow more easily. The black and white photographs were terrific, illustrating important scenes without being lurid. Overall, I found it to be an interesting and moving book.
Several years ago, I was at an anniversary event remembering the Hartford Circus Fire where O'Nan was one of the featured speakers. I was impressed with his knowledge of the event and his compassion for the families who will never forget July 6, 1944.
September 18, 2019
4 stars. Another great O'Nan read.
May 28, 2016
This book was so well-done in every way. It was thorough without being tedious and affecting without being melodramatic. There is an abundance of interesting information in here, from the details of the tragedy itself to background material on the workings of the circus and the treatment of burns. Through vivid descriptions of the mayhem that occurred under the big top in July 1944, of unimaginable injuries and deaths, of parents who lost children and of children who lost parents, the events of so long ago are made very real, and I am quite sure I will make myself well aware of the nearest exit the next time I find myself at a large public event.
October 22, 2013
I have listened to almost four hours (total 11 hours 17 minutes) of Dick Hill's narration of this audiobook. It is unbelievably gruesome. Four hours focused upon the description of maimed, burned and dead bodies, human bodies. Not one circus animal was killed. Now I have had it. That's enough. It is more than I can bear.
The Circus Fire: A True Story of an American Tragedy is written and narrated to shock. Others warn in their reviews that it is gruesome, but there ought to be another word to adequately express just how gruesome it was! Skin falling off, trampling on crushed bodies, screams of pain and anguish, all narrated in a voice that is intended to increases the tension, suffering and misery. Ughhhhhh!
In any case, don't choose the audiobook. Unless you want nightmares.
The Circus Fire: A True Story of an American Tragedy is written and narrated to shock. Others warn in their reviews that it is gruesome, but there ought to be another word to adequately express just how gruesome it was! Skin falling off, trampling on crushed bodies, screams of pain and anguish, all narrated in a voice that is intended to increases the tension, suffering and misery. Ughhhhhh!
In any case, don't choose the audiobook. Unless you want nightmares.
December 3, 2011
Bottom Line: A grueling bore about a tragic event.
The biggest flaw with O'Nan's telling of the Hartford circus fire is how he tells the story. As other reviewer's have stated the book is super choppy - to such an extent that it becomes unreadable. He jumps from event to event in such a way that it's impossible to follow the survivor's incredible stories. Terms and events are left unexplained and characters are thrown in without creating the proper context.
The silver lining: I hear O'Nan is a good novelist and a friend gave me his book Last Night at the Lobster. Maybe he'll be redeemed.
The biggest flaw with O'Nan's telling of the Hartford circus fire is how he tells the story. As other reviewer's have stated the book is super choppy - to such an extent that it becomes unreadable. He jumps from event to event in such a way that it's impossible to follow the survivor's incredible stories. Terms and events are left unexplained and characters are thrown in without creating the proper context.
The silver lining: I hear O'Nan is a good novelist and a friend gave me his book Last Night at the Lobster. Maybe he'll be redeemed.
August 4, 2013
This is the absolutely harrowing story of a major American fire, one that took place in Hartford, Connecticut in 1944, in the big top of the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus. 8,000 people were trapped inside; 167 people died of burns, and many, many more suffered scarring and injuries, physical and psychological. It was the beginning of the end of the tent circus, which was finished off by the arrival of television.
Author O'Nan conducts an exhaustive investigation into the lives of those who lived and died, in the town and in the circus (the circus had only 3 casualties). He details the police's painstaking search for a possible arsonist, the attempts of the victims to take the circus to court and the resulting court testimony, verdict, and rendering of payment, and the battles to place blame inside the town's political structure and that of the circus. He is best at showing us individuals, the real people who were there that day, without being over-sentimental or uncaring. The reader feels like s/he is there. He is a bit more kind to the circus--the ownership, not the circus people, who I think he treats fairly--than I would have been. The ownership didn't invest any more money in bleachers, rails to keep people from jumping into the ring, fire extinguishers, or fireproofing (there wasn't any, and the waterproofing of the tent was a combination of paraffin and white gasoline) than they had to. And his portrayal of one of the hospitals, the one for the poor, is nauseating.
Still, it's a read as gripping as any novel. I read it in a day and a half, with interruptions for things like meals and sleep. I'm lucky I didn't dream about the book! If you're interested in such things, this is one of the best books I've read on the subject.
Author O'Nan conducts an exhaustive investigation into the lives of those who lived and died, in the town and in the circus (the circus had only 3 casualties). He details the police's painstaking search for a possible arsonist, the attempts of the victims to take the circus to court and the resulting court testimony, verdict, and rendering of payment, and the battles to place blame inside the town's political structure and that of the circus. He is best at showing us individuals, the real people who were there that day, without being over-sentimental or uncaring. The reader feels like s/he is there. He is a bit more kind to the circus--the ownership, not the circus people, who I think he treats fairly--than I would have been. The ownership didn't invest any more money in bleachers, rails to keep people from jumping into the ring, fire extinguishers, or fireproofing (there wasn't any, and the waterproofing of the tent was a combination of paraffin and white gasoline) than they had to. And his portrayal of one of the hospitals, the one for the poor, is nauseating.
Still, it's a read as gripping as any novel. I read it in a day and a half, with interruptions for things like meals and sleep. I'm lucky I didn't dream about the book! If you're interested in such things, this is one of the best books I've read on the subject.
April 25, 2011
Growing up in Connecticut I have been interested in the Hartford Circus Fire since I first found out about it. It was surprising to be that at the time I had first learned of this disaster there were no books published that were just about this incident. Stewart O’Nan, a well known novelist, took on the grueling task of writing this non-fiction account of the historic circus disaster and hit it out of the park!
The first thing that really catches the eye of the reader in this book is the forward by the author. He proceeds to explain exactly why he decided to write this book and what the story means to him. This instantly connected my experience to that of the author – being unable to find any books about this subject and living in the close vicinity of the disaster itself. It really helps the reader to understand how important it was for him to tell this story.
I also really liked the layout of the book. The author brings you through the history of previous circus disasters and uses this to really set the tone and in a way foreshadow the events that would take place in Hartford on June 6, 1944. It also opened a whole new world of historical information and events that I just had to go check out after. He then spends time really helping you get to know many of the people who would eventually become victims, survivors, and heroes of this tragic day. By spending time connecting the reader to these people their ultimate fate during the fire becomes important to you and makes you feel the event more than just reading some statistics. O’Nan then takes you through the events of the fire as seen from different perspectives and then moves into the aftermath at the hospitals, the morgue, police station, fairgrounds. He then continues the story up until the time the book was written following the mystery of Little Miss 1565. I really don’t think that the author missed any angles at which to look at this event – you get a completely well rounded view of the fire.
Reading this on audiobook ended up making this such a surreal experience for me. I work just a couple of miles from the site of this disaster and as I would be driving along to or from work it would happen that the narrator would be talking about sites that I was driving past (various hospitals, the armory, various streets) and it made it so easy to connect with the world of this book. And if I thought it was surreal seeing the places that I was hearing about, imagine my shock when my place of employment ended up in this book! I also seemed to have a physical reaction every time the narrator said the words “Stars and Stripes Forever” – I would just get a shiver. This certainly speaks to the power of the narrator. Dick Hill put a lot of emotion into the words he was reading and at times it felt like I was listening to a well written news account. I could see the world vividly in front of me. The only thing that I think would have made this audiobook better would have been if they could have included the song “Stars and Stripes Forever” – it would have completed the experience.
I whole-heartedly recommended this book or audiobook to all (I have both copies myself)!
The first thing that really catches the eye of the reader in this book is the forward by the author. He proceeds to explain exactly why he decided to write this book and what the story means to him. This instantly connected my experience to that of the author – being unable to find any books about this subject and living in the close vicinity of the disaster itself. It really helps the reader to understand how important it was for him to tell this story.
I also really liked the layout of the book. The author brings you through the history of previous circus disasters and uses this to really set the tone and in a way foreshadow the events that would take place in Hartford on June 6, 1944. It also opened a whole new world of historical information and events that I just had to go check out after. He then spends time really helping you get to know many of the people who would eventually become victims, survivors, and heroes of this tragic day. By spending time connecting the reader to these people their ultimate fate during the fire becomes important to you and makes you feel the event more than just reading some statistics. O’Nan then takes you through the events of the fire as seen from different perspectives and then moves into the aftermath at the hospitals, the morgue, police station, fairgrounds. He then continues the story up until the time the book was written following the mystery of Little Miss 1565. I really don’t think that the author missed any angles at which to look at this event – you get a completely well rounded view of the fire.
Reading this on audiobook ended up making this such a surreal experience for me. I work just a couple of miles from the site of this disaster and as I would be driving along to or from work it would happen that the narrator would be talking about sites that I was driving past (various hospitals, the armory, various streets) and it made it so easy to connect with the world of this book. And if I thought it was surreal seeing the places that I was hearing about, imagine my shock when my place of employment ended up in this book! I also seemed to have a physical reaction every time the narrator said the words “Stars and Stripes Forever” – I would just get a shiver. This certainly speaks to the power of the narrator. Dick Hill put a lot of emotion into the words he was reading and at times it felt like I was listening to a well written news account. I could see the world vividly in front of me. The only thing that I think would have made this audiobook better would have been if they could have included the song “Stars and Stripes Forever” – it would have completed the experience.
I whole-heartedly recommended this book or audiobook to all (I have both copies myself)!
May 20, 2020
I really liked this.
I have to agree with other reviewers that there were a lot of names being thrown at you and it was hard to keep track. I wish when a name was tossed out in a quick this is the only time we're going to see this person kind of way, that we would have gotten a fast "she survived with minor burns" or "his mother pulled him from the tent and they escaped" rather than just telling us what happened to them in that one second we got to meet them in the chaos. There was no follow up to these many, many stories and if there were later in the book, we were so inundated with names that we couldn't remember who they were by the time we got there.
That being said, I really liked this. It didn't ruin the book for me. I think the author did a great job, and seeing as how there really aren't other books about this, I'm grateful he took the time to write it. I liked his mentions of previous disasters as well and am going back to read about a few of them.
I have to agree with other reviewers that there were a lot of names being thrown at you and it was hard to keep track. I wish when a name was tossed out in a quick this is the only time we're going to see this person kind of way, that we would have gotten a fast "she survived with minor burns" or "his mother pulled him from the tent and they escaped" rather than just telling us what happened to them in that one second we got to meet them in the chaos. There was no follow up to these many, many stories and if there were later in the book, we were so inundated with names that we couldn't remember who they were by the time we got there.
That being said, I really liked this. It didn't ruin the book for me. I think the author did a great job, and seeing as how there really aren't other books about this, I'm grateful he took the time to write it. I liked his mentions of previous disasters as well and am going back to read about a few of them.
June 22, 2018
This was an interesting account of the time back in the summer of 1944 that a Ringling Bros. circus tent caught fire during one of its matinee performances in Hartford, Connecticut. The tent had apparently been slathered in a mixture of paraffin and gasoline to make it rain-proof...because what could possibly go wrong? *slaps forehead*. I listened to the audiobook which made keeping track of all the names of those injured challenging but, overall, it was an interesting account of an event of which I had no prior knowledge.
Website: http://www.circusfire1944.com/
Website: http://www.circusfire1944.com/
November 25, 2021
eponymous sentence:
p28: Railroad detectives found menagerie meal tickets in his pocket, and then at the Duquesne police station, he blurted out, "I know something about the circus fire."
missing punctuations marks:
p27: He worked through the evening but in the end they were too badly hurt--theyd inhaled flames.
p106: As a seminary student, he spent his summer vacations overseeing neighborhood playgrounds in Waterbury St. Justin's was his first parish; he'd been named curate just a month before.
There's a lot of missing punctiation marks like these all throughout. Plus unneeded spaces in the praise section at the beginning of the book.
ocr:
p90: 96 Under the boards, among the programs and smashed Coke bottles, sat a baby.
spelling:
p117: One interne devised a quicker method of delivering plasma to children by skipping the extremities and using the more protected femoral vein in the groin, eliminating the need for any cut downs.
p162: The staff began cutting the casts off, but soon it was clear there were too many for them to handle, and they had to call Hartford Hospital and ask for a fresh set of internes.
p183: At the top of Kensington, note the barracks of the antiaircraf unit on the right side of the street.
p191: Minutes later, at the strike of nine, a guard locked the grates and closed the doors.
p216: "...I am the oldest and I allways tried to keep in touch with him."
p260: John ingling North (left) and James Haley became unlikely allies after the f re.
Very tragic. The important thing is that lessons are learned.
p28: Railroad detectives found menagerie meal tickets in his pocket, and then at the Duquesne police station, he blurted out, "I know something about the circus fire."
missing punctuations marks:
p27: He worked through the evening but in the end they were too badly hurt--theyd inhaled flames.
p106: As a seminary student, he spent his summer vacations overseeing neighborhood playgrounds in Waterbury St. Justin's was his first parish; he'd been named curate just a month before.
There's a lot of missing punctiation marks like these all throughout. Plus unneeded spaces in the praise section at the beginning of the book.
ocr:
p90: 96 Under the boards, among the programs and smashed Coke bottles, sat a baby.
spelling:
p117: One interne devised a quicker method of delivering plasma to children by skipping the extremities and using the more protected femoral vein in the groin, eliminating the need for any cut downs.
p162: The staff began cutting the casts off, but soon it was clear there were too many for them to handle, and they had to call Hartford Hospital and ask for a fresh set of internes.
p183: At the top of Kensington, note the barracks of the antiaircraf unit on the right side of the street.
p191: Minutes later, at the strike of nine, a guard locked the grates and closed the doors.
p216: "...I am the oldest and I allways tried to keep in touch with him."
p260: John ingling North (left) and James Haley became unlikely allies after the f re.
Very tragic. The important thing is that lessons are learned.
June 7, 2018
I read this book years ago and I had a rough time doing it. O'Nan did so well in describing the fire that I ended up with nightmares, my parents' house caught fire and I was in a back bedroom when it happened, it brought back a few memories. It's a very sad and tragic event in American history and unfortunately, quite a few people have no idea about it. This fire took place during World War II, and due to this most of those who were killed were women and children. Well-known hobo clown Emmett Kelly was there that day and was said to help usher many to safety. If you like American history I highly suggest reading it because it should be remembered as the more famous Triangle Shirt factory fire.
November 4, 2020
A compelling read. In 1944 the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus set up its tents in Hartford CT. The big top was waterproofed with a combination of paraffin and gasoline (a common practice at the time). However the fire started the result was sudden and devastating. I had a visceral response to the horror of this tragedy and its aftermath for the citizens of the community.
Note: I am guessing at the date read because I didn't enter this earlier. I know I read it at about the same time I read two other nonfiction books about devastating fires.
Note: I am guessing at the date read because I didn't enter this earlier. I know I read it at about the same time I read two other nonfiction books about devastating fires.
November 22, 2010
Waterproofing with paraffin and gasoline - what could go wrong? When Stewart O'Nan moved to the Hartford area, he heard about a devastating fire that had taken place in July 1944. It had killed 167 people; most of them women and children. He went to the library to get a book on the disaster, only to find that none had been written yet. He started collecting materials, with the object in mind of passing them along to a non-fiction writer, given that he had always written fiction and had no intention of changing fortes, but as the years passed and the piles of research grew, O'Nan determined that if anyone was going to write it, it was going to have to be him. More blessed are we that this was so, because the book that emerged is a brilliant one.
In the tradition of Walter Lord's "A Night to Remember," O'Nan takes us minute-by-minute through the hours leading up to the fire, and the individual experiences of survivors as they struggled to get out of the burning Big Top, with paraffin falling on them in fiery napalm-like droplets. Then there is the painful search for the missing children, many of them separated from parents as people much larger and stronger plowed through the crowd to save themselves, without a thought to anyone they might be trampling underfoot. Finally, O'Nan investigates the assessment of blame (and there's plenty to go around), and the meting out of penalties to those in charge.
Throughout the book are stories of individual heroism, sacrifice and plain good luck. One man tossed dozens of children to safety before he was trampled. One little boy used his pocket knife to cut holes in the canvas, allowing hundreds to escape. One little girl jumped from the back of the bleachers, and her life as a tomboy (giving her the knowledge of how to land) saved her from the broken ankles and broken backs that so many others suffered; those people hit the ground and then couldn't outrun the fire. Emmett Kelly, the famous clown, hauled water and directed patrons to safety, as did many of the other performers. Countless anonymous audience members made sure that little ones got out safely. Some even took them home, treated their burns and fed them until their parents could be found. Yes, there were greedy jerks who charged $5.00 per call for the use of their telephones (and got it), but most gave generously from their limited, rationed supplies. Front gardens became first-aid stations and company vehicles became ambulances.
One of the many ironies of this story is that if the fire had happened prior to 1941, the outcome might have been far more dire. Because of wartime mobilization and the fact that Hartford was an industrial center with munitions targets, there were plans in place for mass casualties and these worked with high efficiency on July 6, 1944. There had been triage test-runs, and plans in place for identification of the dead, along with stockpiles of medical supplies meant for just such injuries as the Circus Fire caused.
For fans of literary non-fiction, in the style of Walter Lord, Laura Hillenbrand and Erik Larson, this is certainly a title to add to the canon. I would have loved to have seen an index included - late in the book a person is given a medal for his heroics, but it had been so long since I'd read about them I'd forgotten what he'd done. An index would have been helpful, and if Mr. O'Nan were more experienced in writing non-fiction, I'm confident he would have included one. It is a five-star read even so, and I can tell you that after reading it, I'll never again attend a public event without knowing where the nearest exit is. Apparently, every survivor does the same, and not because of anything they read, but because of the nightmares they continue to have to this day.
In the tradition of Walter Lord's "A Night to Remember," O'Nan takes us minute-by-minute through the hours leading up to the fire, and the individual experiences of survivors as they struggled to get out of the burning Big Top, with paraffin falling on them in fiery napalm-like droplets. Then there is the painful search for the missing children, many of them separated from parents as people much larger and stronger plowed through the crowd to save themselves, without a thought to anyone they might be trampling underfoot. Finally, O'Nan investigates the assessment of blame (and there's plenty to go around), and the meting out of penalties to those in charge.
Throughout the book are stories of individual heroism, sacrifice and plain good luck. One man tossed dozens of children to safety before he was trampled. One little boy used his pocket knife to cut holes in the canvas, allowing hundreds to escape. One little girl jumped from the back of the bleachers, and her life as a tomboy (giving her the knowledge of how to land) saved her from the broken ankles and broken backs that so many others suffered; those people hit the ground and then couldn't outrun the fire. Emmett Kelly, the famous clown, hauled water and directed patrons to safety, as did many of the other performers. Countless anonymous audience members made sure that little ones got out safely. Some even took them home, treated their burns and fed them until their parents could be found. Yes, there were greedy jerks who charged $5.00 per call for the use of their telephones (and got it), but most gave generously from their limited, rationed supplies. Front gardens became first-aid stations and company vehicles became ambulances.
One of the many ironies of this story is that if the fire had happened prior to 1941, the outcome might have been far more dire. Because of wartime mobilization and the fact that Hartford was an industrial center with munitions targets, there were plans in place for mass casualties and these worked with high efficiency on July 6, 1944. There had been triage test-runs, and plans in place for identification of the dead, along with stockpiles of medical supplies meant for just such injuries as the Circus Fire caused.
For fans of literary non-fiction, in the style of Walter Lord, Laura Hillenbrand and Erik Larson, this is certainly a title to add to the canon. I would have loved to have seen an index included - late in the book a person is given a medal for his heroics, but it had been so long since I'd read about them I'd forgotten what he'd done. An index would have been helpful, and if Mr. O'Nan were more experienced in writing non-fiction, I'm confident he would have included one. It is a five-star read even so, and I can tell you that after reading it, I'll never again attend a public event without knowing where the nearest exit is. Apparently, every survivor does the same, and not because of anything they read, but because of the nightmares they continue to have to this day.
August 26, 2009
This true life event was amazing and horrific but unfortunately the author's retelling of events is much less interesting. O'Nan account is choppy and jumps around in time and place to the point of making the reader feel dizzy. He has packed his narrative with so many names and references that it's impossible to keep track of anyone and therefore the reader isn't able to relate to any of them.
I ended up skimming most of this book. I wouldn't recommend to anyone but hardcore disaster book or circus fans.
I did find one thing in the book interesting that will appeal to my friends in Florida. Apparently James A. Haley (the one of Tampa VA Hospital fame) was married to a Ringling and part owner/operator of the circus during the time of the fire which led to him spending time in jail due to it. Huh.... who would have thought! From jailbird to having a federal hospital named after you!
I ended up skimming most of this book. I wouldn't recommend to anyone but hardcore disaster book or circus fans.
I did find one thing in the book interesting that will appeal to my friends in Florida. Apparently James A. Haley (the one of Tampa VA Hospital fame) was married to a Ringling and part owner/operator of the circus during the time of the fire which led to him spending time in jail due to it. Huh.... who would have thought! From jailbird to having a federal hospital named after you!
January 11, 2008
I originally read this book as part of a book club that I never showed up for. It took me forever to read this book due to a class and other distractions, last winter. However, it heald my attention. It is a difficult subject matter. It was one of the worst domestic losses of life in the history of nation. The horrible thing was the amount of children that died. I actually know a woman, who is a former Lt. Gov. of our fair state, who was a six year old girl and survived this fire. A young circus boy took her hand and cut a hole in the tent and prevented her from being trapped. I recommend this book.
November 18, 2018
This is a great book. Very tragic. I wanted to give it 4 and half stars. Sometimes tragedies are waiting to happen. This was a matter of many elements combining to create a hazard. It took one spark to set off a disastrous chain of events. Most likely the flick of a cigarette or match cost many their lives. This book is very well written and sticks to the story. I love a book that reads so well, so smoothly that you almost feel like you're watching it instead of reading it. This book accomplishes that. It is disturbing... a very sad story. But very well told
January 7, 2023
Part one of this book felt all over the place to me.
The book opens up talking about a million other fires before getting to the story of discussion. A back story is always appreciated. Here, it felt all over the place and was hard to follow.
As to the main story, there were so many different people mentioned that it was a bit overwhelming to follow. I’m sure with so many stories, you want to include them all, how would you lick which to pick over others, it was a bit much.
On that note, the stories were horrific and they kept going and going. You want to be authentic, but the gruesome stories seemed to go on forever. The final part was my favorite.
Crazy story. Had never heard of it before. So many fire laws came due to this story.
The book opens up talking about a million other fires before getting to the story of discussion. A back story is always appreciated. Here, it felt all over the place and was hard to follow.
As to the main story, there were so many different people mentioned that it was a bit overwhelming to follow. I’m sure with so many stories, you want to include them all, how would you lick which to pick over others, it was a bit much.
On that note, the stories were horrific and they kept going and going. You want to be authentic, but the gruesome stories seemed to go on forever. The final part was my favorite.
Crazy story. Had never heard of it before. So many fire laws came due to this story.
January 1, 2023
Not engaging, too many named “characters,” editorial errors drove me insane. However, I had never heard of this event before. I am glad I know the story now, even though there appears to be little if any answers.
August 28, 2010
Although the circus industry had not been immune to fires — one in Cleveland had killed several animals — the largest of the shows, P. T. Barnum, could brag that no one had lost a life because of a fire. There had been several close calls, however. Another fire had burned the big top, the canvas catching fire from sparks of a fire down the road. The canvas was covered with a mixture of 6,000 gallons of white gasoline and 18,000 pounds of paraffin to make it waterproof. Unfortunately, that also made it burn like a candle.
The effects at the fire in Hartford were to show the need for an alternative. It was a very hot July 6, 1944 at the end of the war. Workers at the circus were in short supply, but circuses were a popular source of entertainment. They had arrived late and were forced to cancel the first show, not a good sign for the superstitious. The crowd was near capacity, close to 9,000, although the exact number was never determined O'Nan meticulously takes us through the background and erection of the tents and characters . No one is quite sure what happened; arson was long suspected, but given the extremely flammable nature of the materials and the number of smokers, it could also have been an accident. Several people claim to have seen the origin, a small flame near the bottom of one side of the tent. It spread very quickly. The circus water trucks had been left parked at the edge of the lot, instead of close to the tent as was the usual practice. Whether it would have made a difference in the outcome is uncertain. Unlike most fires, where the victims usually die of smoke inhalation, this fire killed either as a result of people being smothered as they were trampled in the rush to the exits, or by horrible burns as pieces of the flammable tent fell on the people below, the paraffin sticking to them like napalm. Many of the dead had been burned beyond recognition, but considering the number of people at the event, the death toll, 167, was much lower than I would have expected.
Ironically, many of the survivors said the most horrible memory of the fire was the screaming of the animals as they were burned alive, yet no animals were injured in the fire. It was humans they heard. Reminiscent of the Titanic, the band leader struck up Stars and Stripes, Forever, the circus emergency signal and played it over and over again until the last possible moment. Many children were saved by one of the clowns who tossed children over the gates and down the animal chutes away from the fire.
The resulting civil suits forced Barnum & Bailey into receivership and to abandon tents. Several circus officials were indicted and imprisoned for manslaughter. Eventually, B&B moved into concrete sports arenas. The details tend to become overly gloomy, but it remains a wellresearched account of an American tragedy. To this day, one child's charred body has never been claimed and remains unidentified.
The effects at the fire in Hartford were to show the need for an alternative. It was a very hot July 6, 1944 at the end of the war. Workers at the circus were in short supply, but circuses were a popular source of entertainment. They had arrived late and were forced to cancel the first show, not a good sign for the superstitious. The crowd was near capacity, close to 9,000, although the exact number was never determined O'Nan meticulously takes us through the background and erection of the tents and characters . No one is quite sure what happened; arson was long suspected, but given the extremely flammable nature of the materials and the number of smokers, it could also have been an accident. Several people claim to have seen the origin, a small flame near the bottom of one side of the tent. It spread very quickly. The circus water trucks had been left parked at the edge of the lot, instead of close to the tent as was the usual practice. Whether it would have made a difference in the outcome is uncertain. Unlike most fires, where the victims usually die of smoke inhalation, this fire killed either as a result of people being smothered as they were trampled in the rush to the exits, or by horrible burns as pieces of the flammable tent fell on the people below, the paraffin sticking to them like napalm. Many of the dead had been burned beyond recognition, but considering the number of people at the event, the death toll, 167, was much lower than I would have expected.
Ironically, many of the survivors said the most horrible memory of the fire was the screaming of the animals as they were burned alive, yet no animals were injured in the fire. It was humans they heard. Reminiscent of the Titanic, the band leader struck up Stars and Stripes, Forever, the circus emergency signal and played it over and over again until the last possible moment. Many children were saved by one of the clowns who tossed children over the gates and down the animal chutes away from the fire.
The resulting civil suits forced Barnum & Bailey into receivership and to abandon tents. Several circus officials were indicted and imprisoned for manslaughter. Eventually, B&B moved into concrete sports arenas. The details tend to become overly gloomy, but it remains a wellresearched account of an American tragedy. To this day, one child's charred body has never been claimed and remains unidentified.
February 1, 2013
This is a really horrific story with details that the faint of heart won't want to read about but O'Nan does a terrible job of weaving together the many different stories of survivors and those who worked to sort out the chaos after the fire.
His style of writing is awkward unnatural and clumsy. He adds confusing tid-bits related to the story that seem to have no purpose but to further confuse the reader. There were a lot of people to keep track of and I found it difficult to do.
I almost felt like he was speaking in a different language sometimes because his style of writing was just so unnatural. I often found myself wondering what was being said, almost like he was using slang that I'm not familiar with. And sometimes making reference to things that really needed further explanation, like referencing the fact that the town would not be celebrating the anniversary of Tom Thumb's arrival.
I thought the story was compelling and has all the ingredients for a really great book but this isn't a great book. If you want to read it loan it from the library save your money for Eric Larson's The Devil in the White City. I love to think about the book Larson would have written about the big top circus fire of '44.
If you want to read something by Stuart O'Nan try A Prayer For the Dying it's a dark story but very well written.
His style of writing is awkward unnatural and clumsy. He adds confusing tid-bits related to the story that seem to have no purpose but to further confuse the reader. There were a lot of people to keep track of and I found it difficult to do.
I almost felt like he was speaking in a different language sometimes because his style of writing was just so unnatural. I often found myself wondering what was being said, almost like he was using slang that I'm not familiar with. And sometimes making reference to things that really needed further explanation, like referencing the fact that the town would not be celebrating the anniversary of Tom Thumb's arrival.
I thought the story was compelling and has all the ingredients for a really great book but this isn't a great book. If you want to read it loan it from the library save your money for Eric Larson's The Devil in the White City. I love to think about the book Larson would have written about the big top circus fire of '44.
If you want to read something by Stuart O'Nan try A Prayer For the Dying it's a dark story but very well written.
November 6, 2015
Excellent account of the biggest tragedy in the state of Connecticut. Impressive, heartfelt account with many survivors adding lots of details. The fire raged over the big-top -- in the days (1944) when circuses travelled city to city via train and set up their own huge canvas tent. Somewhere between 9,000 and 10,000 were there for the matinee show, with the fire completely sweeping over the arena in a matter of minutes. First responders arrived within 10 minutes, but there was nothing left. It is amazing that only 167 people died, although a number of them trampled by their fellow patrons.
It was a horrific tragedy, incurring during the larger horrors of WWII, and foretelling the end of the traveling circus troop, consigned to large arenas much as they are today.
O'Nan does an outstanding job, especially as a fiction writer undertaking a little detailed account. The story is compelling, well-told, detailed, yet moves along tightly.
Well done and highly recommended.
It was a horrific tragedy, incurring during the larger horrors of WWII, and foretelling the end of the traveling circus troop, consigned to large arenas much as they are today.
O'Nan does an outstanding job, especially as a fiction writer undertaking a little detailed account. The story is compelling, well-told, detailed, yet moves along tightly.
Well done and highly recommended.
June 24, 2009
For some reason I'm fascinated by old circuses; I think a combination of my fascination with freaks and transients/my undying love for tatty retro glamour of all kinds/too many episodes of Circus of the Stars watched as a kid. I found the book's ridiculously macabre subject matter totally compelling and couldn't-put-it-down-even-though-I-probably-should-because-I-might-have-nightmares-because-I'm-a-wimp readable. I'm a fan of Stewart O'Nan's fiction, and was a little surprised by how totally stripped-down and muted and understated the writing was here. I expected something more obviously literary or lyrical, I guess, but considering the topic, in the end I think the unadorned and solemn style worked well. An affecting, gruesome and haunting book.
January 20, 2015
This is a telling in minutia of the Hartford 1944 Circus disaster. It's pure non-fiction, with no connective relief for the 8000 or 9000 stories of the individuals that experienced this horrific day. For the 167 fatalities there are gruesome and beyond tragic renderings. It's instructive for the reality of results for flashing high heat for human bodies and stadium structures. So many tragedies have occurred with vast death in crowds but few have had such impact for non-recognition of human remains as this one. It changed the understanding of open air tent entertainment entirely. Not being a circus entertainment fan, this one was hard to read beyond the horrific descriptions. Such a waste!
December 18, 2009
Okay, maybe it's morbid, but I love reading about disasters -- fires, floods, earthquakes, plagues, etc. This book has gory detail but O'Nan doesn't wallow in it -- he doesn't sensationalize. There's a lot of interesting information about the circus itself, how it travels, how things work, and also some interesting stuff about how people behave in a crisis, how we can be tripped up by habit and expectation. Example: People tried to get out of the tent the same way they went in, even though other exits were closer. Amazing.
January 11, 2023
I don’t like leaving less than stellar reviews - but gosh I struggled with this one. The beginning seemed a bit all over the place…but the hardest part for me was the number of people/names mentioned and flipping back and forth between them. I couldn’t remember who was who for the life of me. I’m sure the author knew them intimately with the amount of research that went into this book, but to the average reader I don’t know who could keep up (& I never have a problem with that). I learned a lot about this sad and horrible event, as I had never heard of it. It’s awful there are a lot of things left unanswered and there was no closure regarding who set the fire or how it started and the several unidentified bodies.
December 24, 2025
Really interesting story about the Hartford fire of 1944 and the mysteries still surrounding it, but a slow read and dry in many parts. I always struggle to read non-fiction, but it was a worthy read
July 10, 2017
This is a book that I have returned to having read after my sister introduced me to it sometime during my school years. Whether I was younger or even now in the present it will be one of those books that sticks out to the reader in so many different ways even long after the cover is closed. It also opens the eyes to man's struggle during disaster as well as in trying to understand how it came around or how some of us must forget while others struggle to understand.
This book at certain parts is a dry read and sometimes it is just hard to get into it or to keep up with the telling. Why? The main reason for this is that the disaster itself although years in the making was actually just minutes in passing so there is no true way of judging the scope of its real effects on all the lives that were touched whether directly or indirectly. Although we have causality lists, financial compensation numbers, years and so much more there is more to the aftereffects than can be wisely explored in just one book alone.
The author does a great job in starting the book off by exploring other similar circus tragedies and their influences on the show up until the time of the main tragedy. For those who just want the Hartford Circus fire it can be passed over without a skim for it doesn't take away much in the telling. The same can be said on avoiding some of the later chapters in the book if you don't want to get into all the legalities, the investigation and wild goose chases that came around as well as the fact that time goes on.
As for the main story I have to applaud the author for his attempts in trying to tell the reader what happened. The fire was short in its length of rule but it was hideous so as a result the stories that are told border on the macabre and ghastly. Although there are stories of heroics there are also stories of the monster-side of humans who struggle to escape so they can continue for another day in this life that we have been given.
Since of the large crowds, the various performers and those who came to play a role there is no actual easy timeline to follow in the author's writing. He bounces from one event to another and from one person to another without giving the reader time to process what is being told to them. There will also be times where the reader will find something reappearing in an indirect way from a previous told episode but unable to directly remember where they had seen it it falls to the wayside as a niggling thought - irritating but buried by the earlier story.
Although there is a list of principals the author includes so many other characters and those who appear just so briefly that it is hard to keep track of who is who. Even when you know that you are reading from the list or you want to look back on it you have to basically dig through the pages to get back to it or to even the circus lot diagram. It would have been better for these two important documents to have been included in the front of the book before the telling of the story or even at the back as well symbols to remind the reader who died and/or who survived.
For those who are medical students or a participant of the medical world the book does a great job in exploring the medical history at the time of how burn wounds were dealt with and how the organization of medical response came to be. It is a time capsule that although disturbing due to how it came to be reminds one from that field as to what it means to struggle with a disaster of a big scope, especially when it came to pull the heart strings.
In the end I would definitely recommend this book for the medical readers who may be interested or even for diehard readers of such tragedies. Just be assured that since of its graphic nature the author keeps the graphic element in this telling of the fire. But even as that may be, may there also be those who will be encouraged since of the writing to help keep the memories of all these people involved to keep on influencing the world around them to be a better and safer place than they found it.
This book at certain parts is a dry read and sometimes it is just hard to get into it or to keep up with the telling. Why? The main reason for this is that the disaster itself although years in the making was actually just minutes in passing so there is no true way of judging the scope of its real effects on all the lives that were touched whether directly or indirectly. Although we have causality lists, financial compensation numbers, years and so much more there is more to the aftereffects than can be wisely explored in just one book alone.
The author does a great job in starting the book off by exploring other similar circus tragedies and their influences on the show up until the time of the main tragedy. For those who just want the Hartford Circus fire it can be passed over without a skim for it doesn't take away much in the telling. The same can be said on avoiding some of the later chapters in the book if you don't want to get into all the legalities, the investigation and wild goose chases that came around as well as the fact that time goes on.
As for the main story I have to applaud the author for his attempts in trying to tell the reader what happened. The fire was short in its length of rule but it was hideous so as a result the stories that are told border on the macabre and ghastly. Although there are stories of heroics there are also stories of the monster-side of humans who struggle to escape so they can continue for another day in this life that we have been given.
Since of the large crowds, the various performers and those who came to play a role there is no actual easy timeline to follow in the author's writing. He bounces from one event to another and from one person to another without giving the reader time to process what is being told to them. There will also be times where the reader will find something reappearing in an indirect way from a previous told episode but unable to directly remember where they had seen it it falls to the wayside as a niggling thought - irritating but buried by the earlier story.
Although there is a list of principals the author includes so many other characters and those who appear just so briefly that it is hard to keep track of who is who. Even when you know that you are reading from the list or you want to look back on it you have to basically dig through the pages to get back to it or to even the circus lot diagram. It would have been better for these two important documents to have been included in the front of the book before the telling of the story or even at the back as well symbols to remind the reader who died and/or who survived.
For those who are medical students or a participant of the medical world the book does a great job in exploring the medical history at the time of how burn wounds were dealt with and how the organization of medical response came to be. It is a time capsule that although disturbing due to how it came to be reminds one from that field as to what it means to struggle with a disaster of a big scope, especially when it came to pull the heart strings.
In the end I would definitely recommend this book for the medical readers who may be interested or even for diehard readers of such tragedies. Just be assured that since of its graphic nature the author keeps the graphic element in this telling of the fire. But even as that may be, may there also be those who will be encouraged since of the writing to help keep the memories of all these people involved to keep on influencing the world around them to be a better and safer place than they found it.
July 23, 2024
This was written really well and kept me interested throughout the book. It was refreshing to read an account without any politics being brought into it like so many other books. There is an unsolved mystery throughout the book that keeps you engaged as well.
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