The story of the Hartford circus fire of 1944
By SCOTT SPIRES
Guest Columnist
It was around 78 years ago: July 6, 1944, to be exact.
It was a sweltering hot day in Hartford, Conn.
World War II still raged on.
The nation was tired; tired of their loved ones being overseas, tired of the war, tired of rationing.
Many needed a break. The residents of Hartford saw this with the arrival of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Between 6,000 and 8,000 people showed up to watch the circus performance on that afternoon in the Big Top Tent.
Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus was the largest and most popular circus in the country.
The circus arrived so late on July 5 that two shows had to be canceled. In circus lore, missing a show was considered a very, very bad omen. A late evening show did manage to perform, with nervous, superstitious circus employees ever watchful for any impending danger. The show went off smoothly.
The next day at 2 p.m., the performance was to begin again. Due to the war, the show was attended by mainly women and children.
The Big Top Tent was 200 feet wide and 450 feet long with 15-foot sidewalls. The center roof was 48 feet high.
For waterproofing, the Big Top Tent was covered with 1,800 pounds of paraffin dissolved in 6,000 gallons of gasoline.
The flooring of the Big Top Tent was covered in hay, wood shavings and sawdust.
There was one main exit and eight smaller exits. However, many of the smaller exits were blocked by circus equipment.
The bottoms of the sidewalls were tied down tightly to prevent anyone from trying to sneak in by going under the sidewalls.
All the above was a recipe for disaster!
A fire began as a small flame in a corner after a performance by the lions. As the Great Flying Wallendas performed their high wire act, the circus band leader spotted the flames and directed the band to play “Stars and Stripes Forever.” The emergency distress signal for all circus personnel.
The fire then shorted out the power, so the ringmaster could not be heard trying to calm the crowd or give instructions on how to evacuate the tent safely. Ushers tried to maintain some orderly evacuation out of the tent but were overwhelmed by the panicked crowd.
Ushers then tried to douse the flames with buckets of water posted around the tent to no avail.
Then in desperation, the Ushers tried to cut down parts of the tent wall that was on fire. It was futile. The fire was out of control.
Most of the spectators escaped unharmed. Witness reported seeing many panicked mothers running in circles in the flaming tent looking for their children. Some who made it out safely returned into the inferno looking for family members. Some spectators, frozen in fear and shock, stayed seated until the end as molting paraffin wax rained down from the roof.
The tent, now a massive blaze, collapsed in eight minutes, trapping hundreds. By the time the Hartford Fire Department arrived, nothing was left of the structure except glowing embers.
The victims died from asphyxiation, burns, smoke inhalation and being trampled. Many died while trying to go under the tied-down tent walls. Most of the victims were found by the (many blocked) congested exits, some three bodies deep.
The best-known victim was a young blond girl wearing a white dress.
She was never claimed and was identified as only “Little Miss 1565” after the number assigned to her in the city’s emergency morgue. She was buried without a name in a Hartford cemetery.
After years of exhaustive investigations, the child was believed to be Eleanor Emily Cook. In 1991 her body was exhumed and buried next to her brother Edward who also perished in the fire.
After the case was litigated, all the profits Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Baily Circus made from 1944 until 1954 went to the victims’ families: $5 million.
Across the country after the Hartford circus tent fire, sweeping changes were made in state fire codes, and fire marshals were given more authority. Today, Connecticut has the strictest fire codes in the nation.
In 2002, the Hartford Circus Fire Memorial Foundation erected a permanent memorial to the people killed in the fire.
During their final tour, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus put on its last performance in Hartford, Conn., in 2017.
There has been much speculation as to the true cause of the fire. It was believed a serial arsonist was the culprit, but the story didn’t hold up. Some believe a carelessly discarded cigarette caused the fire. The true cause of the fire will probably never be known.
What is known? “Even clowns cry … sometimes.”