The Triangle Shirtwaist Company occupied the 8th, 9th, and 10th floors of a building in New York City. The company was a sweatshop producing women’s blouses (shirtwaists). 500 women were employed by Max Blanck and Isaac Harris. Most of the women were Italian and Jewish immigrants. They ranged in age from 14-23 mostly. They worked a six day week for a total of 52 hours and made 7-12 dollars a week. They mostly worked at sewing machines. The International Ladies Garment Workers Union was trying to improve pay and working conditions, but the police sided with the owners and city officials accepted bribes to ignore the problems. Blanck and Harris had several suspicious fires at previous factories. Some may have been arson to get insurance money. On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out in a bin containing clothing scraps. Most likely someone threw a cigarette butt or a match in it. The fire quickly spread. The women panicked and tried to flee. Unfortunately the two stairways were either locked (to discourage thievery) or blocked. The only operable elevator (out of four) could only hold 12 at a time. It made four trips before it became inoperable, partly because women had fallen down the elevator shaft and landed on the ceiling. The narrow fire escape broke, spilling women to the ground. Other women jumped to their deaths rather than burn to death. A large crowd watched as man kissed a woman and they jumped together. A safety net used by the firemen broke when three women hit it at the same time. Jumpers impaired firemen trying to use their hoses. The fire department ladders only reached the seventh floor. There were no sprinklers in the building. Women on the tenth floor and the two owners were able to reach the roof and then use a bridge to get to the next building. A total of 146 people died from smoke inhalation, burns, or jumping. 23 men were victims. The tragedy brought attention to safety problems in factories. New York City created the Factory Investigating Committee. Francis Perkins was instrumental in its creation. A fire prevention law was passed. Progressives in other states passed similar laws. Blanck and Harris went before a grand jury for manslaughter, but they were not indicted. partly because the defense attorneys emphasized that some of the testimony appeared memorized. A civil suit found them liable for the deaths and made them pay $75 dollars to the victims’ families. The insurance company paid them $400 per victim! The fire boosted membership in the International Ladies Garment Workers Union and labor unions in general gained membership and power.
https://www.history.com/articles/triangle-shirtwaist-fire
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire
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