Our Lady of the Angels School fire building as in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. However, its interior was made almost entirely of combustible wooden materials—stairs, walls, floors, doors, roof, and cellulose fiber ceiling tiles. Moreover, the floors had been coated many times with both flammable varnish and petroleum-based waxes. There were only two (unmarked) fire alarm switches in the entire school, and they were both in the south wing. There were four fire extinguishers in the north wing, each mounted off the floor, out of reach for many adults and virtually all of the children. The single fire escape was near one end of the
The Great Fire of Key West The Great Fire of Key West The Great Fire of Key West was a major fire that destroyed a significant portion of the city of Key West in 1886. It was the largest and most devastating fire in Key West history. The fire began in a coffee shop next to the San Carlos Institute. It burned for 12 hours over 50 acres, destroyed most of the commercial area of the city, killed seven people, injured 15 more, and cost one and a half million dollars in property damage. There were several compounding factors that caused the fire to burn for