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
Great Revere train wreck of 1871 on using the old time-interval system and not using the telegraph. Several lawsuits were filed against the Eastern and the company almost went bankrupt. This eventually led to the Eastern being merged with its rival, the Boston and Maine Railroad in 1884. The accident remains the most deadly train wreck in the history of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the second worst train accident in all of New England. Great Revere train wreck of 1871 The Great Revere train wreck of 1871 occurred on the evening of August 26, 1871, when the Eastern Railroad's "Portland Express" slammed into the rear