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 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 of a stopped local train at Revere, Massachusetts. The accident occurred on a very busy Saturday evening with three large weekend events taking place in Boston causing heavier than usual traffic on the railroads, especially on the Eastern Railroad's line. Normally, the Eastern ran 152 trains on weekend days, but with two large revivals and military muster taking place, the number of trains running to accommodate the extra load