Survivor Maureen Krekian discussed her ordeal in 2007. She was 11 at the time of the fire, and lived on the same road upon which the circus was held. On the day of the event, she was supposed to go to the circus with a neighbor and her daughter. When she went to their house, she found that they had already left without her. She decided to go to the circus on her own, where she seated herself in the bleachers.