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N0KFQ > TODAY 06.07.14 19:01l 38 Lines 1693 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Jul 6
Path: IZ3LSV<IK2XDE<DB0RES<DB0ANF<CX2SA<N9PMO<N9PMO<N0KFQ
Sent: 140706/1801Z 25500@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.60
Jul 6, 1944:
The Hartford Circus Fire
In Hartford, Connecticut, a fire breaks out under the big top of
the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, killing 167 people
and injuring 682. Two-thirds of those who perished were children.
The cause of the fire was unknown, but it spread at incredible
speed, racing up the canvas of the circus tent. Scarcely before
the 8,000 spectators inside the big top could react, patches of
burning canvas began falling on them from above, and a stampede
for the exits began. Many were trapped under fallen canvas, but
most were able to rip through it and escape. However, after the
tent's ropes burned and its poles gave way, the whole burning big
top came crashing down, consuming those who remained inside.
Within 10 minutes it was over, and some 100 children and 60 of
their adult escorts were dead or dying.
An investigation revealed that the tent had undergone a treatment
with flammable paraffin thinned with three parts of gasoline to
make it waterproof. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
eventually agreed to pay $5 million in compensation, and several
of the organizers were convicted on manslaughter charges. In
1950, in a late development in the case, Robert D. Segee of
Circleville, Ohio, confessed to starting the Hartford circus
fire. Segee claimed that he had been an arsonist since the age of
six and that an apparition of an Indian on a flaming horse often
visited him and urged him to set fires. In November 1950, Segee
was sentenced to two consecutive terms of 22 years in prison, the
maximum penalty in Ohio at the time.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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