On December 1, 1958, a fire broke out at Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago, Illinois. Ninety-two children and three nuns died in the fire that occurred 52 years today. Afterwards, sweeping changes were made in fire codes across the nation and firefighters in training still study the OLA fire so that something like it cannot occur again. There is a poignant website in the memory of the children and sisters. Today please remember them in your prayers.
Remembering Our Lady of the Angels
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I taught at a Catholic school in the 1980s and some of the wonderful nuns on staff spoke about the fire and how it moved them to be more assertive to penny-pinching pastors about school building safety.
The effect of the fire continues to reverberate today, as it did in the 1980s, although the changes in ssafety codes came about at a cost too great to bear. amdg, bill
Happy birthday to Mr. Andy Clarke today!
My grandfather, Ferdinand Phillips, served on an engine company 5 miles north of OLA in 1958.
amdg, bill
But the stories are similar ones.
I was five when the OLA fire occurred, an despite efforts of everyone to shield us from what was going on, we knew it and it affected us. Dr. Pat Fosarelli has a good article on helping children and others (don't we all sometimes regress to child-like responses) when tragedy happens:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=12253
bvo
An extremely sad day. amdg. bill