Chicago, IL -Our Lady of the Angels School fire - 92 pupils, 3 Nun's die 12/1/58

[ChiTownFireBuff543]

December 1, 1958 ...1442 Hours
Chicago Fire Dept.
Main Fire Alarm Office
5-11 Alarm with many Special Calls
Our Lady of the Angels School fire
92 pupils, 3 Nun's perish
3808 W. Iowa Street (Initial report from Church Sanctuary address)
BOX #5182

2:42 PM - Still Alarm
E85 (5 blocks away from the fire; firehouse is at 3700 W. Huron St. ...Sadly, it is now in dangerous condition http://chicagoareafire.com/blog/2013/09/a-visit-to-cfd-engine-85s-ols-house/ )
T35
High Pressure Wagon 6  http://www.usfirepolice.net/il_chicago_retired_high_pressure_6.jpg
B18
2-8-7 (Fire Patrol 7)
Times that these co.'s returned to quarters, respectively in order:
9:31 pm
11:19pm
11:30p
11:17p
11:17p

*I am not too sure exactly which Battalion boundaries the school would be in today; either the 7th, 12th or 13th...it's a toss up. I would think that E117/TL14 would be first due today.

2:44 PM - Box Alarm
E44, 68, 95
T26, 36
B23
2-2-2 (at the time, the 2nd Division Marshal) - now called Deputy District Chief
2-2-6 (at the time, the 6th Division Marshal) - now called Deputy District Chief
Return to quarters times, in order of above:
6:41 pm
6:29
6:31
8:50
8:56
7:34
6:01
11:49pm

2:47 PM - 2-11 Alarm
E57, 67, 76, 105
T46
B24
Deputy Fire Cmsr. 8 (2-1-8) (today, is Deputy Fire Commissioner: Bureau of Logistics)
Deputy Fire Cmsr. 9 (2-1-9) (today, is Assistant Deputy Fire Commissioner: Special Operations Division)
Sqd. 7
6-2-4 (Tower 4)
Ambulance 10
High Pressure Wagon 7 (HPW)
RTQ times, in order:
6:32 pm
7:05
6:43
6:23
6:23
5:52
6:47
6:00
8:00
5:37
9:04
5:35pm

2:57 PM - 3-11/4-11/5-11 Alarm's in succession
3-11:
E24, 77, 114, 117
T32
B28
FD Chaplain 2-1-10 (today, is Assistant Deputy Fire Commissioner: Fire Suppression and Rescue - North)
Squad 2
HPW2
RTQ times, in order:
6:16 pm
6:18
5:46
6:14
6:21
6:20
5:58
6:30
5:09pm

4-11:
E9, 12, 26, 43, 111
Fire Dept. Doctor 2-1-12 (today is Assistant Deputy Fire Commissioner - Fire South)
RTQ times, in order:
5:08 pm
4:55
5:30
5:41
5:38
8:40pm

5-11:
E7, 38, 42, 106, 109
Fire Commissioner 2-1-3 (same as today)
Chief Fire Marshal 2-1-5 (today is Deputy Fire Commissioner - Operations)
1st Deputy Fire Marshal 2-1-6 (today is Deputy Fire Commissioner - Fire Prevention)
Tower 1  ...6-2-1 ?
Tower 2  ...6-2-8 ?
HPW 1
RTQ times, in order:
5:49 pm
5:46
5:20
6:08
5:56
8:07
8:18
9:00
5:05
5:03
5:04pm

Special Calls (with time of call)
Truck 7        (3:08 pm)
Truck 39      (3:08)
Squad 1        (3:08)
Squad 10      (3:10)
Ambulance 2  (2:47)
Ambulance 3  (2:47)
Ambulance 7  (2:47)
Ambulance 8  (2:47)
Ambulance 11 (2:47)
Ambulance 13 (2:47)
Ambulance 15 (2:47)
Ambulance 18 (2:47)
Light Wagon 2 (4:30)
Light Wagon 3 (5:11)
RTQ times, in order:
5:16 pm
8:45
6:32
7:18
9:24
6:30
6:48
7:02
7:05
7:07
6:45
7:14
8:30 a.m. on 12/2
9:12 pm
* The 3-11 and 4-11 alarms were not explicitly called, but were implicit when the 5-11 alarm was called.

Housekeeper Nora Maloney telephoned the first alarm ("Still Alarm") at 2:42 pm. When Engine 85 arrived at the school at 2:44 pm and saw they had a working fire, Lieutenant Stanley Wojnicki called the main alarm office and requested a Box Alarm. Coincidentally, the operator had just done so, based on the volume of telephone calls reporting the fire. Within minutes, firemen realized that many children were trapped in the burning school, prompting Engineer Henry Holden to request a 2nd alarm. When 18th Battalion Chief Miles Devine arrived at the scene and realized how many potential victims there were, he requested additional ambulances and police squadrols. Ten minutes later, at 2:57 pm, the roof collapsed and Devine immediately requested a 5-11 alarm, skipping over the 3rd and 4th alarms that would normally have been called first.

22 engine companies responded to the OLA fire, along with 7 truck (hook & ladder) companies, plus numerous rescue squads, insurance patrols, ambulance companies, high pressure wagons, light wagons, towers (snorkels) and battalion chiefs.
In 1958, the Chicago Fire Department consisted of 126 Engine companies, 59 Truck companies, and 13 Rescue Squads, all divided into 30 Battalions in 6 Districts. (Today, those numbers, in order, are: 97, 61, 4,  divided into 24 and 5)

The Chicago Police Department also dispatched men and equipment to the fire: approximately 100 officers, 27 squadrols, 23 three-wheeled motorcycles, and 23 squad cars. Overhead, CPD traffic helicopter Patrolman Leonard Baldy, who normally made radio traffic reports, helped emergency equipment find the best routes to and from the fire.

The record for the number of people rescued at a single fire by the Chicago Fire Department was set at Our Lady of the Angels. In less than 15 minutes, firefighters rescued at least 160 children and nuns from the school.

Patient's were taken to:
St. Anne's Hospital
Franklin Boulevard Hospital
Walther Memorial Hospital
Garfield Park Hospital
Norwegian American Hospital
St. Elizabeth's Hospital
St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital

http://www.olafire.com/FireEngineering.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_the_Angels_School_fire
http://www.olafire.com/OLAHeroes.asp (there is at least 1 name that many will recognize: Hal Bruno)
Patrolman Baldy even has his own page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Baldy

 

[3511]

Chi Town...buff,

Thank you for an excellent post. Most informative. I even followed all the links you provided.

I have my own memories of this tragedy.

At the time i was an 11 year old 6th grader in a Catholic grade school, Our Lady of Refuge in the Bronx. Our own Diocese' Our Lady of Angels school was only a short distance away. Just the name of the Chicago school hit too close to the heart.

As the reports and film (limited in those days) came across the evening news,  I was horrified. My dad was then an officer in the FDNY but was on duty that night, unable to answer my 1000 questions and calm my fears. After much begging, my mom let me stay up to watch the 11 o'clock news. Probably a mistake as I had nightmares all night.

Walking to school the next morning all the kids were abuzz with the OLA tragedy.  My school, Our Lady of Refuge, had always been just that, a safe, warm, (even if strict) refuge in my childhood. Not that day. The building was not yet 40 years old, not modern but certainly not old. Looking up, I could not help but imagine my entire class jumping out the windows, as I had witnessed on TV.

By sheer coincidence, my teacher,  Dominican nun Sister Mary John Joseph, was a Chicago native. She was later considered the coolest, most fun teacher we had in all of grade school, a real tomboy who would play stick ball with the boys in her full nuns habit. Not that day. She was visibly shaken, explaining that she had grown up in that Chicago neighborhood as OLA. We spent much of that day discussing her childhood and the tragedy of the previous day. All the while she struggled to control herself, and we all knew it.

My dad was home when I returned from school and I went right to him. He stated that such a fire could not happen at my school, explaining that OLA Chicago was a very old building that was unsafe by our fire codes. That was a little bit New York hubris and just an answer a kid needed to hear. He outlined how my school had a fire alarm system right in the building that would get the FDNY there and us children out before the same could happen. He said much more I suppose and then told m? to go out and play and tell your friends not to worry. And so I went out and spread the gospel as the only guy whose father was on the job and in the know.

That I remember this all so explicitly is testament to the impact of the Chicago fire on my youth and the importance of my dad. A real father.

We kids moved on quickly, as kids always do. Sister John Joseph remained skiddish. A week or two later the scent of something burning wafted down my school hallway. Just a sniff. Sister JJ went out in the hallway and pulled the box located there. The whole student body, all 8 grades,  promptly fire drilled out onto Briggs Avenue as the FDNY rolled in. By coincidence again, Uncle Charles, my dad's younger brother, chauffeured Ladder 37 into place, cranked up the aerial ladder and went up to the roof. We kids watched in amazement at these men.

There was no fire. When things calmed down and we began to re-enter the school I felt a tug on my shirt collar. It was uncle Charles, with a big grin.

"You OK"?
"Yep".
"Good, now get back in there and learn something"

Our Lady of Angels in Chicago had upset my world, but now I was safe again.

 

[mack]

Thanks Chi Town - excellent summary of a tragic event.

 

[nfd2004]

Chi Town, I echo what has been said above. An excellent report you gave. I also relate to what has been said by "3511". I also had a father who was a firefighter at the time and I had a thousand questions for him too when that happened. I also went to Catholic School in Bridgeport, Ct. The name of the school was Blessed Sacrament.

If I remember correctly, "mack" once told me that he went to Catholic Grammar School too. He also had a father who was a firefighter in the FDNY.

In 1958 I was around 9 years old. In school whenever the fire trucks would go by, we would always stop and pray. I was the only kid in the class that had a father who was a fireman. As we prayed, every once in awhile, some of those kids would look over towards me. I'd always tell them that my father was a fireman and they knew how proud of him I was. Actually, my father worked at the firehouse that was second due and it wasn't always his company riding by.

  When we were dismissed from school we would still have to march in line up to the corner. I remember before getting to that corner, the fire trucks going by and the nuns stopping us in line to pray for those fireman as they go to their call. As one of the videos that was posted about this fire said, some of those kids died because they were told to stay in place and pray. I can understand how those kids would not move and instead would die praying and just doing what they were told. Anybody that went to Catholic School during those years would agree.

  I have to believe if Heaven is for Real, then those 92 kids and 3 nuns are there.

 

[grumpy grizzly]

Sad thing, this incident never made local news I believe on Monday