Lake View School Fire

On Ash Wednesday March 4, 1908, the 63rd day of the year the Lake View School in Collinwood Ohio experienced a massive fire that ended in the destruction of the town’s school and the death of 172 students, 2 teachers, and a rescuer. The photo above is one of the school prior to the fire and the one at the end of this post is of the school after the fire. To date this was the deadliest fire of this type in recorded US history.

The Lake View School was built with load bearing masonary outer walls, but much of the four story building’s floor structure system used wood joists. The fire started in a wooden joist that caught fire when a steam pipe caused it to be overheated. The main stair case extended from the front doors of the building to the third floor; without fire doors, the stairwell acted like a chimney and caused the fire to spread quickly. Oiled wooden hall and classroom floors also helped to fuel the fire. It was believed that those killed were trapped by the building's vestibule doors, which opened inward, not outward. Doors to the building were equipped with common door knob latches, not modern crash bar latches. Panic caused a large number of students in stairwell vestibules to be crushed which contributed to the death toll, some also died from smoke inhalation and direct fire burns. Some children died as they jumped from 2nd and 3rd story windows. People watched as victims that were trapped in the building were burned beyond recognition.

The aftermath of the fire saw the advent of a mass grave site due to the inability to identify the remains of some of the children and some people being unable to afford burial. Some of the parents of children chose to bury their children alongside their peers. This mass grave was constructed in Lakeview Cemetary in Cleveland. After the fire the remains of the building was razed and memorial gardens were constructed on the grounds of the new school.

The effects of this fire reached all across the Unites States and helped to establish safer schools for our children today. The events at this school and others such as the Our Lady of Angels School fire shaped the future.