1957 — Jan 24, M. Baer Dress and Garment Factory fire, New Haven, CT — 15

— 15 National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996.
— 15 National Fire Protection Assoc. The 1984 Fire Almanac. Quincy, MA: NFPA, 1983, p.139.
— 15 Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “Labor, Industry at Odds Over Safety Measures.” 2-8-1957, 1.
— 14 Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “14th New Haven Fire Victim Dies.” 2-2-1957, p. 1.
— 10 Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “New Haven Fire Claims 10th Victim.” 1-31-1957, p. 12.
— 9 Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “All Bodies Recovered…New Haven Factory.” 1-28-1957, 5.
— 9 Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “Firemen Search for More Fire Victims.” 1-26-1957, p. 1.
— 7 Cumberland Sunday Times, MD. “Toll in Factory Fire Hits Seven.” 1-27-1957, p. 1.
— 4 Bridgeport Telegram, CT. “4 Die in New Haven Factory Fire.” 1-25-1957, p. 1.

Narrative Information

Jan 24: “New Haven, Jan. 24 – (AP) A dry and dusty factory loft building of the 19th century vintage burst into flames today, setting off panic and horror among the women working inside. Four women were known dead. Three men and two women were reported missing and believed
dead. Officials said there was a possibility more bodies could be in the building where 112 persons were employed.

“Frank Looney, city welfare director, said the families of six persons who worked in the building
had reported them missing.

“Firemen said screaming women, some with their clothing and hair ablaze, bottled up door and fire escapes. Two of the bodies clung in stark, black horror on a side fire escape where five women had jammed up in an excited rush for safety. Two others were dead on arrival at hospitals.

“They were among five women firemen had to pull from the fire escape where there was a jam-up because their legs caught between the iron steps as they raced hysterically for safety. The two who perished were burned by flames licking from a door.

“Fireman James Curry, his face stricken with disbelief, said he was the first firefighter who went up the fire escape after the women. ‘Their clothing was on fire and they were screaming,’ he said. ‘Their legs were caught between the steps of the fire escape and we had to pull them apart. I could hardly pull them apart.’

“Hospitals reported 31 persons injured, nine critically.

“Four and a half hours after the fire broke out, the side wall of the four-story building collapsed. Fire officials said a search for other bodies in the building would be delayed until morning because the three other walls were weakened.

“After the wall collapsed, reports from the scene said six bodies were found in the ruins. However, officials said that the reports were erroneous, and that firemen and rescue workers were told to stay clear of the weakened building.

“Meanwhile a woman who operated one of the dress firms in the building told of seeing her husband bathed in flames on a fire escape after he helped her and their 25 women employes to safety. Mrs. Josephine Nastri, about 40, of nearby North Haven, sat in the waiting room of Grace-New Haven hospital hoping her husband is alive. The name of Joseph Nastri was not on the lists of persons admitted to two hospitals for treatment of burns and other injuries. Nastri’s name later was placed among the missing….

“The dead were identified as Mrs. Jessie Mongilio, a 42-year-old mother of one child; Mrs. Angelina De Rienzo, 18, a bride of only three months; Miss Alma Bradley, 40, 113 Bristol street
New Haven, and Miss Grace Pitman, 42, 583 Howard avenue, New Haven….

“The four-story brick building was nothing but a shell and one wall was in danger of collapsing when the fire was brought under control more than two hours later. Five firms occupied the building in the center of an outmoded tenement and factory loft section of the city’s cast side. On the first floor three brothers operate a metal fabricating shop called the Stanley Company. Dress-making firms occupied the three other floors.

“Waller Myjak, one of the owners of the metal shop, said the fire broke out about 3 p.m. He said he heard a rumbling in the building and opened the door to the elevator shaft. “Red fire burst out at me,” he said. He said he tried to call the fire department but the telephone was dead.

“He said he ran upstairs and kicked one of the doors open to get people out. On the fourth floor, he said, he saw women jammed at an emergency door which they couldn’t get open. They pounded and pushed but none could remember in their panic that a lever had to be pulled down to release the lock….

“Anthony Loricco [unclear], 50, owner of a dress shop on the second floor of the building, was injured critically in jumping to safety after seeing his employes out of the building. At St. Raphael’s hospital where he and 13 others were taken for treatment, he told a reporter: ‘There was smoke coming up from the first floor. I ran to get a fire extinguisher. When I got back the smoke was overpowering, and the girls were leaving. When they got out I went to the fire escape, but the bottom section which was counter-balanced to move with a person’s weight – something was wrong with it, and I had to jump.’

“Fire Marshall Eugene J. Mulligan said ‘panic as much as anything else’ accounted for the deaths.

“Every last piece of fire-fighting equipment in this city of 160,000 was called to the general alarm fire. The city’s fire department often has been praised as one of the best and most advanced in the nation. But this fire was too fast. To reporters at the scene the fire appeared to have raced from the bottom to the top of the building in almost a single puff, and nothing the fire department had could cope with it.

“The building is but 10 blocks from downtown New Haven, at Franklin and Chapel streets….

“In the sub-freezing temperatures, the helmets, coats and even the gloves of the firemen became covered with ice. Four inches of water at one time flooded Franklin street.” (Bridgeport Telegram, CT. “4 Die in New Haven Factory Fire.” 1-25-1957, p. 1.)

Jan 26: “New Haven, Conn., Jan 26 (AP) – The toll of known dead in Thursday’s factory fire here rose to seven today when firemen found the bodies of a man and woman in the flame-wrecked rubble of the 85-year-old four-story building. Tentatively identified as those of Morris Baer, owner of one of three dress factories that had occupied the building; and Miss Josephine Marotta, a dress shop employe, the bodies were taken to a hospital morgue for positive identification.” (Cumberland Sunday Times, MD. “Toll in Factory Fire Hits Seven.” 1-27-57, 1.)

Jan 26: “New Haven, Jan. 26 — (UP) — Firemen today sifted through the ashes of a garment factory building, destroyed in Thursday’s disastrous fire that resulted in a toll of nine dead or missing. Firemen said they were certain the missing would be found in the charred ruins of the building, earmarked for removal in the city’s redevelopment program in a few months.” (Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “Firemen Search for More Fire Victims.” 1-26-1957, p. 1.)

Jan 28: “New Haven, Jan. 28 – (UPI) — Man today began to end the task started by a fatal garment factory fire. City officials, led by Mayor Richard Lee, made plans for tearing down the remnants of the building in which nine persona died Thursday. This was done after the last of the known dead were recovered. The last bodies found in the charred rubble were those of Thelma Lynn, 40, of West Haven and Joseph Nastri, 61, of New Haven. One of the searching firemen said, “I was never so glad to finish any job in all my life.”

“Mayor Lee said the four-story 19th Century brick structure lay in on area earmarked for redevelopment.

“Eight persons., among 20 injured in the blaze, remained in critical condition.

“The fire, which officials said started in a heap of rubbish on the first floor, spread in a matter of seconds throughout the structure. Leo Alix, a state Labor Department safety expert, said, ‘it really only needed a spark.. That building was a brick shell, ribbed with dry wood. All it needed was a spark – then poof.’

“Gov. Ribicoff and other state officials were discussing legislation to prevent similar disasters. They blamed the high toll mostly on panic, bred of ignorance of proper emergency procedure.” (Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “All Bodies Recovered from Fire-Ravaged New Haven Factory.” 1-28-1957, 5.)

Jan 31: “New Haven, Jan. 31—(UP)—The death toll in last Thursday’s garment factory fire rose to 10 Wednesday night with the death of Mrs. Teresa Sulo, 43. The other nine victims were burned to death during the fire which swept a four-story loft building.” (Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “New Haven Fire Claims 10th Victim.” 1-31-1957, p. 12.)

Feb 2: “New Haven, Feb. 2—(UP)—The 14th death in the tragic garment factory fire here Jan. 24 was reported today at Grace-New Haven hospital. Mrs. Anna Jones, 57, of New Haven, died at 3:20 a. m. She had been listed in very critical condition since the day of the fire with third degree burns over most of her body.

“Three other victims died in hospitals Friday, and the bodies of nine were recovered after the fire. One other victim succumbed at a hospital early last week.

“Meantime, two of the other 30 persons injured in the blaze remained on the critical list at Grace-New Haven and St. Raphael’s hospitals.” (Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “14th New Haven Fire Victim Dies.” 2-2-1957, p. 1.)

Feb 8: “Hartford. Feb. 8 — (UP) — Labor and industry were at odds today on proposed fire safety measures for Connecticut factories. Labor spokesmen urged the Legislature Thursday to take speedy action on bills aimed at preventing industrial disasters such as the Jan. 24, New Haven garment factory fire which took 15 lives.

“However, representatives of industry asked the Legislature to move cautiously on any measure requiring periodic fire drills. They said it would cost too much money in lost time.” (Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “Labor, Industry at Odds Over Safety Measures.” 2-8-1957, 1.)

Sources

Bridgeport Telegram, CT. “4 Die in New Haven Factory Fire. 5 Are Missing.” 1-25-1957, p. 1. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=82249942&sterm

Cumberland Sunday Times, MD. “Toll in Factory Fire Hits Seven.” 1-27-1957, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=102495600&sterm

National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996. Accessed 2010 at: http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=1352&itemID=30955&URL=Research%20&%20Reports/Fire%20statistics/Key%20dates%20in%20fire%20history&cookie%5Ftest=1

National Fire Protection Association. The 1984 Fire Almanac. Quincy, MA: NFPA, 1983.

Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “14th New Haven Fire Victim Dies.” 2-2-1957, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=77670580&sterm

Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “All Bodies Recovered from Fire-Ravaged New Haven Factory.” 1-28-1957, 5. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=77670558&sterm

Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “Firemen Search for More Fire Victims.” 1-26-1957, p. 1. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=77670553&sterm

Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “Labor, Industry at Odds Over Safety Measures.” 2-8-1957, 1. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=77670607&sterm

Naugatuck Daily News, CT. “New Haven Fire Claims 10th Victim.” 1-31-1957, p. 12. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=66134880&sterm