The Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire in 1911 claimed 146 lives and led to major reforms in fire safety, factory procedures, and unionization of garment workers. The factory owners resisted unionization efforts and the fire highlighted the dangerous working conditions in garment factories. The fire started in a bin of textile clippings and most of the workers were trapped due to locked doors. The owners were acquitted of wrongdoing, but the incident led to legislation regulating working conditions in the US.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire, also known as the Triangle Fire, was a notorious industrial disaster that led to major reforms in fire safety, factory procedures, and unionization of garment workers. The fire, which claimed the lives of 146 people, began on the afternoon of March 25, 1911 on the eighth floor of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in New York City. The Triangle Fire is often cited as a terrible example of the horrific conditions in which sweatshop workers worked before the advent of major reforms for the American working class.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Company was owned by Max Blanc and Isaac Harris, who founded the company to capitalize on the growing trend of long skirts and blouses, or shirtwaists, that became popular in the early part of the 20th century. The Triangle Fire dealt a severe blow to both the men and their business, which never fully recovered. The factory employed 20 men and women, although most of the workers were female, and most of those trapped and killed by the Triangle Fire were women. Most of the employees were illegal immigrants trying to make a better life for themselves in America and endured the unpleasant working conditions because they felt they had no other choice.
Before the Triangle Fire, the company was already known for resisting unionization efforts. A massive city strike staged in 1909 originated at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, and four months of negotiations by the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union finally resulted in a settlement, which the Triangle Shirtwaist Company refused to accept. During the strike, the factory employed scabs and vicious pimps who were then accused of severely beating the young strikers.
The Triangle Fire started in the late afternoon, just before a shift change, in a bin of textile clippings. The factory was located on the upper floors of the ten-story Asch Building at the corner of Greene Street and Washington Place. The Triangle Fire illustrated a fact already well known to garment workers: most garment factories were potential fire traps, with bins of highly flammable fabrics and designs surrounded by smoking workers and overloaded sewing machines that sometimes overheated and caused small fires. In fact, the Triangle Shirtwaist Company had already been sued over fire safety issues.
While fire alarms went off on the eighth and tenth floors, the ninth floor was not warned and most of the workers on that floor did not survive, trapped by the heat of the Triangle Fire, locked doors and panic. All floors had only one exit open, because the other door was locked, ostensibly to prevent workers from taking breaks, leaving early, or stealing. The fire raced up the stairs with the doors unlocked, effectively trapping the workers in the highly flammable laboratories. Many of them jumped from upstairs windows or down elevator shafts, sometimes on fire, in an attempt to escape the heat.
Workers who were lucky enough to escape onto the roof were rescued by employees of a nearby office building and firefighters, who arrived at the scene very quickly. The factory owners fled to the roof and were later acquitted of wrongdoing in the fire. Union activists were furious, as were many lawmakers, and the Triangle Fire ultimately led to legislation that still regulates working conditions in the United States.
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