Fire in the Cocoanut Grove

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The fire in Cocoanut Grove occurred on November 28, 1942 in a Boston nightclub . The second worst fire in a building in the United States, after the fire in the Iroquois Theater in 1903, killed 492 people and injured hundreds.

Many visitors were fans of the college football team " Holy Cross Crusaders " from Worcester (Massachusetts) , which had previously beaten the college team from Boston 55:12 in the final of the so-called Orange Punch in Fenway Park .

The fire broke out when the highly flammable decoration was ignited by sparks from a defective lamp: the cause was a short circuit. Initially, an employee was accused; the latter had lit a match in order to repair the lamp. At this point, however, the fire was already smoldering in the pipes. In fact, the owner was charged and convicted of manslaughter and failure to observe safety rules.

The lack of implementation (there was only a single narrow staircase, escape doors were locked and bolted) and highly toxic gases led to the high number of victims. After the accident, there was a nationwide change in safety standards and the treatment of fire victims.

literature

  • Esposito, John: Fire in the Grove: The Cocoanut Grove Tragedy And Its Aftermath (2005) ISBN 978-0-306-81423-5 .

documentation