On July 6, 1944 the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus was conducting a matinee performance under the big top in a field in the north end of Hartford, Connecticut. It was a typically hot and uncomfortable summer day in New England.
As many as 7,000 people were there for the show. Many parents with children.
No one knows how it began exactly, but during the middle of the show a fire erupted in one corner of the canvas tent, which had been treated with wax and gasoline for waterproofing. The fire spread quickly. Panic ensued. People rushed for the exits. Some were trampled and others were caught beneath the collapsing burning tent.
At least 167 people died. Hundreds more were injured.
Nearly eighty years later, the weight of what happened that day can still be felt when you visit the field where the tent stood. There is a memorial to the victims. A metal plate is embedded in a parking lot marking the tent's main entrance. Trees have been planted to outline the perimeter of the tent which was 200 feet wide and 450 feet long.
There are still many mysteries connected with the fire including its official cause and the exact number of dead. The best explanation ever given as a cause for the fire was a tossed cigarette, but the theory has never been proven. Others suspect arson, but have offered no convincing evidence. Six years after the fire a man from Ohio confessed to setting the blaze, but his confession was not considered credible.
The official death toll has been listed variously at around 167, or "nearly 170," but because of poor record keeping concerning the population in some rural towns outside Hartford and less than modern forensics, the true death toll may have been higher. Many body parts were removed from the scene without identification.
In 2005 a memorial to the victims was erected at the site of the fire at 350 Barbour St. in Hartford. Its centerpiece lists the names of the known victims - many obviously parents who were attending the circus with their children. The focal point of the monument is laid at the location of the center pole of the tent that collapsed over the three rings below.
© Dean Pagani 2023