Tonight PBS's American Experience discusses the horrific blaze that occurred 100 years ago and the political actions that were demanded in the aftermath.
On March 25th, 1911, a fire broke out due to a dropped match on the a higher level floor of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York's Greenwich Village. The fire blazed through the loft; enormous piles of trimmings feeding the flames. Scared workers tried to make their way downstairs, but the factory owners kept the doors on the 9th floor locked and the inadequate fire escape soon crumpled. Hundreds of horrified on-lookers watched as young men and women jumped from the windows. 146 were dead by the time the fire burned out. All but 17 of the dead were women, and many were teenagers.
Watch it tonight on your local PBS station @ 9:00 pm.
Visit PBS's Triangle Fire page for more information on the event and the special is now available to watch here.
