Chicago Death Trap: The Iroquois Theatre Fire of 1903

The Oriental Theatre sits on the exact site of the Iroquois; you can see a show there, you can walk or drive through the small street (Couch Place, which is really an alleyway--and true to Chicago tradition, believed to be haunted) where patrons tried to escape the Iroquois fire--a little known tragedy of Chicago history that happened in 1903, eight years before the Triangle Shirtwaist fire in NYC. Brandt gives a full picture of Chicago at the turn of the 20th century: famous people and ordinary people; businessmen and showmen; generosity of spirit and miserliness. A reader can feel him or herself at the scene, watching Eddie Foy risk his life pleading for calm as the fire sparked backstage began to singe him, yet not knowing that smoke had already overwhelmed most of the victims. A page-turner that will make you scout your exits the next time you see a show or film--and make you understand the impact of this tragedy on building codes everywhere.

I have been a loyal fan of Nat Brandt for many years. I am fascinated by his ability to find little-known historical events and bring them to life with style and urgency. I was particularly drawn to this book because I love Chicago and I love the theater. The book unwinds like a novel -- the hope, the horror, the dirty dealing -- the utterly human story. What a good read.

Since I work only about five minutes away from the site of the Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, R.I. where 100 people lost their lives in February 2003, I felt compelled to read this book. Relying heavily on newspaper accounts of the disaster, Nat Brandt does a masterful job of recreating the awful events of that frigid December afternoon in 1903 when 602 people, mostly women and children, lost their lives in the Iroquois Theatre fire in downtown Chicago. This was a brand new venue that had been opened for a bit more than a month. The parallels between this fire and what happened recently here in Rhode Island appear to be numerous. Brandt discusses all of the shortcomings at the theatre that resulted in such a heavy death toll. For example, many of the emergency exits were camouflaged in an attempt to improve the appearance of the theater. In addition, most of these exits were locked during the performance and there were no "EXIT" signs posted anywhere. Skylights were installed that would have allowed the fumes and flames to escape above the stage but because the opening of the theater was rushed to take advantage of the holiday season, the skylights were stuck shut. Other deficiencies, too numerous too mention here, also contributed to making this theater a death trap. Brandt also discusses the potential culpabilty of the owners of the building, the architect, the construction company, municipal inspectors and of course, the politicians. Finally, we learn about the ultimate result of years of litigation by family members of the victims. Hint: It is not a happy ending. My conclusion from reading this book is a simple one: "Laxity spells disaster." We never seem to learn, do we? This a well written book that deserves your time and attention.

This book is a page turner. A tragic and cautionary tale of a Titanic-like disaster in which hubris and corruption resulted in a huge loss of life. What with the Rhode Island and Chicago fires this year, the book is particularly timely. I know that it has made me look for exit signs before I settle down in my theater seat.

Chicago is certainly well known for the fire of 1871 but how many people have ever heard of the fire which swept through the Iroquois Theatre thirty-two years later, leaving six hundred people dead in its wake? I admit that I never had heard about it so with Nat Brandt's excellent new book, "Chicago Death Trap", the lives of those lost and the hundreds of families that the tragedy touched can now be told.The author is direct and writes in a sparse, conservative tone that works well. Within the covers of this small book, Brandt, after some good preparation about the Iroquois Theatre itself and the men behind it, spells out the details of the fire....how it started, how it spread, how it affected the cast and stagehands, (the performers were giving a presentation of the comedy, "Mr. Bluebeard", starring Eddie Foy, Sr.) and finally how people in a sudden and severe panic tried to saved themselves. This is not an easy book to read but I give the author credit....it is also not an easy book to put down. Brandt gives human faces to those who escaped and those who did not. He tells of incredible rescues and how the city responded moments after the fire started and days and weeks after the finger of blame began to point in all directions. He describes makeshift morgues and those who came to identify loved ones...if they could at all. He recounts the ramifications faced by officials and the theatre owners after the tragedy. The horrors are so individualized...down to the items of clothing and personal items worn by those in the theatre that afternoon. It is perhaps toward the very end of this book that Nat Brandt makes his most poignant point... that other than a cemetery monument and a City Hall bas-relief nothing else exists in commemoration of the Iroquois fire. The memory of the fire seems to have passed as quickly as the fire itself. Thanks to this book, we have a chance to learn about this horrible day in Chicago's history.