Tinder Box: The Iroquois Theatre Disaster 1903

Well written and researched, with some great photos. This is one of those nonfiction accounts that has you uneasily eyeing the exits in buildings, wondering if you would make it out alive were a fire to burst into flames. Roughly about 600 people died in the inferno, and that number could have been reduced so significantly if only:(1) The asbestos curtain had not snagged halfway down on a small scenery protrusion.(2) Chicago city officials had done their job properly, and not looked the other way while still holding out their hands for freebies and money.(3) The architectural design had focused less on a grand stairway where everyone from box seats to the cheap seats would mingle in luxurious surroundings and exit doors were concealed with velvet curtains. Instead, plenty of exits and clearly marked signs would have prevented piles of dead bodies at doorways.We may have come a long way in fire safety, but after reading this, I wonder if the danger of large scale disastrous fires such as this will ever go away.

I was not impressed with the lack of structure in this book. It seemed as though there was very little to base the book on amd the author made it seem as though it was a huge conspiracy, not simply time and a willingness to put it behind.Very negative afterword about how theaters cannot handle a panic situation. As though they could-it is panic. Many good changes came from the fire-eventually, but the author focused on what did not.

On December 30, 1903, the Iroquois Theatre in Chicago was crowded beyond capacity with theatergoers eager to see Eddie Foy in "Mr. Blue Beard". The well-written and well-researched "Tinder Box" by Anthony Hatch describes what happened that tragic afternoon when a spotlight short-circuited starting a fire that eventually killed over 600 people.Considering the fact that the fire happened over 100 years ago, with no living witnesses to interview and many facts have been lost in time, Hatch does an admirable job describing the events leading up to the fire, the fire itself, and the aftermath. He does an excellent job describing how the Iroquois came to be built and the haste with which it was built (it only took five months) and the shoddy workmanship involved, as well as how many officials were willing to turn their heads and ignore the many fire code violations at the Iroquois. His description of the crowded theatre the day of the fire is mind boggling; one victim in fact called the theater a fire trap as she went to her seat. There were over 500 more people than capacity in attendance; the exit doors opened in instead of out; and the person who was supposed to operate the fire curtain was a substitute who didn't know which lines actually worked the curtain. There was little done to help the audience and incredibly enough the actors continued to perform while the fire was burning. Hatch also gives descriptions of the fire victims and survivors, which make the tragedy even more real. Some of the ways people escaped the fire were incredible and there were many heroes that night. There were also many villains that night and Hatch describes they way people robbed some of the dead. Hatch also covers the aftermath of the fire including the trial and how the owners tried to blame the victims and how evidence was tampered with.Although Hatch did not write the book until 2002, he had started to research it back in the 1960's and at that time had interviewed a fireman who had fought the fire and a newspaper reporter who covered the fire. Those accounts helped make the scene of the fire real as I was reading the book. There was no spot photography at the time, so while there are pictures of the theatre before and after the fire, there are no actual pictures of the fire itself. But Hatch includes many drawings done at the time of the fire that show how horrible it was. He also includes editorial cartoons that show how much the fire touched the lives of people in Chicago. There is not a list of people who died in the fire because there was never an exact count of how many people did die."Tinder Box" is a well-written account of a tragic event in Chicago's history.

The pre-fire information was interesting but lengthy. The actual fire takes up about 15 minutes of the book. Not nearly enough information on how the fire took place, and how the rescue was handled.

With extraordinary thoroughness and an obvious love of his subject, Anthony Hatch makes vivid the story of Chicago's Iroquois Theatre fire of 1903.With eerie parallels to the Titanic disaster, the Iroquois' programs boasted that the theater was "Absolutely Fireproof"-- but everyone involved seemed to think somebody else had done whatever was necessary to make that claim a reality.The most deadly theater fire in U.S. history, the event is heartbreaking to read about, but Hatch has ferreted out the many human stories of the victims, survivors, reporters, firefighters, theater managers, and politicians who were involved, and found heroes as well as villains in this tragedy.In spite of the lessons learned and laws changed as a result of this terrible loss, Hatch's research shows that many modern theaters repeat some of the careless mistakes of the Iroquois. Everyone who frequents public buildings would be well-advised to read this fascinating story and take its lessons to heart.

Very engrossing read. Apparently well-researched (the author admits to research problems due to materials being lost and/or destroyed) and eye-opening. You won't walk into any public gathering place without checking for exit routes ever again.

I enjoyed this book, but I would like to have known more about folks affect d by the fire. There was great emphasis on politics, trials, regulations, and effects. While I enjoys this aspect, there was so much of it that I found myself skimming a few times. It reads a bit like a dissertation and could do with a little more humanity. Solid book.

Exciting and I love to go back and read about a different time in history. An amazing story compared to the Titanic with man's arrogance and the "fireproof theater". Some of the descriptions of the theatre could get tedious but all in all, it was a good book.

Haunting read.