1. Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire: March 25, 1911 at 4:40 p. m
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire: March 25, 1911 at 4:40 p.m. one of the worst workplace disasters in U.S. history. The fire killed 146 workers, most of them young women or teenage girls.

2. Who?: Triangle Shirtwaist Factory
Produced the new in-fashion tailored women’s blouses (that buttoned to their waist)
Employed more than 500 people

3. What?: Factory Fire
The fire killed 146 workers, most of them young women or teenage girls.

4. When?: March 25, 1911 at 4:40 p.m. Where?: Top three floors of the
10-story Asch Building in
Greenwich Village, NYC.
When?: March 25, 1911 at 4:40 p.m.

5. Why?
The factory was considered a sweatshop: a factory where people worked for long hours under poor working conditions for low wages.
Investigators believe it was started by an improperly extinguished cigarette or match, or sparks from a machine. It spread rapidly and burned several tons of fabric.

6. How?
Most of the victims had been trapped by locked exit doors, and many jumped from windows to their deaths.
By the time the employees realized there was a fire, elevator shafts were filled with smoke.
Exit doors were bolted from the outside (prevent workers from stealing).
Numerous workers were crushed by panicked co-workers pushing behind them to the doors.

7. How continued?
Firefighters ladders could not reach the building’s upper levels.
The building had only one fire escape, which collapsed, killing several people.

8. Importance?
The company’s owners were indicted for manslaughter, but a jury found them not guilty.
The disaster brought about widespeared outrage over factory conditions and led to the creation of new laws that protected workers.

9. Required - Write a Response: Your choice:
Imagine that you escaped the fire or that you witnessed the fire. Write a journal that describes your experience. Or
Pretend that you are a journalist: Write a newspaper article. Remember to include a headline for your article.
Remember to include the key facts! Upload to your Google classroom or turn in a hard copy.
Go team!