On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out on the upper floors of the Asch building in New York City. They are home to Triangle Waist Company. Most of the people who work there are young workers, including immigrants from Italy and Eastern Europe.
Evacuation has several failures. Survivors report that a door to a staircase is locked. The exterior emergency staircase deforms and does not allow a safe escape. The people who remain in height do not therefore simply have another equivalent exit.
Firefighters arrive, but their ladders stop several floors under the affected windows. From the street, rescue workers can see some of the people in danger without reaching them. One hundred and forty-six workers died in the disaster.
The Cornell archives document this deadlock: the exits and the relief present had not allowed a safe evacuation.
What we know
The testimony of the survivors on a locked door is distinguished from other facts.
To go to the source
References accessed October 11, 2026. Linked pages may be in another language.
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