I was born many years later and grew up in the suburbs but learned of the fire through my teacher One chilly spring day when I was in 4th grade, the fire alarm went off when my teacher was out of the classroom. My whole class sat around with blank stares wondering what to do. I evacuated the building and stood with the 5th grade teacher at the front of the line with his class. When my teacher came racing up and asked where everyone else was, I no more than pointed up the fire escape stairs and my teacher was off and racing up them to find out where everyone else was; they were STILL sitting at their desks!!! o_O When we were given the all-clear to return to our classroom, my teacher told us of the horrible fire at Our Lady of the Angels. At the end of the day, I remember being sent out for end-of-day, go-home-from-there recess with the 5th grade and my classmates having to stay late to listen to more OLA and why it was a BAD choice to stay at their desks when the alarm went off when my teacher was out of the room. Seemed like a no-brainer to me to get up and walk out, I'll never understand why my classmates stayed at their desks. Especially considering that the ceiling of our classroom was an elegant wooden truss system that would've ignited so fast, they wouldn't have had a chance for escape had the room flashed over. Hearing of the OLA fire was eye-opening. I was sad for all of the kids and instructors who had lost their lives that cold December day. Since then, the elementary school I attended has removed the steel fire escapes and sealed off those doors as exits and made modifications to other parts of the school that, in the event of a fire, wouldn't serve as a viable egress, either. (The buildings aren't retrofitted with a sprinkler system, either) I PRAY that no fire ever occurs there; it would be a tragedy along the same magnitude and completely preventable. What everyone at OLA went through and lost is unimaginable. I hope that everyone affected (survivors, family, etc.) can someday find peace. My husband grew up in the Humboldt Park area (he was born in 1954) but attended Von Humboldt School. Since he was only 4 at the time of the fire, he doesn't remember anything other than hearing of it on the news; he doesn't recall if his family knew anyone from OLA.
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