Ron Kanterman of the Fire Department of New York recently shared a training bulletin about an historic tragedy that claimed the lives of more than 200 people in Natchez, Mississippi.
The fire occurred at the Rhythm Club on April 23, 1940, killing 209 people and injuring 100. Two years later, a fire occurred under similar conditions at the Cocoanut Grove Night Club in Boston, trapping and killing 492 people: combustible interior decorations and doors that opened inward. As Chief Kanterman notes, word of the Natchez fire never left the small black community, therefore there were no lessons learned or warnings for the people of Boston.
Download the training bulletin here (PDF).
